A detailed overview of US government and military involvement with ESP and psychic research. Too detailed and long, actually, which is why it got 4 stars rather than 5, but well written and engaging. The author makes no conclusion as to the reality of the paranormal, but does point out the main problem - distinguishing signal from noise, a problem in any communication that I'm familiar with in other circumstances. Very thought provoking, and worth a read. ( )

Looking down through the ratings, I see either really high ones who enjoyed the book for what it was, or a series of one-star ratings by many who want to prove they know more than the author, or whatever. I find this is the case with every Jacobsen book: in our new world where it doesn't matter if you're factual or incorrect, true or false, there's always someone else standing right behind you with a whole different set of facts to prove you wrong.

I've often said--though I am not a Christian--that it would be fascinating to see the return of Jesus Christ to earth, because he'd be torn to shreds by everyone with access to Google. No one would ever believe he's who he said he was...even if he showed proof.

So, for me, I just love reading Jacobsen's books. Are they factual? I'm guessing, based on the back-up info that they're close. Can anyone get the real, unfiltered truth on any of the subjects Jacobsen tackles? Hell no. Is it possible that she gets some stuff wrong? Of course.

But you know what? She always delivers a compelling history of whatever she tackles, and this one is no different. I enjoyed the hell out of this, as well as her previous books. I'll definitely be back for her next one. ( )

An extraordinarily well-researched exploration of the US Military’s ESP “eyeless sight” programs that sought to harness the paranormal as a source of military intelligence. Jacobsen maintains neutrality throughout, presenting the most surprising anomalies with clarity and objectivity so the reader can judge for herself. Her portrayals of the main players in this story provide an inside view of a fascinating world, where ‘remote viewers’ search for kidnapping victims and psychics are actually deployed in the field by intelligence services. The final chapter looks into the current search for a ‘gene for paranormality’ and leaves no doubt that the quest continues. Highly recommended. ( )

Listened to the first third of so of the audiobook. This seems to have a thread of narrative the book is around, but the research described moves slowly. Not as wide-ranging a subject as Pentagon's Brain, so I couldn't manage to finish the book.

In Phenomena Annie Jacobsen explores the U.S. government's attempts to harness extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) as tools for spying and gaining an advantage over foreign powers. Russian and Chinese efforts in this arena are also described, but in much less detail. She describes several astounding incidents that are not readily explainable without reference to either ESP or PK, making for interesting reading. Also interesting are the internal political conflicts within governmental agencies and the military based on whether to accept or dismiss the reality and practical utility of ESP and PK. Historically this conflict has been between the sheep, believers in the phenomena, and the goats, the skeptics. In this kind of book the reader is naturally interested in having the conflict between the sheep and the goats resolved in some way, but no satisfactory resolution is forthcoming here.

Jacobsen tends to fall in with the sheep, but without thoroughly examining alternative naturalistic explanations for the phenomena. Skeptic James Randi for example wrote an entire book debunking the abilities of psychic Uri Geller, but Randi's naturalistic explanations are not covered in sufficient detail here. Throughout the book hearsay and anecdotal evidence is brought forth to validate ESP and PK when well controlled experiments, conducted by those familiar with magicians' trickery, are needed instead. The history of the government's work in this area is nonetheless interesting in its own right, making the book worthwhile even in the absence of proof of ESP and PK. ( )