---
category: Research Methodology
created: 2025-07-23
description: Analytical overlay refers to the conscious or unconscious imposition
  of a remote viewer's existing knowledge, beliefs, or biases onto their psychic perceptions,
  potentially distorting the accuracy of the data.
summary: Analytical Overlay refers to the conscious or unconscious imposition of a
  remote viewer's existing knowledge, beliefs, or biases onto their psychic perceptions,
  potentially distorting the accuracy of the data.
tags:
- concept
- remoteviewing
- bias
title: Analytical Overlay
updated: 2025-07-23
---

[Analytical Overlay](/concepts/analytical-overlay/) refers to the conscious or unconscious imposition of a remote viewer's existing knowledge, beliefs, or biases onto their psychic perceptions, potentially distorting the accuracy of the data. It is a significant challenge in [Remote Viewing](/concepts/remote-viewing/) and other [ESP](/concepts/extrasensory-perception/) phenomena, as the mind naturally tries to make sense of incoming information by fitting it into familiar frameworks.[^1]

In the [Stargate Project](/programs/stargate-project/), protocols were developed to minimize analytical overlay, such as using "blind" tasking where the remote viewer had no prior knowledge of the target. However, it remained a persistent issue, as seen in the search for General Dozier, where the volume of vague and disparate information from remote viewers made it difficult to separate signal from noise. [Dale Graff](/people/dale-graff/) worked to cull this information and narrow search parameters, recognizing the impact of analytical overlay on the data.[^1]

---

[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.