Ingo Douglas Swann—born with just one N—was not far from the stereotypical image of the psychic. Growing up in Telluride, Colorado, he claimed to have out-of-body experiences and premonitions, to see people's auras, and to encounter supernatural beings. He was left-handed, intuitive, artistic, emotionally sensitive, curious about the unusual, and bored by the usual. He was considered odd and had few friends at school, later describing himself as "doubly, triply, quadruply freaky."[^1] After college, he joined the Army, serving in Korea and later at a Nike missile base outside Boston. After leaving the Army, Swann, then using the name "Douglas Swan," moved to Greenwich Village, New York City, to pursue a career as an artist. He worked for the UN for several years and wrote pulp fiction. By 1971, he had adopted his first name, Ingo, added a second 'n' to his surname on the advice of a numerologist, and discovered his unusual psychic talents. He began earning a living as a subject in parapsychology laboratories, including the City College of New York and the [[American Society for Psychical Research]].[^1] He contacted [[Hal Puthoff]] at [[Stanford Research Institute]] (SRI) in 1972, claiming to have the ability to remotely alter the temperature of objects and to have out-of-body experiences.[^1] Puthoff flew Swann out to SRI, where he was subjected to a number of experiments. One of the most notable was an attempt to affect a heavily shielded magnetometer at Stanford University. The magnetometer's output showed significant disturbances that correlated with Swann's efforts. However, his initial psi abilities at SRI seemed feeble, leading to depression and disagreements with Puthoff and [[Russell Targ]]. He disliked Targ's ESP teaching machine, viewing it as a remnant of old-time parapsychology.[^1] Swann was a key figure in the development of the remote viewing protocols at SRI. He was the one who proposed using geographic coordinates to target remote viewing sessions, a technique that became known as "coordinate remote viewing" (CRV) or "Scanate." This breakthrough, which came to him as an intuition, allowed psychics to describe distant locations given only their latitude and longitude, without prior knowledge of the target. He also coined the term "remote viewing" itself. He was a creative and insightful theorist of the psychic experience, and he was constantly pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible, even attempting to remote-view Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury in advance of space probes.[^1] Swann was a complex and sometimes difficult personality. He was known for his artistic temperament and his strong opinions. He clashed with [[Russell Targ]] over the use of an ESP teaching machine and often threatened to leave the program. He also had a rivalry with [[Pat Price]], another gifted psychic at SRI. Swann was a proud and sensitive man, and he was not afraid to speak his mind, even if it meant alienating his colleagues. He believed his ego was more fragile and his demeanor more pedantic compared to Price. He often left SRI for short periods to pursue other projects or to signal his annoyance.[^1] Despite the personality conflicts, Swann's contributions to the remote viewing program were undeniable. He was a gifted psychic who was able to produce remarkable results in controlled experiments. He was also a creative thinker who helped to shape the development of remote viewing into a practical intelligence-gathering tool. He was a true pioneer in the field of psychic research, and his work helped to lay the foundation for all that would follow. His contract at SRI ended in mid-August 1973, and he vowed never to return, feeling that he had been overshadowed by Pat Price despite his significant contributions.[^1] --- [^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.