EXPOSED! How CIA drugged, tortured Americans in secret mind control program MKUltra over 60 years ago
By Sunita Iyer | First Published Jan 7, 2025, 3:43 PM ISTNewly declassified MKUltra documents reveal the CIA's Cold War-era mind control experiments involving unconsenting subjects, psychological torture, and drug testing.
In an unprecedented revelation, over 1,200 pages of previously classified documents have shed new light on the CIA's controversial MKUltra program, a covert initiative that ran from 1953 to 1964 and involved the disturbing experimentation on American citizens without their consent. The newly declassified records, published on December 23, 2024, by the National Security Archive (NSA) and ProQuest, provide a chilling glimpse into the dark history of the CIA's efforts to develop mind control techniques through drugs, psychological torture, and electroshock therapy.
National Security Archive Publishes Key Records on Infamous MKULTRA Program
Agency Sought Drugs and Behavior Control Techniques to Use in “Special Interrogations” and Offensive Operations
Sidney Gottlieb’s CIA Personnel File, 1983 Deposition Testimony, Among Newly Available… pic.twitter.com/uE5qIF9OrO
The Dark History of MKUltra
MKUltra was conceived by the CIA in the early years of the Cold War, at a time when the US government feared Soviet advances in psychological warfare. Under the direction of CIA officials, including then-deputy director Allen Dulles, the program sought to develop methods to control and manipulate human behaviour, particularly in interrogations, with the ultimate goal of creating brainwashing techniques to force confessions and break the will of enemy combatants.
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The newly released documents detail a wide array of experimental procedures, many of which were brutal and involved techniques now recognized as torture. Researchers used induced sleep, electroshock therapy, sensory deprivation, and a method known as 'psychic driving'—in which drugged subjects were subjected to weeks or months of psychological torment in an attempt to "reprogram" their minds.
The Unwitting Victims
While much of the public had assumed that MKUltra was conducted primarily on criminals, mental patients, and drug addicts, the newly released documents reveal a far more disturbing reality. Among the subjects of the CIA's experiments were not only prisoners but also ordinary American citizens, military personnel, and even CIA agents themselves—often without their knowledge or consent.
One of the most disturbing revelations is that some civilians and Army soldiers were drugged with LSD without any prior warning. These experiments were not limited to vulnerable individuals; in some cases, subjects were chosen from "normal life settings," indicating that they were unsuspecting participants in an ethically dubious experiment that involved testing the effects of potent hallucinogens.
The documents also detail how the CIA administered LSD to high-profile test subjects, including notorious criminal figure James 'Whitey' Bulger, who was subjected to mind control experiments while incarcerated at the Atlanta Penitentiary in 1957. Bulger's firsthand account, written later, describes the terrifying experience of taking LSD: "Total loss of appetite. Hallucinating. The room would change shape. Hours of paranoia and feeling violent. I saw a camera change into the head of a dog. I felt like I was going insane."
The Quest for 'Anti-Interrogation' Drugs
One of the central aims of MKUltra was the development of an "anti-interrogation" drug that could be used to control and manipulate individuals during interrogations. A 1956 document reveals that researchers were actively exploring substances capable of altering the central nervous system, intending to produce behavioural changes that could weaken individuals' resistance to coercion. Among the substances tested were LSD and other hallucinogens, as well as chemicals designed to induce physical and psychological disabilities, such as paralysis and amnesia.
In another chilling account, a 1954 memo describes how the CIA requested funding for a project at Georgetown University Hospital to provide cover for research on biological and chemical warfare. This initiative, under the guise of a philanthropic effort, was used to advance MKUltra's objectives, and a portion of the hospital's new research wing was dedicated to the covert study of drugs and mind control techniques.
The Role of Eli Lilly and Covert Safehouses
The CIA's ability to carry out these experiments on a large scale was supported by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which played a key role in producing LSD for the agency. The company helped the CIA manufacture the drug in large quantities, making it readily available for experimentation.
In addition to these secret laboratory experiments, the CIA set up safehouses to conduct field testing. One such location, run by narcotics agent George White, was used for administering drugs to unsuspecting subjects, often in a setting where they were not told they were part of an experiment. These safehouses, which operated in the mid-1950s, became notorious for their involvement in the covert testing of "physiologically active materials."
Sidney Gottlieb, the chemist who led the MKUltra program, acknowledged in a 1956 report that the operations were of a "highly unorthodox nature" and that the agency often took steps to cover its tracks, including keeping payments for these experiments off official records.
The Public Outcry and Legacy
The public first became aware of MKUltra's existence during the mid-1970s, following an investigation led by the US Senate's Church Committee, which was chaired by Senator Frank Church. The investigation revealed that the CIA had conducted extensive research into drugs and psychological techniques that were often classified as torture, and the program was widely condemned for its unethical practices.
Despite efforts by the CIA to destroy most of the MKUltra records in 1973, many documents survived the purge and were eventually made public. The records released in December 2024 further underscore the extent to which the US government was willing to go in its pursuit of mind control techniques, often at the expense of innocent civilians.
The Senate investigation, which was conducted in the wake of the Church Committee's report, led to the establishment of new oversight measures for intelligence agencies, ensuring that such abuses would not go unchecked in the future. In the years since, MKUltra has remained a dark chapter in US history, a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked government power and the lengths to which some will go in the name of national security.
While the program was officially discontinued in 1964, its legacy continues to haunt those who were subjected to its horrors. For many, the newly declassified documents provide a sense of closure and validation, as they expose the full scope of the CIA's unethical and illegal practices.
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