The Location and Reconstruction of a Byzantine Structure in Marea, Egypt, Including a Comparison of Electronic Remote Sensing and Remote Viewing
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Plain English Summary
Back in 1979, researchers ran a fascinating test in Egypt: could psychic 'remote viewers' find buried ancient buildings better than high-tech instruments? Two experienced viewers, working independently under strict blind conditions, were asked to describe what lay underground at the ancient city of Marea. They pinpointed a 6th-century Byzantine structure, nailing details like wall depth (they said 3-4 feet; excavation found 3 feet 4 inches), the number of rooms, doorway positions, and even that there would be green marble mosaic tiles. Here is the kicker: a professional electronic survey using a magnetometer (a device that detects buried objects through magnetic signals) and satellite imagery had already scanned the same spot and found absolutely nothing. The psychic descriptions were the only data that correctly predicted what was underground. The full experiment, with complete audio-visual records, was not formally published until 2019, making it one of the best-documented applied remote viewing studies ever.
Actual Paper Abstract
This paper reports the location and reconstruction of a Byzantine structure in the now-buried city of Marea along the shores of Lake Maryut, some 44 km southwest of Alexandria, Egypt. A Pharaonic trade center that was occupied until the 16th Century, the city has been long abandoned and lies buried around what formerly was the lakeshore. This paper reports on an applied remote viewing experiment in which two remote viewers were asked to first locate Marea, and then a buried building within the city, and, finally, to describe what would be found within the building site selected, with a particularly emphasis on tile and other decorative material. It also includes a comparison of remote viewing data with electronic remote sensing, and geographical data for the same area done independently three years earlier. The comparison is striking because while the remote viewers were successfully able to locate a building, including staking out its door, and corners, as well as providing a wealth of reconstructive and descriptive material about what would be found at the site, the electronic remote sensing and geographical analysis produced no suggestion whatever that there was a site at this location. For this reason, prior to discovery, much of the remote viewing data seemed extremely improbable, and notably contradicted the informed judgment of an archaeologist deemed by the University of Alexandria to be the leading authority on Marea.
Research Notes
One of the most fully documented applied RV studies: a 1979 field experiment published in 2019 with complete audio-visual records. Its unique value is a direct head-to-head comparison of RV against electronic sensing at the identical location — the magnetometer found nothing; RV located and described the building. Part of Schwartz's Alexandria Project series.
An applied remote viewing experiment at the buried ancient city of Marea, Egypt, in which two experienced viewers — George McMullen and Hella Hammid — independently located and described a 6th-century Byzantine structure under triple-blind conditions before excavation in April 1979. Viewers predicted wall depths (confirmed at 3 ft 4 in vs. predicted 3–4 ft), three rooms, doorway and corner positions, the color green, and marble mosaic tiles; all major predictions were confirmed by excavation. A direct comparison with a 1976 electronic remote sensing survey (proton precession magnetometer, satellite imagery) by Prof. Mahmoud Sadek showed the electronic survey found no sub-surface structures at this location, while remote viewing produced the only positive predictive data.
Links
Related Papers
Same Research Program
- Water, Wine and the Sacred, An Anthropological View of Substances Altered by Intentioned Awareness, Including Objective and Aesthetic Effects — Schwartz, Stephan A (2019)
- Nonlocality, Intention, and Observer Effects in Healing Studies: Laying a Foundation for the Future — Schwartz, Stephan A (2010)
- A Preliminary Survey of the Eastern Harbor, Alexandria, Egypt, Including a Comparison of Side Scan Sonar and Remote Viewing — Schwartz, Stephan A (1980)
Cites
- Information transmission under conditions of sensory shielding — Targ, Russell (1974)
- A Perceptual Channel for Information Transfer over Kilometer Distances: Historical Perspective and Recent Research — Puthoff, Harold E (1976)
- A Preliminary Survey of the Eastern Harbor, Alexandria, Egypt, Including a Comparison of Side Scan Sonar and Remote Viewing — Schwartz, Stephan A (1980)
Precursor
Companion
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📋 Cite this paper
Schwartz, Stephan A (2019). The Location and Reconstruction of a Byzantine Structure in Marea, Egypt, Including a Comparison of Electronic Remote Sensing and Remote Viewing. Journal of Scientific Exploration. https://doi.org/10.31275/2019/1479
@article{schwartz_2019_location,
title = {The Location and Reconstruction of a Byzantine Structure in Marea, Egypt, Including a Comparison of Electronic Remote Sensing and Remote Viewing},
author = {Schwartz, Stephan A},
year = {2019},
journal = {Journal of Scientific Exploration},
doi = {10.31275/2019/1479},
}