The 2004 book by Jon Ronson and the subsequent 2009 film are rooted in the real-world history of the U.S. military's experiments with paranormal phenomena
His work highlights how the same "creative" military thinking that sought to create psychic super-soldiers eventually evolved into the controversial "PsyOps" (Psychological Operations) of the 21st century. The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009) - Plot - IMDb The Men Who Stare At Goats
The essay delves into the key figures who populate this shadowy world. Chief among them is Major General Albert Stubblebine III, a highly decorated intelligence officer who, in the 1980s, publicly declared his belief in remote viewing and attempted to literally project his consciousness into a room in a different building. Another is Guy Savelli, a self-proclaimed psychic who taught soldiers how to create “spy clouds” to hide tanks and how to break bricks with their bare hands. Ronson presents these men not as villains, but as complex characters—visionaries, narcissists, and true believers who were often driven by a genuine desire to find a more enlightened, less violent form of combat. Their tragedy, Ronson suggests, was that the Pentagon, desperate for an edge over the Soviet Union during the Cold War, was willing to entertain their fantasies, only to abandon them when the political winds shifted. The 2004 book by Jon Ronson and the
