Project MKULTRA

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Project MKULTRA, also known as "MK-ULTRA," was the code name for a CIA mind-control research program. This program began in the 1950s and continued until the late 1960s. It is very interesting to note that there is much published evidence that this project involved the use of drugs to manipulate persons. Additionaly, and supported by published evidence, the use of electronic signals to alter brain functioning was a factor in Project MKULTRA. This project was first brought to wide-spread public attention by the U.S. Congress, in the form of the Church Committee. Also, a presidential commission, known as the Rockefeller Commission, was used to bring project MKULTRA to the eyes of the appropriate people, such as the U.S. Senate.

1 Senator Ted Kennedy statement
2 Origins
3 Forgotten goals
4 Experiments
5 Possible outcome
6 External links
7 Relevant discussion threads

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Senator Ted Kennedy statement

On the Senate floor, Senator Ted Kennedy stated:

The Deputy Director of the CIA revealed that over 30 universities and institutions were involved in an 'extensive testing and experimentation' program which included covert drug tests on unwitting citizens 'at all social levels, high and low, native Americans and foreign.' Several of these tests involved the administration of LSD to 'unwitting subjects in social situations.' At least one death, that of Dr. Olson, resulted from these activities. The Agency itself acknowledged that these tests made little scientific sense. The agents doing the monitoring were not qualified scientific observers.

From: Project MKULTRA, The CIA's Program of Research In Behavioral Modification

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Origins

Project MKULTRA was started on the order of CIA director Allen Dulles on April 13, 1953. MK-ULTRA was headed by one Dr. Sidney Gottlieb. This project was born in response to alleged Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean use of mind-control techniques on U.S. prisoners of war in Korea. The CIA desired to use similar methods on their own captives. The CIA was also interested in being able to manipulate foreign leaders with such techniques as mind-control. Several schemes to drug Fidel Castro were later considered. In 1964, the project was renamed MKSEARCH. The project then attempted to produce a perfect truth drug. This drug would be used in interrogating suspected Soviet spies during the Cold War. Additionally, the project continued to explore any other possibilities of mind-control.

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Forgotten goals

Most of the MKULTRA records were deliberately destroyed in 1972. The order, to destroy these records, were given by the Director at that time, Richard Helms. It is because of this that it remains impossible to have a complete understanding of the more than 150 individually funded research projects that was sponsored by MKULTRA, and related CIA programs.

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Experiments

Various Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents suggest that this agency considered, and explored, the use of radiation for the purpose of mind-control, as part of Project MKULTRA. Earlier efforts focused on the drug LSD, which appears to have formed the majority of the research. Various experiments included: administering the drug to CIA employees, military personnel, doctors, other government agents, prostitutes, mentally ill patients, and members of the general public. The reason for this type of testing was to study their reactions. The subject usually had no knowledge that there was an experiment taking place on them. The experiments then took a sadistic turn. Torturing victims, by locking them in sensory deprivation chambers, became the norm. If this wasn't enough, the victims were under the psychedelic influence of LSD. A recording of the victim's most self-degrading statements, during various monitored therapy sessions, were played in a loop over and over. The victim wore headphones, for the recordings, and a straitjacket.

Efforts to "recruit" subjects were often illegal, even discounting the fact that drugs were being administered. In Operation "Midnight Climax," the CIA set-up several brothels to obtain a selection of men who would be too embarrassed to talk about the events. These brothels were equipped with one-way mirrors and the sessions were taped for later viewing. Some subjects were involved in participation that was consensual. In these cases, the subjects appeared to be singled out for even more horrific experiments. In one case, a selection of volunteers were given LSD for 77 days straight. Eventually, LSD was dismissed by the researchers as too unpredictable in its effects. Sometimes, useful information was obtained through questioning subjects on LSD. The main reason for dismissing LSD was because the drug gave rise in some individuals to a feeling of invulnerable detachment, a conviction in the subject that they were able to withstand any form of interrogation attempt, even physical torture.

Another technique that was used involved connecting a barbiturate IV into one arm of a subject, and an amphetamine IV into the other. The barbiturates were released first and, as soon as the subject began to fall asleep, the amphetamines were released. The subject would then begin babbling incoherently at this point. It was, sometimes, possible to ask questions and get useful answers. This treatment was ultimately discarded as it resulted in the death of a patient from physical side effects of the drug combination, thus making further interrogation impossible. Other experiments involved: heroin, mescaline, psilocybin, scopolamine, marijuana, alcohol, and sodium pentothal.

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Possible outcome

There is no evidence that the CIA, or any other agency in the world, has reliably succeeded in controlling a person's actions using the mind control methodologies known to have been studied during the MKULTRA projects. It is important to note that the destruction of many of the files that concerned MK-ULTRA makes a full investigation of claims impossible.

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