This is the second installment of a new VICE column called THE WOO, and was published in the summer 2025 issue of VICE magazine, THE REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL ISSUE. Get 4 issues each year, sent straight to your door, by subscribing here.
Remote viewing is the act of perceiving things that are happening elsewhere, both in space and in time, entirely via the power of the mind. These events could be unfolding in near-futures or ancient pasts. At the shop down the road or maybe on the outskirts of Vladivostok. During the Cold War, the Pentagon spent millions on remote viewing, funding a program eventually known as Stargate to test psychics’ abilities in the area; researchers on the project like Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ controversially claimed success rates exceeding 65 percent. On the other hand, you can also watch a six-minute YouTube clip of British mesmerist Derren Brown seemingly debunking the practice as little more than cold reading and educated guesswork.
So is this really quantum tunneling, or a trick of the mind?
Recently, I’ve been served up a glut of remote-viewing content via predatory social media algorithms identifying me as a likely audience, almost certainly caused by my depressingly insatiable consumption of UFOlogy truthseekers ‘n’ grifters videos. Now that Jacques Vallee’s musings on the para-psychological component of UFO encounters is back in vogue and we have organizations like Skywatcher out in the desert using “psionics” to call down UAPs, psychic phenomena is firmly back on the paranormal content-creator menu.
Riding this digital swell is an organization called the Future Forecasting Group, which bills itself as “the best non-military remote-viewing team in the world.” Among FFG’s ranks is one Dick Allgire, who’s revered as a pioneer within the remote-viewing community. Dick was a TV news anchor when he first heard about remote viewing in 1996, on Art Bell’s legendary late-night radio phone-in show Coast to Coast AM. At that point, he began to lead a “double life,” working as a reporter by day and honing his remote-viewing skills by night.
I called Dick to see if his remote-viewing abilities give him any optimism for the future of humanity.
VICE: How did you get started with the Future Forecasting Group?
Dick Allgire: I was a mainstream TV news anchor for 34 years. A very ‘buttoned-down’ guy in a suit and tie, working in Salt Lake City and Honolulu. Then, I met a retired Green Beret named Glenn Wheaton, who’d worked as a remote viewer for U.S. Army Special Forces Intelligence. He trained me, at no cost, for many years. Remote viewing is a skill that can be developed. We all have a subconscious awareness that is immersed in a soup of a greater field of consciousness.
After that, I worked for a time with a group called Farsight Institute, on projects looking at things like Area 51, the JFK assassination, 9/11, what really happened to Hitler, Atlantis, and other weird mysteries. Some of my work caught the attention of some rather influential people, who I won’t identify, who recruited me to form the Future Forecasting Group.
What’s the purpose of the FFG?
To create a place for talented remote viewers to work safely, with protocols that ensure the validity of that work and staff that can analyze it well. As well as exploring ancient mysteries, we’re striving to predict future changes to our civilization.
Dick, I’m gonna lay it on the line: It’s pretty grim out there. In your work, do you foresee any reasons for humanity to be cheerful?
Things are going to get crazy over the next two years. We’re at the end of the current financial system, so it’s going to be rough for a while. It’ll be a time of “hyper novelty.” Those who embrace hyper-novelty will do well. I know young people are worried about not being able to own a house or save money. But this is a time of tremendous opportunity.
What kinds of opportunities?
Blockchain will make everyday transactions easier, seamless, done beneath the surface. If you own a car, you’ll let it become a taxi while you’re not using it. While you’re asleep, your car will drive itself to pick someone up and they will pay you digital tokens for the use of it.
Robots are going to do all the difficult, low-paying work.
“It’ll be a time of ‘hyper novelty.’ Those who embrace hyper-novelty will do well.”
Have you seen anything beyond that?
In the future, we’ll all be categorized as either a ‘consumer,’ a ‘participant,’ or a ‘producer.’ You don’t want to be a consumer. That means you’ll get a Universal Basic Income and won’t be allowed too much comfort or access to nice places. A participant will be what we used to call the middle class. If you are someone who produces things and generates income you’ll have a much better level of access to good things and places. One way to ensure you’re going to move comfortably into the new system is to have some wealth in cryptocurrencies. Here is a tip: [redacted] Did I mention that I am not authorized to give financial advice?
You have now. What about climate change?
We’ve done a few remote viewings on climate change, and big things are happening. We are picking up on dramatic weather episodes, flooding, more fires, and other catastrophic events. The sun has a big impact on global climate, and we’re entering a portion of the galaxy where galactic energy is affecting the sun. These are cycles that have repeated for many tens of thousands of years. The earth is going to go through some upheaval but it’ll survive and renew. It’s billions of years old. Life will continue.
Won’t all this mean less personal freedom?
The new system will be more constraining, but will require less annoyance. It will certainly reduce crime. I think there will be less racial tension, but maybe there will be some class tension. I did a remote viewing where I saw people in 50 years looking back at us and thinking, ‘Those people were crazy! They all had these big automobiles, and they would sit in them endlessly in traffic, burning gasoline and not moving.’ They saw us as wasteful and living out of harmony with both technology and nature.
I think a lot of people feel that way about society now; I guess it’s heartening to know these attitudes might become more prevalent.
It’s going to be a fun ride. One last thing. Remote viewing is real. I do it as honestly and legitimately as I can. I wouldn’t be part of the FFG if I didn’t know that it helps people. It should be said that being a remote viewer doesn’t make one omniscient. You glimpse things that are disjointed and fragmented. Sometimes we’re just wrong. We’re not Nostradamus!
This is the second installment of a new VICE column called THE WOO, and was published in the summer 2025 issue of VICE magazine, THE REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL ISSUE. Get four issues each year, sent straight to your door, by subscribing here.
The post We Got a Psychic ‘Remote Viewer’ to Scan the Future for Hope appeared first on VICE.
