--- Joe McMoneagle was a U.S. Army warrant officer and one of the original six remote viewers in the [[STARGATE PROJECT]]. He was recruited into the program, then codenamed [[STARGATE PROJECT|Gondola Wish]], in 1977 by [[Frederick Atwater|Skip Atwater]] and [[Murray Watt|Scotty Watt]].[^1] McMoneagle had a background in signals intelligence and had served in Vietnam. He had a number of psychic experiences throughout his life, including a [[Near Death Experience]] that he believed enhanced his abilities. As a child, at age eleven in 1957, while camping in an orange grove in Florida, he experienced a vision of a ghostly woman who foretold his future, including his military service in a far-off war that he would survive. This experience, which he initially dismissed as a dream, later gained significance as his life unfolded.[^1] Eight years later, he enlisted in the Army and entered the Army Security Agency, training in special radio direction finding (RDF) techniques. One of his first posts was on Eleuthera island in the Bahamas, where his unit electronically spied on Soviet and Cuban ships and submarines. In October 1965, he witnessed a large, intensely bright disk-shaped UFO, which left him and a friend feeling sick with sunburned skin and flu-like symptoms for several days. He loved the Bahamas, but in 1966, he was sent to Vietnam.[^1] In Vietnam, McMoneagle had a recurring nightmare of a white light signifying death. However, upon arriving at Bien Hoa air base, he had a vision of himself leaving the war alive and intact, specifically in a canary yellow plane. He spent much of the war in the Vietnamese central highlands, stationed at various "firebase" outposts. He developed a reputation for anticipating enemy attacks, often heading to his bunker just before mortar rounds would strike. His fellow soldiers began to mimic his actions, believing he had a sixth sense. Despite a helicopter accident that left him with chronic back problems, he survived the war, eventually leaving Vietnam on a canary yellow plane, just as he had foreseen.[^1] In 1970, while stationed in southern Germany with an electronic-intercept detachment, McMoneagle suffered a cardiac arrest during lunch in an Austrian village. He experienced a classic near-death experience (NDE), finding himself in an out-of-body state, observing his physical body, and later moving through a tunnel towards a white light, which he identified as God. This light, which had appeared in his recurring nightmares, was not death but a source of unconditional love. God instructed him to return to his physical reality. This NDE profoundly changed his worldview, leading him towards mystical and spiritual beliefs, and he increasingly experienced a collision of reality and imagination, with spontaneous out-of-body experiences and vivid visions. He believed this experience significantly enhanced his psychic abilities, leading to more frequent and vivid psychic episodes.[^1] As a remote viewer, McMoneagle was considered one of the best in the unit, often referred to as a "one-in-a-million psi savant" or "shaman in Army boots." He was particularly adept at perceiving technical details of targets, and his remote-viewing visions were noted for their realism and narrative consistency. He was instrumental in the successful remote viewing of a new Chinese nuclear device at Lop Nor, where he drew a detailed diagram of the device, including an hourglass-shaped object that Mel Riley had also described. He also contributed to the tracking of a Soviet T-72 tank purchased by the U.S., even telepathically interrogating the ship's captain during a staged hijacking. His ability to pick up and sketch technological details was exceptional, as demonstrated by his detailed engineer-style drawing of an experimental XM-1 tank, including its laser-targeting system and special high-tech armor, without prior knowledge of its design.[^1] McMoneagle had unique psychic signatures, such as perceiving a green haze around radioactive or fissionable material and an orange flame around radio frequency radiation. He was known for his ability to enter a deep, dreamlike state during remote viewing sessions, often snoring during his cool-down period and reporting impressions in sleepy murmurs. He was also able to perceive alphanumeric data, such as words and numbers, which was a rare ability among remote viewers.[^1] He was involved in several high-profile operations, including predicting the crash zone of Skylab in the South Pacific, near Australia and Indonesia, which proved accurate. He also played a key role in identifying a Soviet surveillance bug in a U.S. consulate in the Mediterranean and locating the Soviet listening post across the street. In another instance, he helped the FBI break a case by remote-viewing a KGB officer using a fishing pole to retrieve a dead-drop package from a military installation wall. His most sensational series of sessions, for the National Security Council, involved the remote viewing of a new Soviet Typhoon-class submarine under construction at the port of Severodvinsk. He accurately described its massive size, double hull, canted missile tubes, and the unique welding techniques used in its construction, even predicting the Soviets would dynamite a channel to launch it. This information was later confirmed by satellite imagery, sparking debate within the NSC about the value of remote viewing.[^1] McMoneagle, along with [[Mel Riley]] and [[Ken Bell]], became one of the three full-time remote viewers when the unit was officially designated the Special Action Branch and the program was codenamed [[STARGATE PROJECT|Grill Flame]]. He was known as "Viewer 518" to the National Security Council. He was allowed to remain with the unit beyond his typical tour of duty, nearing twenty years of service, due to his invaluable contributions.[^1] --- [^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.