What Is IRVA?
IRVA stands for the International Remote Viewing Association — the primary professional organization for practitioners, researchers, and students of RV (Remote Viewing). Founded in 1999, IRVA serves as a central hub for the remote viewing community, providing educational resources, hosting annual conferences, and working to maintain standards of practice and ethics in a field that spans the boundary between scientific research and applied psychic methodology.
Origins
IRVA was established in the years following the 1995 declassification of the U.S. government’s Stargate remote viewing program. When the program’s existence became public knowledge, several former military and intelligence community remote viewers — along with researchers from SRI (Stanford Research Institute) — transitioned into the civilian sector. IRVA was created to provide organizational structure, professional standards, and a community forum for the growing civilian remote viewing movement.
Mission and Activities
IRVA’s stated mission is to promote the responsible practice, research, and education of remote viewing. The organization hosts an annual conference that brings together experienced viewers, researchers, and newcomers. Conference presentations cover topics ranging from practical remote viewing methodology and training approaches to theoretical frameworks attempting to explain how remote viewing might work, applications in archaeology, business, and missing persons cases, and ongoing experimental research into anomalous cognition.
Standards and Ethics
One of IRVA’s key functions is establishing and maintaining ethical standards for remote viewing practice. The field exists in a space where legitimate research and skilled practice coexist with exaggerated claims and outright fraud. IRVA works to distinguish credible practitioners and researchers from those making unsupported claims, though the organization acknowledges that the subjective nature of remote viewing makes definitive credentialing challenging.
Significance
IRVA represents the institutionalization of remote viewing as a practice that outlived its classified government origins. The organization provides continuity between the original Stargate-era research and contemporary civilian practice, ensuring that the protocols, methodology, and accumulated knowledge developed during decades of government-funded research remain accessible and continue to evolve.
Related Terms
IRVA connects directly to RV (Remote Viewing), SRI (Stanford Research Institute), ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception), PSI (Parapsychological Phenomena), IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences), and the broader field of consciousness research studied at institutions like DOPS (Division of Perceptual Studies).