This week I’ll be discussing a theory that’s a little more serious, but nevertheless, still extremely interesting. It’s called MK-Ultra. In fact, this is no longer a theory and has been confirmed by the CIA as had existed in 1975. It’s considered a theory because many of the details about this project are still unknown. This project was created by the CIA to see if they could control the minds of people using drugs or psychological torture. Most participants were either unwillingly or unknowingly being tested on from 1953 to 1973. News about the program became public when Congress began investigating the CIA on its illicit activities.
The program began during the Cold War when the U.S. government started to worry that US soldiers imprisoned in communist countries were being brainwashed to give away American secrets. To counteract this the CIA, under the supervision of Director Allen Dulles, decided to develop their own mind control technology to manipulate enemy soldiers and leaders. There was more than 150 human test orchestrated in colleges, hospitals, and prisons. The tests used mind-altering drugs, paralysis and electroshock therapy, however, the extent to which these methods were used is unknown since the CIA destroyed documents containing such information. This is possibly due to the fear that they could be leaked and used to develop the Soviet’s mind control program.
The use of LSD as a mind control drug was introduced by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, the head of the program. He introduced this drug to the program because he believed that the hallucinogenic drug can be altered in such a way that the victim is easily influenced by others. He also suggested that ecstasy, mescaline, heroin, meth, and other hallucinogenics be tested. After testing LSD and studying the effects, the CIA decided that the drug made the victim too erratic to be controlled. The most famous experiment was called “Operation Midnight Climax”. The CIA would lure men into apartments with prostitutes and unsuspectingly inject them with LSD. The CIA would watch the behavior of victims through a two-way mirror and recording devices laid out across the apartment.
It is notable that there were a few participants that volunteered for the test. Two of the most significant people to have allegedly volunteered to participate in the experiment are Ted Kaczynski and Whitney Bulger. Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, alleged that his behavior was due to the side effects of participating in MK-Ultra. His lawyers suggested that during his second year at Harvard, Kaczynski volunteered for an experiment that verbally humiliated and abused him while monitoring his reactions. They suggest that it was MK-Ultra because of the extent of the insults and the secrecy behind it. Whitney Bulger was an infamous mob boss in Boston, convicted for the murder of eleven people in 2013. He stated that in 1957, he was allegedly tested on, twenty-four hours a week, in an Atlanta penitentiary. They would give him injections of LSD that made him feel violent and erratic. He said other patients went psychotic and began barking at one another. After the effects had worn off, he said he felt depressed, tired, and suicidal. Bulger said he believed that the experiments were to find a cure for schizophrenia and was repeatedly told that he was their best subject. He strongly believes that these events are the causes of his mental ailments.
The project was officially shut down in 1973 when the experiments seemed to yield unfavorable results. The project was released to the public during a Congressional investigation. Since then people have suspected government involvement with secretive projects using unwilling participants.
Works Cited
Havis, Michael. “Notorious Gangster in Shock Confession: ‘I Was in Secret CIA Mind Experiments’.” Dailystar.co.uk, Daily Star, 16 May 2017, www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/614731/whitey-bulger-mkultra-cia-experiments-black-mass-film.
History.com Editors. “MK-Ultra.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/us-government/history-of-mk-ultra.
Emily, I have never heard of MK Ultra before. From what you’ve detailed, the experiment sounds appalling. Messing with people psychologically absolutely violates all of the scientific ethics that are essential to proper experimentation. Although I’m not surprised that the government would do something unethical, I’m amazed that they managed to hide it for more than ten years. This breach of civility and humanity should have been investigated and punished. It’s especially interesting that two major criminals were test subjects. Although they could have been exaggerating the effects of the testing to bolster their legal defense, they very well might have been driven to their crimes in part because of the near-torturous testing the CIA subjected them to. I certainly hope our government and CIA now don’t support any similar programs.
Of course they still do.
They absolutely, “positively” do! 🙂
They “positively” do. Ronald Reagan, as I totally recall.