The CIA remote viewing session on Mars is a real, declassified nine-page transcript from May 22, 1984, in which a psychic operative working under a Cold War intelligence program described pyramids, tall thin beings, and planet-wide dust storms on Mars roughly a million years in the past. The document sits in the CIA’s electronic reading room, cataloged as CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9 and approved for public release in August 2000.1Central Intelligence Agency. CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9 – Mars Exploration, May 22, 1984 Nothing in it has ever been independently corroborated, and the program that produced it was shut down after a scientific review found no operational value.
How the Session Was Run
The session took place on May 22, 1984. A monitor gave the viewer a set of geographic coordinates — 40.89 degrees north latitude, 9.55 degrees west longitude — without saying what planet they referred to. A sealed envelope in the room contained a 3×5 card identifying the target: the planet Mars, at a time approximately one million years B.C.1Central Intelligence Agency. CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9 – Mars Exploration, May 22, 1984
The viewer’s identity is redacted in the transcript, listed only as “Subject 435.” Online accounts commonly attribute the session to Joseph McMoneagle, a retired Army intelligence officer who has publicly discussed his role in the remote viewing programs and reportedly received a Legion of Merit for intelligence work. The CIA document itself does not name him, and independent verification of his involvement in this specific session is limited.
Remote viewing, as practiced in these programs, is the claimed ability to perceive a distant or hidden target using only the mind. A viewer sits in a quiet room, receives coordinates or a sealed target, and describes impressions aloud while a monitor asks follow-up questions. Mainstream science has never accepted it as a proven phenomenon.
What the Viewer Reported Seeing
The transcript records the viewer describing a harsh, dying world. The surface was dominated by massive dust storms and a hazy, yellowish horizon. The atmosphere struck the viewer as extremely thin. High winds, severe temperature swings, and geological instability rounded out an impression of an environment in terminal decline.1Central Intelligence Agency. CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9 – Mars Exploration, May 22, 1984
Some of those descriptions overlap with what planetary science now knows about Mars. The Martian atmosphere is roughly one percent as dense as Earth’s, and the planet experiences planet-encircling dust storms roughly once every three Mars years.2NASA. The Fact and Fiction of Martian Dust Storms By 1984, the Mariner and Viking missions had already produced detailed data on Martian surface conditions, so the basics were part of public knowledge.
The more extraordinary claims involve structures and inhabitants. The viewer reported massive pyramids and tall, smooth-walled obelisks that appeared engineered rather than natural. Some structures were described as partially buried in sand or seated in deep depressions, apparently positioned to shield against wind and dust. Inside, the viewer perceived long dark hallways and vast internal chambers, architecture that seemed built for shelter against the worsening conditions outside.1Central Intelligence Agency. CIA-RDP96-00788R001900760001-9 – Mars Exploration, May 22, 1984
The viewer also described biological beings: tall, thin figures with a fragile build, wearing clothing that resembled thin fabric or silk. They appeared to be in emotional distress, waiting for some kind of escape or survival solution as their world collapsed. The viewer characterized them as the remnants of an advanced civilization that could no longer sustain itself.
No Mars mission has found evidence of artificial structures or past biological life of any kind. The transcript records what the viewer claimed to perceive, nothing more.
Why the Coordinates Point to Cydonia
The coordinates given to the viewer are not random. At 40.89°N on Mars, you are inside the Cydonia region, the same area where NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter photographed a mesa that appeared to resemble a human face on July 25, 1976. That image, quickly dubbed the “Face on Mars,” became a cultural phenomenon and fueled theories about ancient Martian civilizations. NASA scientists identified it at the time as an optical illusion caused by sunlight angle and shadow.3European Space Agency. Cydonia’s Face on Mars in 3D Animation
The Cydonia region includes flat-topped mesas, small hills, and intersecting valleys that under certain lighting can look artificial. By 1984 the Viking photos were well known in both scientific and fringe circles. Whether the session designers chose the coordinates because of the Viking imagery, or for some other reason, the transcript does not say. The overlap raises an obvious question about whether the viewer’s impressions were shaped by cultural expectations rather than psychic perception.
What Later Mars Imaging Actually Showed
The “Face on Mars” did not survive closer inspection. In April 1998, the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor photographed the formation at 4.3 meters per pixel, ten times sharper than the best Viking image. The face-like appearance vanished. What remained was a natural mesa, unremarkable by Martian geological standards.4Malin Space Science Systems. Mars Orbiter Camera Views Face on Mars
Later imaging by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter confirmed the finding. The broader Cydonia region contains mesas, knobs, and valley systems consistent with natural erosion. The pyramidal shapes that fueled speculation turned out to be angular mesa remnants shaped by wind erosion over millions of years, a common feature on Mars.3European Space Agency. Cydonia’s Face on Mars in 3D Animation
Why the CIA Was Running Psychic Sessions at All
The short answer is the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, U.S. intelligence agencies were aware that Soviet researchers were pouring resources into what they called “psychotronics,” experiments in telepathy, remote influence, and extrasensory perception. The concern was that if these programs worked and the U.S. had nothing comparable, the intelligence gap would be serious. That logic drove funding for more than two decades.
From roughly 1972 to 1995, the U.S. government spent an estimated $20 million exploring whether remote viewing could produce actionable intelligence. The programs operated under a rotating series of code names, including SCANATE, GRILL FLAME, CENTER LANE, and SUN STREAK, before being consolidated as STAR GATE in the early 1990s. The Mars session falls during the CENTER LANE phase. The work was administered under Executive Order 12333, the standing presidential directive governing U.S. intelligence activities.5National Archives. Executive Order 12333 – United States Intelligence Activities
How the Program Ended
In 1995 the CIA commissioned the American Institutes for Research to evaluate whether remote viewing had produced useful intelligence. Two reviewers assessed the data: statistician Jessica Utts and psychologist Ray Hyman. Utts concluded that the laboratory results were statistically significant and not attributable to chance, though the effect was not large enough to function as a standalone intelligence tool. Hyman agreed the statistics showed something beyond chance but argued that methodological weaknesses, including potential sensory leakage and inconsistent replication, prevented any firm conclusion that remote viewing had actually been demonstrated.6Central Intelligence Agency. An Evaluation of Remote Viewing – Research and Applications
The CIA concluded that remote viewing had never provided data used to guide actual intelligence operations, and the final recommendation was to terminate the program. STAR GATE shut down in 1995. Its records were declassified and released to the public, with most becoming available through the CIA’s electronic reading room by the early 2000s. The Mars transcript was approved for release in August 2000.
How to Read the Transcript Today
The Mars session occupies an unusual space. It is a real government document, produced under a real intelligence program, stored in the CIA’s official archive. Its content reads like science fiction. That combination is why it resurfaces every few years on forums, podcasts, and social media.
The useful context is straightforward. The U.S. government did fund psychic research during the Cold War. The Mars session did happen. The transcript is genuine. What the transcript does not provide is evidence that remote viewing works or that Mars ever hosted an advanced civilization. The viewer’s descriptions were never independently confirmed, the program was shut down after scientific review, and decades of Mars exploration have found no trace of the structures or beings described in the session.