ONR intuition and sensemaking research
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
ONR intuition research
| Programme | Basic Research Challenge: Enhancing Intuitive Decision Making Through Implicit Learning |
|---|---|
| Announced | 2012 (Special Notice 12-SN-0007) |
| Agency | Office of Naval Research (ONR), Codes 30 and 34 |
| Length | Four years (two phases) |
| Funding | About $3.85 million |
| Nickname | "Spidey sense" / "sixth sense" research |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 177 |
| Date | 2012 |
| Topics | Government programs (topic) |
| People | Annie Jacobsen |
| Year | 2012 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2012 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
The ONR intuition research programme, formally the Basic Research Challenge "Enhancing Intuitive Decision Making Through Implicit Learning", was a four-year U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) effort. It studied the "sixth sense" by which sailors and Marines sometimes seem to sense danger before they consciously notice it, and whether that ability could be trained. ONR announced it in 2012 as a "revolutionary research program" with about $3.85 million in funding.[4] ONR later publicised it with comparisons to Spider-Man's "spidey sense", while stressing that it "has nothing to do with the supernatural or superheroes".[1] The anonymous UAP timeline in Michael Shellenberger's 2024 congressional testimony lists it under 2012.[5]
The programme
- Dates. The earlier version of this article said ONR launched the programme in 2014. ONR's Special Notice 12-SN-0007, the "Special Program Announcement for 2012", asked for white papers by 15 March 2012 and full proposals by 15 May 2012. Funding decisions were expected by 15 June 2012 and awards by 1 November 2012.[4] ONR's undated news release about the programme, in which it said it "has embarked on a four-year basic research program", appears to be later.[1] Press reports in 2017 described it as a 2014 study.[3]
- Hypothesis. The core idea was that implicit learning, the unconscious absorption of patterns, supports intuitive decision-making. If so, non-experts might gain intuitive skills that normally take years of experience.[4] The notice defined intuition as "a rapid, non-conscious, cue to the existence of meaningful information" picked up through the senses. It drew on research suggesting that intuition and implicit learning share neural structures.[4]
- Four challenges. The work was to characterise intuitive decision-making at the neural, cognitive and behavioural levels; represent it in computational cognitive models using machine learning; develop implicit-learning methods to strengthen it; and test the hypothesis through scenario- and simulation-based training on real operational tasks.[4]
- Budget. The roughly $3.85 million was split three ways: $1.45 million for characterising intuition and implicit learning; $1.40 million for computational models; and $1.00 million for simulation-based training and validation. Phase 1 was to last two years and Phase 2 one year.[4]
- Applications. ONR expected the results to help cyber warfare, unmanned system operators, intelligence analysts and small-unit leaders: anyone who must make sense of large amounts of information quickly or with poor data.[4]
ONR's account
- ONR said that in February of the year of its release it hosted experts in neural, cognitive and behavioural science, along with representatives of other services, industry and university laboratories, to coordinate studies of intuition for military personnel and first responders.[1]
- Dr. Peter Squire, ONR's programme officer for human performance, training and education, said the goal was to help sailors and Marines "harness their gut instincts". He added: "But first, we have to understand what gives rise to this so-called 'sixth sense.' Can we model it? Is there a way to improve it through training?"[1] The earlier version of this article said Squire ran the programme. The 2012 notice lists two other ONR scientists as its technical points of contact.[4]
- Lt. Cmdr. Brent Olde of ONR's Warfighter Performance Department said that "a seasoned warfighter develops a gut instinct through experience". He said that modelling the process might give sailors and Marines "years of experience in a matter of days".[1]
Field anecdotes
- The 2012 notice quoted news reports from the Iraq war. In one, soldiers said in hindsight that their "spidey sense" had been tingling before an attack. In another, a reservist's awareness meant no one was seriously hurt in a roadside-bomb attack.[4] The earlier version of this article said the programme was prompted by reports from Iraq and Afghanistan. The sources read here cite Iraq only.
- ONR's examples of decisions with little time to spare included spotting roadside bombs from a moving vehicle, sensing danger from something unusual at a café, and deciding whether an object launched off the coast was a missile or an airliner.[1]
Phenomena
- The journalist Annie Jacobsen discussed the programme in her 2017 book Phenomena, a history of U.S. government research into extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. She presented it as an example of continuing military interest in unusual perception.[2] The Washington Times reported in April 2017 that Jacobsen had interviewed officials involved in the ONR project.[3] Neither article could be read for this rewrite, so the details of her account are not covered here.
UAP speculation
- The Shellenberger timeline notes that it would be "worth determining" whether the programme looked at psychological communication between humans and aerospace craft. It points to claims of "intuitive" communication projects between humans and UAP at the NSA.[5]
- The programme's published goals concern human cognition: pattern recognition, memory, perception and training. Neither ONR document mentions psychic powers, UAP or communication with craft.[1][4]
People and topics
- Office of Naval Research — The U.S. Navy's research funding office.
- Annie Jacobsen — Journalist and author of Area 51 and Phenomena.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline
- John Herrington briefing story (2012) — An author relays a story told by a neighbor of a former Energy Secretary.
- Brilliant Buzzard (June 2013) — A researcher claims Project Brilliant Buzzard was used to track objects during SDI.
See every 2012 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "More than a feeling: ONR investigates 'spidey sense' for sailors and Marines", Office of Naval Research · onr.navy.mil · archived copy
- "Phenomena: Annie Jacobsen on the government's psychic research", Time (2017) · time.com · archived copy
- "Pentagon explores 'sixth sense' seemingly displayed by troops in combat", Washington Times (Apr 2017) · washingtontimes.com · archived copy
- citeseerx.ist.psu.edu · citeseerx.ist.psu.edu · archived copy
- Michael Shellenberger, written testimony to the House Oversight Committee (13 November 2024), p. 177 · oversight.house.gov
Categories: 2012 | Annie jacobsen | Government programs | Office of naval research | Timeline event | Unidentified anomalous phenomena
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
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