Grover Cleveland "Cleve" Backster, Jr. (born February 27, 1924)[1] is a best known for his experiments with biocommunication in plant and animal cells using a polygraph machine in the 1960s which led to his theory of "primary perception." Backster began his career as an Interrogation Specialist with the CIA, and went on to become Chairman of the Research and Instrument Committee of the Academy for Scientific Interrogation. He is currently director of the Backster School of Lie Detection in San Diego, California. He was born in Lafayette, New Jersey.[2]
His course of study changed in the 1960s, when he reported observing that a polygraph instrument attached to a plant leaf registered a change in electrical resistance when the plant was harmed or even threatened with harm. He argued that plants perceived human intentions, and as Backster began to investigate further, he also reported a finding that other human thoughts and emotions caused reactions in plants that could be recorded by a polygraph instrument. His work was in part inspired by the research of Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose,[3] who claimed to have discovered that playing certain kinds of music in the area where plants grew caused them to grow faster.
He termed the plants' sensitivity to thoughts "primary perception," and published his findings from the experiments in the International Journal of Parapsychology.[4] The article was met with wide criticism of his research methods. However Backster gained the interest of other researchers and expanded his experimental range to test for primary perceptions in other life forms such as yogurt, bacteria and human cells.
Since then Backster has presented his work at numerous scientific meetings including those of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA.
[edit]Backster School of Lie Detection
The Backster School of Lie Detection is located in San Diego, California, and is the longest running polygraph school in the world.[citation needed] The school was originally founded in New York City in 1960,[citation needed] shortly after Mr. Backster left his position with the Central Intelligence Agency. Backster founded the CIA's polygraph unit shortly after World War II.[citation needed]
| 