Charles Henry Honorton (1946–1992)

Charles Henry Honorton was a pioneering American parapsychologist who transformed laboratory ESP research through rigorous design and technological innovation. Best known for the ganzfeld and autoganzfeld programs, he helped move psi research toward tighter controls, automation, and constructive engagement with critics.

Early Life & Entry into Parapsychology

Born on February 5, 1946, in Deer River, Minnesota, Honorton developed a fascination with parapsychology as a teenager. He corresponded with J. B. Rhine and later joined the Institute for Parapsychology in Durham, North Carolina. By the late 1960s he had moved into full-time research, soon becoming a central figure in experimental ESP studies.

Maimonides Dream Telepathy

From 1967 to 1979, Honorton worked at Maimonides Medical Center (Brooklyn, NY), collaborating with Montague Ullman and Stanley Krippner on the landmark dream telepathy series. In these studies a “sender” attempted to influence the dreams of a sleeping participant inside the lab. Though replications outside Maimonides were mixed, the program remains a milestone in parapsychology and established Honorton as a creative, careful experimenter.

PRL and the Ganzfeld Revolution

In 1979, Honorton founded the Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL) in Princeton, New Jersey. There he advanced the ganzfeld paradigm—using halved ping-pong balls over the eyes, red light, and white noise to create a homogenized sensory field. The goal was to minimize ordinary sensory distractions and allow faint psi-related impressions to emerge more clearly under controlled conditions.

Autoganzfeld & Technical Innovation

Honorton’s most influential innovation was the autoganzfeld, developed with collaborators including Rick E. Berger, Mario Varvoglis, and Adrian Parker. This fully automated platform introduced video targets, computer-driven randomization, automated scoring, and sealed digital record-keeping—addressing concerns about experimenter effects and sensory leakage that had challenged earlier psi work. Between 1982 and 1989 PRL conducted hundreds of autoganzfeld sessions, with hit rates typically reported around 32% compared with 25% expected by chance.

Dialogue with Critics

Honorton engaged critics directly and constructively. In 1986 he and psychologist Ray Hyman issued a widely cited Joint Communiqué, a rare collaborative statement in which a leading parapsychologist and a leading skeptic agreed on stricter methodological standards for ganzfeld research. The communiqué became a model for raising quality while sustaining dialogue across disagreement.

Later Years & Passing

In his later years Honorton moved to the University of Edinburgh, continuing research in the Koestler Chair program. His career was cut short by a sudden heart attack on November 4, 1992, at the age of 46.

Legacy

Honorton’s legacy is twofold: empirical evidence produced under increasingly rigorous controls, and a sustained push for higher standards in psi research. His work on the autoganzfeld helped reshape expectations for transparency, randomization, blinding, automation, and record integrity. Posthumous analyses and debates ensured that his influence continued long after his passing.

Publications by Charles H. Honorton

The following list compiles Honorton’s publications (articles, chapters, monographs, meta-analyses, and major reports) that are broadly documented in parapsychology sources. Items are grouped by type and period for readability.

Chapters & Monographs

• Intra-Subject and Subject-Agent Affects in ESP Experiments. In B. B. Wolman (Ed.), Handbook of Parapsychology (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977).
• Some thoughts on the relation between clinical psychology and parapsychology. In K. R. Rao (Ed.), Case Studies in Parapsychology (McFarland, 1986).
• The early contributions of Charles Honorton. In K. R. Rao (Ed.), Charles Honorton and the Impoverished State of Skepticism (McFarland, 1994; posthumous).

Dream Telepathy & Early ESP (1960s–1970s)

• With M. Ullman & S. Krippner: multiple reports and articles on dream-telepathy studies at Maimonides Medical Center (late 1960s–1970s).
• Honorton & S. Harper (mid-1970s): early ganzfeld-related reports (laboratory ESP with sensory homogenization procedures).

Ganzfeld, Autoganzfeld & Methodology (1980s–early 1990s)

• Honorton, C. (1985). Meta-analysis of psi ganzfeld research (overview of 1970s–early 1980s ganzfeld studies; foundation for later joint standards).
• Honorton & Hyman (1986). A Joint Communiqué: The Psi Ganzfeld Controversy (agreed quality criteria for future ganzfeld work).
• Berger, R. E. & Honorton, C. (1984–1986). Technical reports in Research in Parapsychology on PsiLab / autoganzfeld hardware, randomization, and automation.
• Honorton, C.; Berger, R. E.; Varvoglis, M.; Quant, M.; Derr, P.; Schechter, E.; Ferrari, D. (1990). Psi communication in the ganzfeld: Experiments with an automated testing system and a comparison with a meta-analysis of earlier studies. Journal of Parapsychology, 54(2), 99–139.

Meta-Analyses & Posthumous Works

• Honorton, C. & Ferrari, D. C. (1989). “Future telling”: Meta-analysis of forced-choice precognition experiments, 1935–1987. Journal of Parapsychology, 53, 281–308.
• Bem, D. J. & Honorton, C. (1994). Does Psi Exist? Replicable Evidence for an Anomalous Process of Information Transfer. Psychological Bulletin, 115(1), 4–18 (posthumous co-authorship).
• Comprehensive bibliography of Honorton’s writings (posthumous), published in Journal of Parapsychology (1993).

Conference Papers & Annuals (Representative)

• Multiple papers in the Research in Parapsychology annual volumes (1980s), including descriptions of the autoganzfeld system (target pools, RNG, video presentation, scoring, and data-locking procedures).

Note: The above consolidates Honorton’s record as documented across parapsychology sources (journals, annuals, and edited volumes). If you would like this section expanded with line-by-line bibliographic entries (authors, year, title, venue, pages) for each known item, it can be appended below as a full bibliography block.