Charlie Rose

Charles Grandison Rose III (August 10, 1939 - September 4, 2012) was a Democratic congressman who represented North Carolina's 7th congressional district for twenty-four years, from 1973 to 1997. He became a vocal public advocate for the Grill Flame remote viewing program and later, alongside Rep. Tom Lewis (R-FL), applied congressional pressure that contributed to the Department of Justice reopening its inquiry into The Finders case.¹²

Background

Rose was known informally as the "mayor of the Capitol" for his work as chairman of the House Administration Committee from 1991 to 1994. His committee assignments also included the House Intelligence Committee, and he chaired a 1991 House committee investigation into the Bush administration's role in selling military supplies to Iraq. He died on September 4, 2012, at age 73. His congressional papers are held at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (Special Collections).²

Stargate Advocacy

Rose became a staunch supporter of the Grill Flame program after being briefed on it in the late 1970s by General Edmund Thompson and Jack Vorona, head of the DIA's Scientific and Technical Intelligence Directorate. He toured remote viewing facilities at Stanford Research Institute and Fort Meade, chatting with remote viewers and witnessing practice sessions, and discussed the program with President Jimmy Carter. Despite representing a Bible Belt constituency, Rose publicly advocated for the program, believing it to be a "hell of a cheap radar system."¹

In a 1979 interview for Omni magazine, Rose condemned skeptics and "publicity-shy" intelligence officials, citing remote viewing data he had seen on an unnamed Soviet target: "What these people 'saw,' was confirmed by aerial photography. There's no way it could have been faked."¹

Finders Reinvestigation

In October 1993, private consultant Henry "Skip" Clements provided Rose and Rep. Tom Lewis with copies of U.S. Customs Special Agent Ramon J. Martinez's 1987 reports on The Finders. Rose and Lewis applied congressional pressure on the DOJ. The CIA's response was dismissive - a CIA spokesman told Rose, "This story is a non-story. I think of it as a nothing-burger." Nevertheless, the combined congressional pressure and the prospect of a CBS 48 Hours segment prompted the DOJ's October 26, 1993 memo from Acting Assistant Attorney General John C. Keeney to FBI Assistant Director Larry A. Potts, tasking the FBI with a preliminary inquiry.³