MKULTRA

Project MK-Ultra was a covert, illegal human experimentation program run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1953 to 1973. The program's primary goal was to develop techniques for mind control, interrogation, and behavioral modification, driven by Cold War fears that the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea were advancing similar capabilities (e.g., "brainwashing" of U.S. prisoners during the Korean War).

• Experiments — Involved administering LSD, other hallucinogens, and drugs; hypnosis; sensory deprivation; isolation; electroshock therapy; and psychological torture. Many tests occurred without subjects' informed consent, including on unwitting U.S. and Canadian citizens, psychiatric patients, prisoners, and even CIA personnel.
  

• Scope — Encompassed over 140 subprojects at universities, hospitals, prisons, and research foundations across the U.S. and abroad. Notable subprojects included Operation Midnight Climax, where the CIA set up safe houses in San Francisco to dose unsuspecting individuals with LSD and observe them through two-way mirrors (often involving prostitutes luring men).

• Leadership — Directed by CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb under the Office of Scientific Intelligence, with approval from CIA Director Allen Dulles.
  

The program remained secret until the 1970s, when most records were destroyed in 1973 on orders from CIA Director Richard Helms. Surviving documents were uncovered through Freedom of Information Act requests and investigated by the 1975 Church Committee (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence) and the Rockefeller Commission. These inquiries revealed widespread ethical violations, including experiments that led to deaths (e.g., the case of Frank Olson, who died after being secretly dosed with LSD) and long-term harm to participants.

MKUltra is now widely regarded as one of the most egregious examples of government overreach and unethical human experimentation in U.S. history, influencing laws on informed consent and inspiring numerous books, films, and conspiracy theories. Declassified CIA documents and congressional reports confirm its existence and details.

The history of MKULTRA is deeply intertwined with Nazi research and scientists through Operation Paperclip. Following WWII, the U.S. government recruited over 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians under Operation Paperclip. Some of these individuals had been involved in human experimentation at concentration camps or had studied chemical warfare and brainwashing. MKULTRA and its predecessor, Project ARTICHOKE, are often described by historians as continuations of work begun in Nazi and Japanese concentration camps. The CIA specifically sought out Nazi doctors who had experimented with substances like mescaline and sarin gas at the Dachau concentration camp to advise on American mind-control projects.

Kurt Blome, a high-ranking Nazi doctor who had been tried at Nuremberg for war crimes, was reportedly among those whose expertise was utilized for research that later informed MKULTRA. The full extent of this collaboration was hidden for decades; many records were destroyed in 1973 by order of CIA Director Richard Helms. Information regarding these ties only surfaced through investigations like the 1975 Church Committee and subsequent FOIA requests.