---
born: 1932-06-23
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 2008-05-30
location: Cookeville, Tennessee
summary: U.S. Army Major General who succeeded Edmund Thompson as ACSI and was skeptical
  of the Grill Flame remote viewing program.
tags:
- Person
- Stargate
- Military
- RemoteViewer
---

William Odom was a [U.S. Army](/organizations/us-army/) Major General who succeeded [Edmund Thompson](/people/edmund-thompson/) as the Army's Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence (ACSI) in 1981. Odom was generally skeptical of the [Grill Flame](/programs/stargate-project/) program, often expressing embarrassment that the Army was spending money on paranormal research.[^1]

Despite being shown compelling evidence of remote viewing accuracy, such as [Joe McMoneagle](/people/joe-mcmoneagle/)'s predictions about the bugging of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Odom remained dismissive, stating, "Yes, we know that already." He appeared to believe that, whether or not there was anything to it, it was something best left alone by the military. His skepticism was rooted in a secular viewpoint, though some proponents of the program suspected a deeper, almost "Inquisition-like" opposition to psi. He was particularly concerned about the public perception of the program, fearing the "mortification and embarrassment" that would arise if the program were exposed.[^1]

---

As the Army's assistant chief of staff for intelligence Odom was briefed on Grill Flame in October 1981, received an update on [Center Lane](/programs/center-lane/) on February 23, 1984, and on October 4, 1984, as a lieutenant general, approved the memorandum of agreement transferring the project to the [Defense Intelligence Agency](/organizations/defense-intelligence-agency/); on February 6, 1985, he accompanied its personnel to brief the under secretary of the Army.[^2]

[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: US Army Intelligence and Security Command, "List of Events from September 1977 to January 1986," CIA-RDP96-00788R001100020001-8; the scan's table columns are reflowed by OCR and some dates are uncertain. Read in the archive.org mirror of the CIA FOIA Reading Room STARGATE collection.