The Bizarre Soviet Experiments That Attempted To Understand Psychic Powers

Could someone stop a heart with their mind? Could objects move through the use of mental imagery? Could someone communicate from the shore with a submarine through their thoughts? These were the premises of several strange experiments performed under direction of the Soviet Union. Citizens believed to possess unique parapsychological abilities were tested and studied by renowned scientists in an effort to illuminate the supposed physics that were thought to underlie supernatural abilities. Whether "bioplasma" or "psi particles," brilliant minds were determined to reveal the science behind the paranormal.

The Cold War was a time rife with competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. The nations battled for control of territories left vulnerable in the aftermath of World War II and fought to claim ideological supremacy. Fear and paranoia were stoked in the American public by the declaration of an arms race, although it was later revealed that the Soviet Union did not have access to such destructive weapons as the U.S. had claimed.

Both governments also competed in the realm of scientific advancement, most famously characterized by the Space Race, in which the U.S. managed to land people on the moon. In a time of such fierce competition, it was all hands on deck, including some scientists with rather peculiar beliefs. The U.S. received intelligence that the Soviet Union was attempting to capture the paranormal using the tenets of the scientific method, gaining an upper hand through telekinesis, telepathy, and clairvoyance.

Rosa Kuleshova sat blindfolded in front of an audience of researchers and psychiatrists. The 22-year-old had begun as a patient of Isaac Goldberg, with the intent of treating her epilepsy. However, Goldberg was convinced that he had discovered a remarkable ability within this young patient. Her eyes covered, she placed her hand over the page of a book, reading the words aloud. This was supposed evidence of a phenomenon called dermo-optical perception: the ability to see through touch. The scientists, convinced of this extraordinary talent, believed that she must have some light-sensitive nerves at the tips of her fingers.

Kuleshova's unique skill gained fame and was boasted of in Soviet news. Skeptical, a reporter from Life Magazine watched Kuleshova call out the colors of the magazines placed before her blindfolded face. He handed her his business card, which she allegedly read with the use of her elbow.

Perhaps even more fascinating than Kuleshova was Nina Kulagina, whose abilities extended to telekinesis. Kulagina was filmed moving small objects without touching them. As researchers became interested in her, they wondered at the extent of her talent. Famously, a frog heart, which was suspended in a medium where it was expected to keep beating for up to two hours, was presented to her. From a distance, she supposedly stopped the heart from continuing to beat after only seven minutes. However, many skeptics suggested that it was all a hoax or a product of poor experimental design.

A popular hypothesis was that a concerted alteration in electromagnetic fields facilitated by these subjects was responsible for the observed psychic abilities. Nina Kulagina was often monitored through an electrocardiogram (ECG) and an electroencephalogram, which monitored electric signals from the heart and brain, respectively. To support the electromagnetism theory, experimenters had noticed significant changes in Kulagina's ECG recordings as she attempted to raise the heart rate of a skeptical physician. These alterations also appeared to synchronize with those recorded from the physician, whose cardiac activity was said to reach a dangerous level.

Of greater concern for U.S. intelligence operations were the experiments regarding telepathy and clairvoyance. One experiment was said to monitor the biocommunication between animals. In this experiment, Soviet researchers attached electrodes to a mother rabbit that stayed on land, while her kits were placed in a submarine. The researchers on the submarine would euthanize the kits, and the mother's electrode recordings were said to spike at the exact time of each death. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency alleged that the Soviet government was planning to harness telepathy in its space program in order to influence individuals remotely.

Another popular hypothesis was that there were these mysterious particles that contributed to parapsychological influences. These were referred to as "psi particles." It is possible that several of these experiments were exaggerated by U.S. intelligence sources. Additionally, similar shady experiments (aside from those studying mind control) meant to explore the paranormal were said to be occurring in the U.S.