This Monday morning 25th of July 2022 at 06:30 AM, I gave a talk and workshop for the International Remote Viewing Association Conference 2022. This very special occasion was the celebration of the 50th anniversary of IRVA! It was the first time the live conference was accessible to people all over the world online and for those attending in Menlo Park, California there were some extra activities.
I was humbled to be among the very impressive line-up of speakers arranged by Debra Lynne-Katz and Lily Efflorescence. Due to the time difference with Western Australia, I missed out on some of the speakers, yet I managed to catch some of the online speakers and they were amazing!
Forensic Art & Remote Viewing
My presentation was about the similarities between Forensic Art and Remote Viewing and how Forensic Art techniques can assist Remote Viewers. Although a Forensic Sketch artist (aka Police Sketch Artist) always has a witness, the Remote Viewer IS the witness and when the Remote Viewer perceives a person it can be helpful to record as much detail as you can capture.
The cognitive interview is an important part of the process for Forensic Sketch Artists. Remote Viewers (without the assistance of a Monitor) will need to direct themselves and question themselves on the information, also asking non-leading questions. This starts by developing a vocabulary of facial features, some basic knowledge of facial anatomy and practising sketching techniques.
Faces Can Solve Cases: Examples of how Remote Viewing sketches of faces have assisted law enforcement.
I listed 2 examples of how sketches of faces have previously assisted law enforcement, in each case using a different technique and explaining the pros and cons of those techniques.
The presentation included some tips for those who are not yet comfortable sketching faces. These include using the FlashFace App (Identikit Software) or a reference book like Samantha Steinberg’s New Facial Identification Catalogue.
Asking the right questions to get results
I took the audience through the dialogue of questioning and answers, during a Remote Viewing session, which is the same as when there would be a witness. The Remote Viewer needs to switch from observing witness mode to sketch artist mode during a session. Using active-listening techniques to clarify things by reflecting the words that were initially used back to the virtual witness.
Studying faces and features
A brief overview of different facial features was given based on the skull identification principles. The differences between male and female skulls, the challenges identifying children and their characteristics. Then the very basic terminology used to describe faces was demonstrated.
Trying to be a sketch artist
The last part was the most interesting, and challenging for the audience, where they got to practice being a sketch artist. I was going to describe a person I had seen years ago at a conference, and they were to make a sketch of this person. At the end of the interview, people could show their results on the screen. After this, the IRVA conference poster was shown. It contained all the speakers of the current conference and the audience was asked if they could pick the person they sketched from this poster. Some immediately picked Russell Targ, while others pointed at Hal Puthoff. The mystery person I was describing was indeed Russell Targ.
There were some really good questions after this practice! Tamra asked: “How do you sketch frameless glasses?” The trick is to outline ever so lightly and then use an eraser around the highlighted edges to represent the light refraction. Sometimes you can also erase a little bit on the curve of the glass to suggest the reflection.
Everyone who sketched with a pen probably realised why I recommended pencils, blending tools and soft-erasers. Lessons learned!
Other questions, were about my personal experience and how I perceive data during Remote Viewing. On a good day, if I have a strong signal, I perceive things as in a movie or as if I were there. On other days it can be fragmented into short snippets of impressions, with a few fleeting visuals. I try to prompt myself to look for useful information.
The full video of the presentation will be made available for members (or purchase) on: www.irva.org