---
born: 1917-12-26
category: Psychics & Remote Viewers
died: 1997-12-26
location: Riga, Latvia
summary: Karlis Osis was a Latvian-born parapsychologist with a PhD, known for his
  research into deathbed visions and his work with the U.S.
tags:
- Person
- RemoteViewer
---

Karlis Osis was a Latvian-born parapsychologist with a PhD, known for his research into deathbed visions and his work with the U.S. government on [ESP](/concepts/extrasensory-perception/) experiments with animals[^1][^2].

In the 1940s, Osis conducted a four-year study on deathbed visions, interviewing thousands of doctors and nurses in America and northern [India](/places/india/). He hypothesized that Indian patients, whose belief system allows for reincarnation, were far more likely to experience visions before death than American patients[^2].

He later worked at [J. B. Rhine](/people/j-b-rhine/)'s [Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory](/organizations/duke-university-parapsychology-laboratory/), where he conducted classified ESP tests with cats for the [Department of Defense](/organizations/department-of-defense/) in the early 1950s. This study was designed to determine whether man could communicate telepathically with a cat[^2].

Later, as the director of research at the [American Society for Psychical Research](/organizations/american-society-for-psychical-research/) (ASPR) in [New York City](/places/new-york-city/), Osis worked with [Ingo Swann](/people/ingo-swann/) on a series of experiments purported to involve [out-of-body experiences](/concepts/out-of-body-experience/) (OBEs), also known as traveling [clairvoyance](/concepts/clairvoyance/). In these experiments, Swann was wired to a Beckman Dynograph and asked to "float up out-of-the-body" to spy on objects hidden on suspended trays. Osis and his assistant, [Janet Mitchell](/people/janet-mitchell/), were reportedly thrilled with the results, particularly when Swann drew what he saw instead of trying to articulate it[^2].

Osis also conducted a [psychokinesis](/concepts/psychokinesis/) experiment with [Pat Price](/people/pat-price/), where Price, from a distance, appeared to affect an infrared sensor in a sealed copper box[^1].

[^1]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^2]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.