Overview

Stephan A. Schwartz has spent more than five decades investigating the nature of nonlocal consciousness and its practical applications in archaeology, medicine, and policy analysis. His work bridges experimental parapsychology, energy medicine, and applied remote viewing, grounded in rigorous field protocols and statistical analysis. Schwartz founded the Mobius Society, an independent research organization dedicated to applying consensus remote viewing methodology to archaeological and marine exploration. He has also served as senior fellow at the Samueli Institute and founded and edited the Schwartzreport, a daily digest examining consciousness, policy, and societal wellbeing.

Schwartz’s career is distinguished by a commitment to testing nonlocal consciousness claims in real-world contexts, underwater archaeology, therapeutic intention effects, and large-scale consciousness research, rather than confining inquiry to laboratory settings alone. His publications span peer-reviewed journals in parapsychology, consciousness studies, and energy medicine, as well as books synthesizing decades of fieldwork and theoretical reflection.

Life and career

Schwartz emerged as a leading figure in applied parapsychology during the 1970s and 1980s, a period when remote viewing research was transitioning from classified military and intelligence applications toward civilian scientific investigation. Unlike the remote viewing programs run by Puthoff and Targ at Stanford Research Institute, which focused on intelligence gathering, Schwartz pioneered the application of remote viewing to archaeological and historical problem-solving through the Mobius Society.

The Mobius Society, which Schwartz founded and directed, developed a distinctive consensus remote viewing methodology designed to improve accuracy and reduce individual bias in nonlocal perception tasks. This approach involved multiple remote viewers independently describing the same target, with their descriptions then analyzed for convergent elements (the consensus) which would be compared against actual site conditions discovered through conventional archaeological and electronic survey methods.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Schwartz organized and led a series of major expeditions combining remote viewing with conventional archaeological fieldwork. These included surveys of underwater sites in Alexandria, Egypt; the Grand Bahama Banks; and other locations worldwide. The Alexandria Project, documented in his 1983 book, represented one of the most ambitious attempts to validate remote viewing through direct archaeological discovery. The Eastern Harbor survey, conducted decades later, continued this line of work with modern documentation standards.

Parallel to his archaeological work, Schwartz became increasingly interested in the mechanisms by which nonlocal consciousness might operate. He collaborated with researchers investigating intention effects on biological and physical systems, particularly the hypothesis that focused human intention could produce measurable changes in water, enzymes, and other substrates. This work connected him to the broader field of energy medicine and subtle-energy research.

From the 1990s onward, Schwartz expanded his intellectual scope to encompass consciousness and societal wellbeing. He founded the Schwartzreport, a daily news and policy digest examining how consciousness, values, and collective intention shape social outcomes, from healthcare systems to climate change to political polarization. This work, published primarily in the journal EXPLORE, reflects his conviction that understanding nonlocal consciousness has direct implications for how societies organize themselves and address existential challenges.

Research

Applied remote viewing in archaeology and marine exploration

Schwartz’s most visible contribution to parapsychology is the systematic application of remote viewing to archaeological discovery. The Alexandria Project exemplified this approach: remote viewers were asked to describe the layout, structures, and artifacts of ancient Alexandria, particularly the Eastern Harbor area, without prior knowledge of the site. Their descriptions were then compared against both historical records and the results of conventional survey methods.

The Eastern Harbor survey, published in 2021, reported the location of several significant archaeological features, including the ancient seawall, the island of Antirrhodus, and the palace complex associated with Cleopatra. Schwartz and his team compared remote viewing data with side scan sonar results from the same area. The findings showed that remote viewing led to the identification of key sites, while electronic remote sensing proved unproductive due to particulate matter in the water. Of 193 descriptive concepts provided by twelve remote viewers, 84% were confirmed as correct, 12% as partially correct but usable, and 4% as incorrect.¹

A similar pattern emerged from the Grand Bahama Banks expedition of 1987. Under license from the Bahamian Government, the Mobius Society surveyed an area of 579.15 square miles using the research vessel Seaview. The most significant discovery was the wreck of the American brig Leander, which sank in 1834. The vessel was located in a consensus zone identified through remote viewing (an area of 11.81 square miles) where electronic remote sensing had proven ineffective. Of the 193 descriptive concepts offered by remote viewers, 75% could be evaluated through direct field observation or historical research, with 84% correct, 12% partially correct but usable, and 4% incorrect.²

Schwartz also documented the discovery of a Byzantine structure in Marea, Egypt, using similar protocols.⁸ Across these expeditions, a consistent pattern emerged: nonlocally sourced information from remote viewers accomplished what electronic remote sensing could not, suggesting that remote viewing may access information through channels independent of conventional sensory or instrumental means.

Intention effects on biological and physical systems

Beyond archaeology, Schwartz investigated whether focused human intention could produce measurable changes in physical and biological substrates. This work drew on earlier research by Bernard Grad, Justa Smith, and others who reported that therapeutic touch or laying-on-of-hands could affect enzyme activity, plant growth, and other biological measures. Schwartz sought to test these claims using more rigorous controls and objective measurement techniques.

In a series of infrared spectrophotometry studies, Schwartz and colleagues examined whether water samples exposed to the hands of therapeutic practitioners would show altered infrared spectra compared to controls. In one pilot study involving 14 practitioners and 14 recipients, treated water samples showed significant differences from controls in the 2.5–3.0 micrometer range (P = 0.02). When analyzed using zinc selenide internal reflection elements alone, the effect was stronger (P = 0.005). The most robust finding came from treated versus calibration control samples using zinc selenide (P = 0.0004).³

Schwartz also examined whether intentioned awareness could alter the sensory properties of consumable substances. In a series of twelve wine-tasting experiments, groups of seven people tasted wine from a single bottle that had been decanted into two identical carafes. One carafe had been the focus of intentioned awareness by meditators; the other served as a control. Eleven of twelve sessions resulted in a majority preferring the treated wine, with one resulting in a tie. Using an exact binomial test, the p-value was 0.00049, suggesting that intentioned awareness produced a detectable effect on the aesthetic properties of the wine.⁴

These studies led Schwartz to develop a theoretical framework for understanding intention as a variable in nonlocal consciousness research. He argued that intention must be operationalized clearly, measured independently of outcomes, and distinguished from expectancy, belief, and other confounding psychological variables.⁷ He also addressed the challenge of distinguishing genuine skeptics (who accept the empirical evidence but question the interpretation) from deniers who reject the evidence itself.⁹

Interpersonal energy registration and subtle-energy detection

Schwartz collaborated with Gary Schwartz (no relation) and Linda Russek on experiments examining whether individuals could detect the presence of another person’s hand held a few inches away, without visual or auditory cues. In two experiments involving 20 and 41 blindfolded subjects, the average correct detection rate was 66% (chance = 50%, P < 0.00001). Notably, even subjects who performed at or below chance showed higher confidence ratings on correct trials than incorrect trials, suggesting implicit perception of hand-energy.⁵

In a 42-year follow-up to the Harvard Mastery of Stress study, Russek and Schwartz examined whether cardiac energy from an experimenter could be registered in the EEG of subjects. Using 19 channels of EEG and ECG recordings, they found that subjects who reported being raised by loving parents showed significant evidence of the experimenter’s cardiac energy in their EEG, particularly in anterior regions. These same subjects were also significantly healthier in late adulthood than subjects who rated their parents as “low in loving.”⁶

Theoretical and methodological contributions

Beyond specific empirical findings, Schwartz has contributed to the theoretical and philosophical foundations of consciousness research. In an essay on subtle energies and energy medicine research, he examined how scientific paradigms shift and how new fields of inquiry establish credibility within the broader scientific community.¹⁰ He argued that the challenge facing consciousness research is not the accumulation of data but the integration of that data into a coherent theoretical framework that the scientific establishment can recognize and engage with.

Schwartz has also written extensively on the relationship between therapeutic intent and observation, arguing that the art of careful, sustained observation (a hallmark of ancient medical systems) remains essential to modern consciousness research.¹¹ This perspective reflects his conviction that rigorous empiricism need not be confined to quantitative measurement; qualitative observation, when conducted systematically and documented carefully, contributes essential knowledge.

Consciousness and societal wellbeing

In recent years, Schwartz has applied his understanding of nonlocal consciousness to questions of public health, policy, and social crisis. He has published numerous essays examining the relationship between consciousness, collective intention, and societal outcomes, from healthcare system failures to climate change to political polarization. While these works are primarily policy and consciousness analysis rather than experimental parapsychology, they reflect his conviction that consciousness research has direct relevance to how societies function and survive.

Influence and reception

Schwartz’s work has been influential within parapsychology and consciousness studies, particularly his demonstration that remote viewing can be applied systematically to real-world archaeological problems. The Alexandria and Grand Bahama Banks expeditions remain among the most ambitious attempts to validate remote viewing through direct discovery and comparison with conventional methods. His publications in the Journal of Scientific Exploration and other peer-reviewed venues have established a methodological standard for applied remote viewing research.

His experimental work on intention effects and interpersonal energy registration has contributed to the growing field of energy medicine and subtle-energy research. The infrared spectrophotometry studies, in particular, have been cited as evidence that intention can produce measurable physical effects, though the mechanism remains unclear and the findings remain controversial within mainstream science.

Schwartz’s theoretical contributions, particularly his analysis of how scientific paradigms shift and how consciousness research can establish credibility, have influenced how parapsychologists frame their work and engage with skeptical audiences. His insistence on rigorous controls, transparent methodology, and honest engagement with null results has set a standard for applied consciousness research.

Within the broader culture, Schwartz’s Schwartzreport has reached a substantial audience interested in the intersection of consciousness, policy, and societal wellbeing. His essays on healthcare, climate change, and political consciousness have framed consciousness research as relevant to urgent contemporary problems, not merely academic curiosities.

Reception of Schwartz’s work varies significantly across audiences. Within parapsychology and consciousness studies, his archaeological and experimental work is generally regarded as rigorous and significant. Mainstream science remains skeptical, particularly regarding the interpretation of intention effects and remote viewing as evidence of nonlocal consciousness. Critics argue that alternative explanations (including statistical artifacts, experimenter bias, and selective reporting) cannot be ruled out. Schwartz has engaged these critiques directly, emphasizing the importance of replication, independent verification, and transparent methodology.