--- aliases: - Ray Hyman born: 1928-06-23 category: Skeptics & Critics created: 2026-05-15 location: Chelsea, Massachusetts summary: University of Oregon psychologist and skeptic who evaluated Uri Geller for DARPA in 1973 and, for the 1995 AIR review, judged ten SAIC experiments too few to establish remote viewing. tags: - Person - Skeptic - PSI - Stargate - AIR - SRI - 1970s - 1990s title: Ray Hyman updated: 2026-09-22 --- Ray Hyman is a psychologist and a prominent figure in the scientific skepticism movement. He was contracted by [DARPA](/organizations/darpa/) in 1973 to evaluate [Uri Geller](/people/uri-geller/)'s purported psychic abilities at [SRI](/organizations/stanford-research-institute/). Along with [George Lawrence](/people/george-lawrence/) and [Robert Van de Castle](/people/robert-van-de-castle/), Hyman concluded that anyone who believed in Geller's powers was falling for the "ridiculous"[^1]. Hyman, along with [Martin Gardner](/people/martin-gardner/), joined forces in an anti-Geller crusade. He was critical of [Hal Puthoff](/people/hal-puthoff/) and [Russell Targ](/people/russell-targ/)'s methodology, echoing Gardner's criticisms of [J. B. Rhine](/people/j-b-rhine/)'s research, citing loose laboratory controls, skewing of data, and the influence of experimenter bias[^1]. In 1983, Hyman weighed in on the [James Randi](/people/james-randi/) hoax against the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research, stating that Randi was "very upset by Geller’s using trickery to deceive scientists. He thought it was very immoral. And he felt that it was a prostitution of his beloved magic"[^1]. Hyman was considered for the Army's [Grill Flame Scientific Evaluation Committee](/events/grill-flame-scientific-evaluation-committee/) in 1979. Its coordinator, Major [William Stoner](/people/william-stoner/), wrote in January 1980, against the chairman's claim to have "rejected two people who had pronounced tendencies to be nonobjective," that "one person himself declined the offer to participate, claiming potential flak from his corporation. The other, Dr Ray Hyman, was rejected not because of any action by Gale, but because of a protest memo from MG [Thompson](/people/edmund-thompson/) to Dr [LaBerge](/people/walter-laberge/)."[^900] A memorandum from the Under Secretary of the Army's office to Gale of July 17, 1979, reads: "Reference the 'few additional experts,' Dr. Orlansky has accepted. Dr. [Snyder](/people/harry-snyder/) of VPI has been asked in place of Dr. Hyman - at this time he has not accepted the invitation." Snyder's own evaluation of remote-viewing research, delivered that June, cited "R. Hyman, personal communication" for its statement that [Arthur Hastings](/people/arthur-hastings/), the SRI judge, "is a professional magician."[^901] ### The 1995 Evaluation In 1995 the [American Institutes for Research](/organizations/american-institutes-for-research/), under contract to the CIA, engaged Hyman and the statistician [Jessica Utts](/people/jessica-utts/) to review the research of the [Star Gate program](/programs/stargate-project/) ([1995 AIR evaluation of Star Gate](/events/1995-air-evaluation-of-star-gate/)). His report of September 11, 1995, took the ten [SAIC](/organizations/science-applications-international-corporation/) experiments as "the only ones for which we have adequate documentation," agreed with Utts that they "were free of the methodological weaknesses that plagued the early SRI research" and that "the effect sizes reported in the SAIC experiments are too large and consistent to be dismissed as statistical flukes," and then answered no to three questions: whether the effects established anomalous cognition, whether "the possibility of methodological flaws" had been "completely eliminated," and whether the results were consistent with other laboratories. "Ten experiments, especially from one laboratory," he wrote, "is far too few to establish reliable relationships in almost any area of inquiry." He compared the field's negatively defined anomaly with the discovery of Neptune from the perturbations of Uranus, and told anyone relying on operational hits to read [David Marks](/people/david-marks/) and [Richard Kammann](/people/richard-kammann/) on subjective validation. Of operations he recorded [Edwin May](/people/edwin-may/)'s estimate that "approximately 20 percent of the information supplied by a viewer is accurate": "If May is correct, then 80% of all the information supplied by this talented viewer will be erroneous."[^2] Writing in the *[Skeptical Inquirer](/organizations/skeptical-inquirer/)* in 1996, he said the CIA "abandoned this program in the late 1970s because it showed no promise," that under the DIA it "consisted of three components," one tracking foreign work, an operations program of "six, and later three, psychics on the government payroll," and the laboratory research at SRI and SAIC; that "because of some controversies within the program, a Senate committee decided to transfer the program from the DIA back to the CIA"; that "May helped identify the ten best studies for Utts and me to evaluate"; and that the panel "all agreed that any scientifically meaningful evaluation of these operational psychic intelligence uses was impossible." He ended: "It is premature to draw any conclusions. We will simply have to wait and see. If history is a guide, then this will be a long wait, indeed."[^3] On *Nightline* on November 28, 1995, he said: "My considered judgment, if someone pushed me hard right now, I'd have to say the odds are 99 to 1 that there's nothing to remote viewing." Edwin May's commentary of 1996 traced "a thread of bias" from the visit to SRI (1973 or 1974, the accounts differ) at which Hyman, George Lawrence of ARPA, and Robert Van de Castle were refused access to an experiment in progress, and *Time* quoted Hyman on the tests' "incredible sloppiness," through Lawrence's commissioning of the National Research Council study in 1985 with Hyman leading its parapsychology section, to the AIR review under [David Goslin](/people/david-goslin/), who had administered the NRC report.[^4] [^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017. [^2]: Hyman, Ray. "Evaluation of Program on Anomalous Mental Phenomena," September 11, 1995, reproduced in the AIR report, pp. 3-41 to 3-75, and published in *Journal of Scientific Exploration,* vol. 10, no. 1, 1996, pp. 31-58. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB438/docs/doc_57.pdf [^3]: Hyman, Ray. "Evaluation of the Military's Twenty-Year Program on Psychic Spying," *Skeptical Inquirer,* March-April 1996, pp. 21-23. [^4]: "Psychic Spies: Cold War Whimsy or Secret Weapon?," ABC News *Nightline,* November 28, 1995, Radio TV Reports transcript for the CIA Public Affairs Staff, CIA-RDP99-01448R000402140001-7, read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room. May, Edwin C. "The American Institutes for Research Review of the Department of Defense's STAR GATE Program: A Commentary," *Journal of Parapsychology,* vol. 60, no. 1, March 1996, pp. 3-23. [^900]: Stoner, William L., Major, GS, "Memorandum of Conversation, Subject: Gale Briefing to ZA, Science Evaluation Group Final Report on GRILL FLAME, 14 Jan 80," CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230017-7. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. [^901]: "Grill Flame Review Panel Members," undated roster, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230008-7; Office of the Under Secretary of the Army, memorandum for Mr. Manny Gale, July 17, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230004-1; K. Lytle, Major, Military Assistant, memorandum for Mr. Gale, Advisor for RDA Analysis, ODCSRDA, "Briefing for Dr. Ruth Davis and Mr. Nealsen," August 8, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230013-1; Snyder to Gale, undated (catalogued May 11, 1979, but referring to October and a visit of September 28), CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230038-4, and November 19, 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230042-9; "Findings," "Recommendations," "Estimated Costs," unsigned, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230043-8; SSO Meade to SSO ACSI DA, "Grill Flame DoD Science Evaluation Team Report," LTC Watt, November 1979, CIA-RDP96-00788R001200230047-4. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection. Snyder, Harry L., and Arlene G. Snyder. *Summary and Critical Evaluation of Research in Remote Viewing,* Report RV-79-1, final technical report, contract 77F104420, Systemetrics, Inc., Blacksburg, Virginia, June 1, 1979, parts 1 and 2, CIA-RDP96-00791R000100440001-9 and CIA-RDP96-00787R000100260003-2. The sponsor of the contract is not named in the report. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.