Targeting
Targeting refers to the process by which individuals are identified, selected, and subjected to systematic surveillance, harassment, and — according to many accounts — non-consensual experimentation using advanced technologies. Within the Targeted Individual community, "being targeted" describes a specific and reportedly coordinated experience involving stalking, electronic harassment, psychological operations, and the deployment of Neuroweapons and Directed Energy Weapons against private citizens. While mainstream institutions largely deny the existence of organised targeting programmes directed at ordinary civilians, documented historical precedents, whistleblower testimony, and a growing body of circumstantial evidence suggest that such programmes have existed in the past and may continue in evolved forms today.

Concept and Definition
In the broadest sense, "targeting" in this context means the deliberate selection of an individual or group as the subject of clandestine attention by a state actor, private contractor, or networked organisation. This attention may take the form of:
- Continuous physical surveillance (overt and covert)
- Interception of communications
- Infiltration of social and professional networks
- Electronic harassment using Directed Energy Weapons, V2K (Voice to Skull), or related technologies
- Psychological operations designed to destabilise the target's mental health, relationships, and livelihood
- Non-consensual medical or neurological experimentation
The term distinguishes between conventional law enforcement surveillance — which requires judicial oversight — and extrajudicial or covert targeting that operates outside normal legal frameworks. According to Targeted Individual researchers and advocates, the latter is the more relevant category for understanding what is reported by thousands of individuals worldwide.
Who Is Targeted?
Reported targets span a wide demographic, but common threads appear in the literature:
- Whistleblowers and dissidents — individuals who have spoken out against government agencies, corporations, or powerful institutions
- Political activists — particularly those involved in civil rights, anti-war, environmental, or sovereignty movements
- Journalists and researchers — especially those investigating sensitive national security or pharmaceutical topics
- Former intelligence and military personnel — those who have left programmes under contested circumstances
- Random civilians — individuals who may have been enrolled in non-consensual research programmes, or selected by automated AI-driven systems based on communication patterns
Some researchers, including Dr. Robert Duncan, suggest that modern targeting may increasingly be automated, with AI systems flagging individuals based on keyword patterns, social graph analysis, or behavioural profiling, rather than deliberate human selection.
Historical Precedents
COINTELPRO
The most thoroughly documented precedent for systematic government targeting of civilians is COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Programme), operated by the FBI from 1956 to 1971. Revealed through the 1971 Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI and subsequent Senate Church Committee hearings, COINTELPRO targeted:
- Civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King Jr.
- Members of the Black Panther Party and SNCC
- Anti-Vietnam War activists
- Socialist and communist organisations
- Puerto Rican independence movements
Tactics included anonymous smear letters, infiltration by informants, engineered conflicts between groups, and coordination with local police departments. The programme demonstrated that federal agencies were willing and able to conduct sustained, covert harassment campaigns against law-abiding citizens based purely on political beliefs.
MK-Ultra and Non-Consensual Experimentation
MK-Ultra, the CIA's mind control research programme (1953–1973), represents a documented instance of non-consensual targeting for experimentation. Subjects were selected from vulnerable populations — hospital patients, prisoners, military personnel, and members of the public — often without their knowledge. Techniques included:
- LSD and psychedelic drug administration
- Sensory deprivation and hypnosis
- Electroconvulsive therapy
- Early exploration of electronic brain stimulation
Many researchers, including Dr. Len Ber and authors of the Targeted Individual literature, argue that MK-Ultra was never truly terminated — merely reclassified and evolved into programmes using modern technology, including Brain-Computer Interface research and directed energy applications.
Operation CHAOS
Operation CHAOS was a CIA domestic surveillance programme running from 1967 to 1974, targeting anti-war activists and suspected foreign influence operations on US soil. At its peak, the programme had files on over 7,000 US citizens. Like COINTELPRO, it operated outside its legal mandate and was eventually exposed by congressional investigation.
These three programmes collectively establish that US government agencies have, on multiple documented occasions, engaged in systematic civilian targeting outside the law — making claims about ongoing targeting programmes historically plausible, not merely speculative.
The Modern Targeting Infrastructure
Fusion Centres
Fusion Centres are intelligence-sharing hubs established across the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks, ostensibly to coordinate counterterrorism efforts between federal, state, and local agencies. Critics and Targeted Individual advocates argue that fusion centres have become nodes in a domestic targeting infrastructure, enabling:
- Coordinated surveillance of individuals placed on watchlists
- Communication between law enforcement, private contractors, and community informant networks
- The laundering of intelligence obtained through illegal means into "legitimate" investigative files
A 2012 Senate investigation found that fusion centres were producing intelligence of "little value" for counterterrorism, yet were consuming enormous resources — suggesting their primary function may be domestic monitoring of non-terrorist populations.
Watchlists and National Security Letters
The US government maintains several watchlists with limited transparency and virtually no due process for inclusion or removal:
- Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) — the master watchlist, containing over 1 million entries at various points
- No-Fly List — a subset preventing listed individuals from boarding aircraft
- Selectee List — subjects to enhanced screening at airports
- TIDE (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment) — the intelligence community's broader database
National Security Letters (NSLs) allow the FBI to demand records from third parties (telecoms, banks, ISPs) without judicial approval, and include gag orders preventing recipients from disclosing the request. Some Targeted Individuals report that NSLs may be used to build covert surveillance files on targeted individuals without their knowledge.
Stingray Devices and Communication Interception
Cell-site simulators (commonly called "Stingrays") mimic mobile phone towers, capturing device identifiers and communications from all phones in an area. Combined with NSA bulk data collection programmes revealed by Edward Snowden in 2013, these tools provide a comprehensive communication interception capability that can be directed at any individual on a watchlist — or used to populate watchlists in the first place.
AI and Automated Targeting
Several researchers suggest that the targeting of individuals is no longer exclusively a human-driven decision. Artificial Intelligence systems capable of processing vast datasets — communication metadata, financial transactions, social media activity, location data — can flag individuals for closer attention based on pattern-matching algorithms.
Concerning aspects of AI-driven targeting include:
- Predictive policing models that assign risk scores to individuals before any crime has been committed
- Social graph mapping that expands targeting to an individual's associates
- Sentiment analysis of communications that can flag dissenting political views
- Automated nomination to watchlists without human review of individual cases
DARPA has funded research into numerous AI-based threat identification systems, some of which have reportedly been deployed domestically. Dr. James Giordano of Georgetown University has publicly discussed the development of neurocognitive targeting systems capable of identifying individuals based on brain-state signatures detectable via remote sensing.
Targeting Mechanisms Described by Targeted Individuals
Members of the Targeted Individual community describe a remarkably consistent set of experiences that suggest a coordinated targeting process:
Initial Placement on a List
Many TIs report a specific triggering event before their targeting began — a whistleblowing action, filing a complaint against an employer connected to government contracts, involvement in activism, or in some cases, no discernible reason at all. The transition from normal life to targeted status is often described as sudden and pervasive.
Surveillance and Stalking
Once targeted, individuals report continuous surveillance including:
- Strangers appearing to follow them in public (described as Gang Stalking)
- Vehicles appearing repeatedly in proximity
- Evidence of home entry and minor object displacement ("gaslighting" tactics)
- Electronic devices behaving anomalously — cameras activating, phones intercepted
Electronic Harassment
Electronic Harassment typically escalates after physical surveillance is established. Reported experiences include:
- Burning or tingling sensations on the skin attributed to Directed Energy Weapons
- Hearing voices or sounds with no external source, consistent with the Microwave Auditory Effect and Voice to Skull (V2K) technology
- Sleep disruption via directed microwave or acoustic stimulation
- Induced emotional states, confusion, or memory disruption consistent with remote neural modulation
Handler and Informant Networks
Bryan Koffron, a self-described former security industry operative, gave detailed testimony about the structure of targeting operations, describing:
- Paid informant networks recruited through community organisations, neighbourhood watch groups, and social service agencies
- "Handlers" who coordinate surveillance teams and direct electronic harassment
- Private security contractors operating as intermediaries between government programmes and street-level operatives
Role of Contractors and Private Networks
The outsourcing of intelligence functions to private contractors has created a targeting ecosystem that is arguably less accountable than direct government operation. Companies operating in this space include defence contractors with classified contracts for surveillance technology development and deployment.
Catherine Austin Fitts, former Assistant Secretary of Housing, has described what she terms the "breakaway civilisation" — a class of private contractors and government insiders operating autonomous programmes using black budget funding, outside normal oversight. She argues this structure is precisely what enables targeting programmes to persist regardless of official policy.
The NSA's contractor ecosystem — made visible by the Snowden disclosures — demonstrates how deeply privatised intelligence operations have become, with figures like Edward Snowden himself being a contractor employee rather than a direct government hire.
Whistleblower Testimony
Several individuals with claimed intelligence community backgrounds have spoken about targeting programmes:
- Dr. Robert Duncan — a former DARPA and DoD contractor who has written extensively about synthetic telepathy systems and targeting infrastructure, including the alleged TAMI (Thought Amplifying and Mind Interface) system
- Bryan Koffron — testified to participation in targeting operations as a private security operative
- Dr. John Hall — anaesthesiologist and author who has treated patients describing targeting experiences and testified before bioethics committees
- Richard Lighthouse — former NASA engineer who has published documents alleging the existence of a programme called "Targeted Individuals" run out of fusion centres

Legal and Constitutional Challenges
Targeting programmes raise profound legal questions:
Fourth Amendment Violations
Warrantless surveillance of individuals placed on watchlists without judicial oversight represents a prima facie violation of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches. Courts have been slow to address this, partly because the government invokes the state secrets privilege to block litigation.
First Amendment Chilling Effects
COINTELPRO was found by the Church Committee to have had a profound chilling effect on lawful political activity. Contemporary targeting programmes, if operating as described, would similarly suppress constitutionally protected speech, assembly, and association.
Due Process and Watchlist Challenges
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has repeatedly challenged watchlist programmes in court, arguing that placement without notice, evidence, or meaningful appeal violates due process. In Latif v. Holder (2014), a federal court found that the No-Fly List's lack of redress procedures was unconstitutional.
Bioethics and Non-Consensual Experimentation
The right to bodily autonomy and informed consent, enshrined in the Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report, is directly implicated in targeting that involves non-consensual neurological or medical experimentation. Several Targeted Individual advocates have submitted testimony to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.
See Also
- Targeted Individual
- Targeted Individuals
- Gang Stalking
- Electronic Harassment
- COINTELPRO
- MK-Ultra
- Fusion Centres
- Voice to Skull (V2K)
- Neuroweapons
- Remote Neural Monitoring
- DARPA
- NSA
- FBI
- Bryan Koffron
- Robert Duncan
- Brain-Computer Interface
- Directed Energy Weapons
- Synthetic Telepathy
- Bodily Autonomy
References and Further Reading
- Church Committee Reports (1975–1976), United States Senate
- Duncan, Robert. The Matrix Deciphered. Self-published, 2010.
- Hall, John. Guinea Pigs: Technologies of Control. Strategic Book Publishing, 2014.
- ACLU, "Trapped on a List: The Government's Broken No-Fly List Process" (2014)
- Snowden Archive, The Intercept — NSA Documents
- US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Fusion Centers report (2012)