The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)

The Nautilus (Telepathy Project) refers to a sensational 1960 article in the French magazine Science et Vie titled "The Secret of the Nautilus." The article claimed that the U.S. government, in secret tests, had successfully employed telepathy to communicate with the crew of the USS Nautilus, its first nuclear submarine, while it was submerged beneath the Arctic ice cap. The story suggested the project had the special attention of President Eisenhower and involved the Navy, Air Force, Westinghouse, General Electric, Bell Labs, and the Rand Corporation.¹

The implications of such a breakthrough were enormous, as communicating with deeply submerged submarines was a critical research goal. Telepathy seemed an ideal solution, as it appeared unaffected by seawater or other earthly obstacles. However, the story quickly unraveled upon closer inspection, with denials from involved parties and suspicious inconsistencies in the reported accuracy rates. It was eventually suggested that the article was a fabrication, possibly a disinformation ploy designed to stir up data on American psi research or to encourage the Soviets to undertake wasteful psi research, or both.¹

Despite being declared a fake in the West, the Nautilus story had a profound impact in the East. The Soviets, seemingly swallowing the story whole, viewed official American denials as confirmation of its truth. This article provided the necessary stimulus for the resurgence and significant funding of Soviet psi research, which had been nearly extinct during the Stalin years. Figures like Leonid Vasiliev and I. M. Kogan eagerly cited the story as justification for their work, leading to the establishment of numerous psi research centers in the USSR and Eastern Europe.¹