ESP Research Associates Foundation

A psychic phenomena research and interest organization founded in 1962 with a membership of individuals who believed they had genuine ESP experiences and wished to learn more about the functioning of these powers of the mind. President and guiding force of the foundation was Harold Sherman (b. 1898), a leading figure in the psychic community in America through the mid-twentieth century.

Sherman began his adult life as a journalist and novelist. Then in 1935 he wrote a short metaphysical book, Your Key to Happiness, which led to his radio show by the same name. In 1937 and 1938 Sherman conducted an ESP experiment with Arctic explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins that yielded a significant account of telepathic communication of interest to parapsychologists. A log of Wilkins's thoughts and actions compared with Sherman's received impressions provide a startling record of the possibilities of psychic comunication. This served as a model for a similar experiment conducted by Edgar Mitchell during his voyage to the Moon on Apollo 14 in 1971.

Through the 1940s and 1950s Sherman continued to write metaphysical and psychic books that brought him a great following. They became the basis for the formation of ESP Re-search Associates Foundation, which among other activities provided a contact point for people who wished to have psychic readings from Sherman. Through the 1980s, the foundation conducted conferences but was unable to continue effectively after Sherman's death and was discontinued.