User:Exacri/Omnipedia/MKULTRA

  MKULTRA   MKULTRA was the codename for one of the Central Intelligence Agency's infamous clandestine research programs into mind control.

MKULTRA was established in the 1950's to research and develop chemical, biological and radiological materials capable of controlling human behavior. The program had 149 related projects and operations which included field operations involving various institutions, medical facilities, universities, prisons and research foundations across the United States.

Although covert throughout most of its existence, the progr am was first brought to light in 1975 during a U.S. congressional investigation of various CIA activities within the United States. The investigation revealed that the CIA and Department of Defense had conducted an extensive program of human experimentation with chemical and biological agents in order to influence and control human behaviors. This experimentation included the use of many illegal drugs such as LSD and may have even resulted in several deaths.

Much of the investigation into MKULTRA was severely hampered as many of the files related to the program were destroyed in 1973 under the orders of the CIA director Richard Helms. Helms' actions have often been considered part of the widespread panic created by the Watergate scandal.

In 1977, around 20,000 documents related to MKULTRA were released under the Freedom of Information Act, once again triggering further investigations into the program. Although much of the critical project information was destroyed previously in 1973, these new files did provide a wealth of information including insights into the financing of the MKULTRA projects.

Given the CIA's deliberate destruction of program records, its failure to follow consent protocols by experimenting on thousands of unwitting subjects, the unchecked nature of the program's experiments and the full impact of MKULTRA will likely never be known.

 SEE ALSO  

CIA

MKDELTA

MKNAOMI

LSD