William Foos
ESP proponent named in the FBI's 1957–1960 ESP file
- Hometown
- Richmond, Virginia (per FBI file)
- Known for
- Claimed to teach people, including blind people, to 'see' without eyes
- FBI file
- Extra-Sensory Perception, 1957–1960
- Outcome
- FBI found no scientific support and did not pursue it
Virginia ESP promoter who claimed he could teach blind people to see; the FBI and CIA looked at his claims in 1957 and dropped them.
What is William Foos known for?
William Foos is known almost entirely from a small FBI file on extrasensory perception. The FBI Vault describes the release as cross-references to ESP found in Bureau files from 1957 to 1960, several of which concern Foos, whom it calls a proponent of ESP.
According to the documents, Foos, of Richmond, Virginia, claimed he had taught members of his family and about 25 other people, including people who were completely blind, to perceive their surroundings without using their eyes. Some documents discuss whether such abilities could be used in espionage work.
The file records FBI contacts with the CIA about Foos in 1957. By September of that year CIA contacts told the FBI that he had produced nothing new and his claims were not supported. The FBI states that it found no scientific support for these or other ESP claims and did not pursue them.
His file is a small, early example of the US government briefly weighing psychic claims, years before the much larger remote-viewing programs.
Main subject of the FBI's small 1957–1960 file on extrasensory perception.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeThe FBI's Extra-Sensory Perception File
Sources
- FBI Records: The Vault, 'Extra-Sensory Perception'Primary text
- FBI Records: The Vault, 'Extra-Sensory Perception Part 1 of 1' (document scan)Primary text
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