School tests for gifted children are the starting point for Psychic Agent: The Gate Program, a 2026 documentary exploring a possible connection to secret government research into psychic abilities. Written and directed by Ryder Lee and produced by Ken Swartz, the 105-minute film is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
The documentary looks at ESP experiments within MKUltra, including subprojects that tested children. It traces remote-viewing research from SRI around 1972 to the military unit that later operated at Fort Meade, then raises its central question: did public-school gifted screening have a related role in finding children with psychic potential?
The interviews include people who worked in those government remote-viewing programs. Dale Graff managed operations for the Star Gate unit at Fort Meade and coined its name; Lyn Buchanan spent about 8.5 years as a U.S. Army remote viewer and trainer in the unit.
Angela Ford, another former government remote-viewing participant, also appears, as do former GATE students.
Lee has described spending roughly 3 years following the paper trail from MKUltra through Star Gate and into school programs. The proposed school-to-government connection remains the film’s premise. The film distinguishes the Fort Meade unit from direct testing of children.
GATE stands for Gifted and Talented Education. In California, local decisions shape gifted services and their funding. The federal Javits Act, passed in 1988, supports research and demonstration projects; it doesn’t fund local gifted programs.
Gifted education’s history includes a major expansion after Sputnik’s launch in 1957 and the National Defense Education Act of 1958. By 1972, the Marland Report recognized creative, artistic and leadership abilities within its broader definition of giftedness.
Government research into psychic abilities also has a documented history. The CIA dates its remote-viewing research to 1972-1977, before the work moved to the Defense Intelligence Agency. Participants tried to describe locations they hadn’t physically visited.
An independent review in 1995 helped determine the project’s fate: the CIA decided against restarting the research because the results weren’t consistent enough to use for intelligence work.
