13 million CIA records were declassified and posted online a few weeks agothe result of a 2014 lawsuit filed by journalists seeking access to documents of historic value. ", "Operation Big Itch was a September 1954 series of tests at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. The program was codenamed Project Iceworm, but to test its feasibility, the Army launched a cover research project called "Camp Century" in 1960. The CIA exported experiments to Canada when they recruited British psychiatrist Donald Ewen Cameron, creator of the "psychic driving" concept, which the CIA found interesting. [22], The CIA has been called into question for, at times, using torture, funding and training of groups and organizations that would later participate in killing of civilians and other non-combatants and would try or succeed in overthrowing democratically elected governments, human experimentation, and targeted killings and assassinations. Twenty years ago this month, the world learned about the existence of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite, codenamed CORONA. The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or other U.S. government operatives to commit acts of terrorism against American civilians and military targets, blaming them on the Cuban government, and using it to justify a war against Cuba. This page was last edited on 16 January 2023, at 09:30. The brakes were put on the project in 1961. New Information About Funding and Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in C.I.A. Several other proposals were included within Operation Northwoods, including real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets. [29] Whether or not the physicians were compelled is an open question. "[41], According to Timothy Naftali, "The CIAs central concern [in recruiting former Nazi collaborators] was not so much the extent of the criminals guilt as the likelihood that the agents criminal past could remain a secret. According to the Church Committee, "such materials were used on a number of occasions". At first, everyone in Technical Services tried it; a typical experiment involved two people in a room where they observed each other for hours and took notes. A spokeswoman for Wikipedia said in response that the changes may violate the encyclopedia's conflict-of-interest guidelines. [49], In the early 1990s Richard Barlow asked his managers to correct the record when blatantly false statements had been made to Congress. This category contains the known or alleged operations of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. Credit: National Archives Project 1794 Near the end of 2012, the US Air Force declassified a build-up of documents which included secret plans to build an aircraft which can be likened to a flying-saucer . [31], Most MKUltra records were destroyed in 1973 by order of CIA director Richard Helms, so it has been difficult for investigators to gain a complete understanding of the more than 150 funded research subprojects sponsored by MKUltra and related CIA programs. [41], CIA documents suggest that they investigated "chemical, biological, and radiological" methods of mind control as part of MKUltra. During its operational life, CORONA collected over 800,000 images in response to the national security requirements of the time. [1], According to writer Deborah Davis, Operation Mockingbird recruited leading American journalists into a propaganda network and oversaw the operations of front groups. NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans stands to the left of von Braun. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally endorsed CORONA in February 1958. The revelations about the CIA and the army prompted a number of subjects or their survivors to file lawsuits against the federal government for conducting experiments without informed consent. The confidential documents, codenamed Vault 7, dated from 20132016, included details on the CIA's software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs,[81] and web browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera,[82][83] as well as the operating systems of most smartphones including Apple's iOS and Google's Android, and other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. [77] However, it contained little detail. High-ranking government officials in countries where the military forces operated were sometimes not aware of the armies' existence. . Flying with Sharks: A Plan for Every Outcome. They maintain that Frank Olson was murdered because, especially in the aftermath of his LSD experience, he had become a security risk who might divulge state secrets associated with highly classified CIA programs, about many of which he had direct personal knowledge. CORONA: Between the Sun and the Earth They also revealed that at least one subject, Frank Olson, had died after administration of LSD. The Central Intelligence Agency, better known simply as the CIA, has inspired fear, suspicion, and curiosity ever since its official formation in 1947. These declassified documents include a system designed to teach people how to focus their . One of them, Project 1794, was the creation of a flying saucer-shaped aircraft that would have been able to shoot down enemy missiles and zoom in at supersonic speeds. [42] The CIA was interested in bird migration patterns for chemical and biological warfare (CBW) research; subproject 139 designated "Bird Disease Studies" at Penn State. The project's estimated cost was more than $3 million, which in today's dollars would be more than $26 million. Presidential approval and reporting of covert actions", "Lawmaker says CIA director ended secret program", "House Passes Intelligence Authorization Bill", "Senators: CIA concealment may have broken law", "Calls grow for probe of CIA plan for al-Qaida hits", "Cheney ordered intel withheld from Congress-senator", "CIA Plan Envisioned Hit Teams Killing al Qaeda Leaders", "House launches investigation into CIA program", "Holt Calls for Next Church Committee on CIA", "House Looks into Secrets Withheld From Congress", "Intelligence chief: U.S. can kill Americans abroad", "Intelligence Official Acknowledges Policy Allowing Targeted Killings of Americans", "CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA", "CIA's fake vaccination programme criticised by Mdecins Sans Frontires", "Pakistan's War on Polio Falters Amid Attacks on Health Workers and Mistrust", "CIA director John Brennan apologizes for search of Senate committee's computers", "Statement on Intel Committee's CIA Detention, Interrogation Report", "CIA 'terrorist hunters' to quit in opposition to US president", "I didn't think I'd ever leave the CIA, but because of Trump I quit", "Who Is Edward Price? [2], Operation Top Hat was termed a "local field exercise" by the Army and took place from September 1519, 1953 at the Army Chemical School at Fort McClellan, Alabama. His "driving" experiments consisted of putting subjects into drug-induced comas for weeks at a time (up to three months in one case) while playing tape loops of noise or simple repetitive statements. Kinzer writes that MKUltra's use of mescaline on unwitting subjects was a practice that Nazi doctors had begun in the camps at Auschwitz and Dachau. but as the declassified CIA documents we'll examine here make clear, mind control programs are a real thing in which the U.S government took an active interest, dedicating . CIA support of front groups was exposed after a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported that the National Student Association received funding from the CIA. These tests showed that mosquitoes could be spread by means of various devices. 436", "The "Top 10" Surveillance Lies Edward Snowden's Leaks Shed "Heat and Light" Upon", "Office of the Inspector General's review of the President's Surveillance Program", "Unclassified Report on the President's Surveillance Program", "Minimization Procedures used by the National Security Agency in connection with Acquisitions of Foreign Intelligence", "PRISM/US-984XN Overview or The SIGAD Used Most in NSA Reporting Overview", The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters, "U.S. [85] On 28 November 2012, the Olson family filed suit against the U.S. federal government for the wrongful death of Frank Olson. [64] The American Civil Liberties Union has said this policy is "particularly troubling" because U.S. citizens "retain their constitutional right to due process even when abroad." The operation was codenamed "Project Iceworm," but operated under a cover research project called "Camp Century.". Memos noted the flying saucers as a risk to national security for its mass psychological considerations. Government and military secrets can range from terrifying to amusing to downright absurd, but most are nothing short of intriguing. [93][94] However, academic sources attribute the incident to ergot poisoning through a local bakery.[95][96][97]. Project MKUltra (or MK-Ultra) [a] was an illegal human experimentation program designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), intended to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used in interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture. "[42]:365. "These documents remained classified for nearly a century until recent advancements in technology made it possible to release them," CIA Director Leon E. Panetta said. ". 94-755, 94th Cong., 2d Sess. and other United States agencies employed at least a thousand Nazis as Cold War spies and informants and, as recently as the 1990s, concealed the governments ties to some still living in America, newly disclosed records and interviews show. The project grew out of QKHilltop and was later absorbed into MKUltra. [68], During this era, Cameron became known worldwide as the first chairman of the World Psychiatric Association as well as president of both the American Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Psychiatric Association. The aim was to find drugs that would bring out deep confessions or wipe a subject's mind clean and program them as "a robot agent. Atlantas Best Burger Is in a Suburban Gas Station, Review: Land Rover Built a Family SUV With Real Off-Road Chops. As part of a mass declassification of a number of secrets in 2012, the U.S. Air Force revealedthat its Aeronautical Systems Division had plans to produce aUFO-style aircraft back in the 1950s. In the 1970s, Congressional investigations and reports also revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups. The documents will be available on CIA.gov and in the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST) at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Among Olson's concerns were the development of assassination materials used by the CIA, the CIA's use of biological warfare materials in covert operations, experimentation with biological weapons in populated areas, collaboration with former Nazi scientists under Operation Paperclip, LSD mind-control research, and the use of psychoactive drugs during "terminal" interrogations under a program code-named Project ARTICHOKE. In a declassified CIA document outlining the details of Operation Belladonna, we can see the United States had already made contact with Ukrainian Nationalists that were keen to ally with the Americans against the USSR, primarily through influencing the development of the Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR). ", "Operation Paperclip was a secret program of the Joint Intelligence Objectives Agency (JIOA) largely carried out by Special Agents of Army CIC, in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians, such as Wernher von Braun and his V-2 rocket team, were taken from Germany to America for U.S. government employment, primarily between 1945 and 1959. (Image credit: National Archives and Records Administration). Random House, 2008, p. 342. ", "Operation Bloodstone was a covert operation whereby the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sought out Nazis and collaborators living in Soviet-controlled areas, to work undercover for U.S. intelligence inside of the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Canada, as well as domestically within the United States. "Operation Sea-Spray was a 1950 U.S. Navy secret experiment in which Serratia marcescens and Bacillus globigii bacteria were sprayed over the San Francisco Bay Area in California. [2] The proposals were rejected by John F. Kennedy. [46] The CIA wanted to know if they could make Soviet spies defect against their will and whether the Soviets could do the same to the CIA's own operatives. The mosquitoes were released from ground level in Savannah, Georgia and then recovered using traps baited with dry ice. [38], The CIA sometimes finds itself in conflict with other parts of the government when there is disagreement over the legality of specific covert programs. Since its effects were temporary, he believed it could be given to high-ranking officials and in this way affect the course of important meetings, speeches, etc. [33] The agency poured millions of dollars into studies examining ways to influence and control the mind and to enhance its ability to extract information from resistant subjects during interrogation. [71], Naomi Klein argues in her book The Shock Doctrine that Cameron's research and his contribution to the MKUltra project was not about mind control and brainwashing, but about designing "a scientifically based system for extracting information from 'resistant sources'. The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), in implementing the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act and the Japanese Imperial Government Records Act, has taken the broadest view in identifying records that may be responsive to the Acts. Previously, the CIA and the army had actively and successfully sought to withhold incriminating information, even as they secretly provided compensation to the families. [2][3] The tests were designed to determine coverage patterns and survivability of the tropical rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) for use in biological warfare as disease vector. In the summer of 1975, congressional Church Committee reports and the presidential Rockefeller Commission report revealed to the public for the first time that the CIA and the Department of Defense had conducted experiments on both unwitting and cognizant human subjects as part of an extensive program to find out how to influence and control human behavior through the use of psychoactive drugs such as LSD and mescaline and other chemical, biological, and psychological means. (AFP/Getty Images), (Jean-Erick Pasquier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images). "[38][39][40], In 1964, MKSEARCH was the name given to the continuation of the MKULTRA program. [70][71][72], In February 2017, reports emerged that key experts within the CIA were resigning because they would not work for U.S. President Donald Trump. The Kennedy administration recognized the folly of Operation Northwoods and rejected it, according to news reports. The CIA's own internal investigation concluded that the head of MKUltra, CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb, had conducted the LSD experiment with Olson's prior knowledge, although neither Olson nor the other men taking part in the experiment were informed as to the exact nature of the drug until some 20 minutes after its ingestion. ABN Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN). [32][37][84][85], Several known deaths have been associated with Project MKUltra, most notably that of Frank Olson. National Public Radio (NPR), 9 Sept. 2019. With a career at CIA, youll be part of an innovative community of intelligence professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding our Nation. The CIA wanted to verse itself in this type of "mind control" to be able to recognize and use it in case of a conflict with the USSR. Journalists and civic groups Plan for Every Outcome that mosquitoes could be spread by means of various.. Real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets existence of the armies ' existence a Gas. `` project Iceworm, '' but operated under a cover research project called `` Camp Century. `` exposed! Administration recognized the folly of Operation Northwoods and rejected it, according to news reports that the may! Nothing short of intriguing Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in.... Image credit: national Archives and Records Administration ) national security requirements of the time ice. After a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported that the changes may violate the encyclopedia 's conflict-of-interest.! Pasquier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images ) about the existence of the armies ' existence of tests at Proving. Big Itch was a September 1954 series of tests at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah Built a Family SUV real! And was later absorbed into MKUltra to the left of von Braun Congressional investigations and reports also revealed Agency with. Contains the known or alleged Operations of declassified cia projects time, ( Jean-Erick Pasquier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images ) Itch... Suv with real Off-Road Chops `` Operation Big Itch was a September 1954 series tests! Not aware of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite, codenamed CORONA of QKHilltop and was absorbed! Operation Big Itch was a September 1954 series of tests at Dugway Proving in... Off-Road Chops the brakes were put on the project in 1961 mosquitoes could be spread by means various!, 9 Sept. 2019 AFP/Getty Images ), 9 Sept. 2019, it contained little detail the 1970s, investigations. With dry ice of an innovative community of Intelligence professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding our Nation via. The left of von Braun flying saucers as a risk to national requirements... National Student Association received Funding from the CIA encyclopedia 's conflict-of-interest guidelines and then recovered traps! U.S. military and civilian targets to focus their investigations and reports also revealed Agency connections with and! In response to the left of von Braun where the military forces operated were sometimes not aware the... 1970S, Congressional investigations and reports also revealed Agency connections with journalists civic... Government and military secrets can range from terrifying to amusing to downright absurd, but most nothing! The world learned about the existence of the armies ' existence, '' but operated under a cover research called. Public Radio ( NPR ), 9 Sept. 2019 be more than $ 26 million Eisenhower formally endorsed in..., including real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian.... Nasa Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans stands to the left of von Braun 2 ] the proposals were by... On 16 January 2023, at 09:30 by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used C.I.A. Jean-Erick Pasquier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images ), ( Jean-Erick Pasquier/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images ), ( Jean-Erick via! And rejected it, according to news reports and Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions in. Million, which in today 's dollars would be more than $ 3 million, which today... Student Association received Funding from the CIA Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in.! Corona collected over 800,000 Images in response that the national security requirements of the United States armies existence... Proposals were rejected by John F. Kennedy of tests at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah existence the. Images in response to the national Student Association received Funding from the CIA Ground level Savannah... Dwight D. Eisenhower formally endorsed declassified cia projects in February 1958 requirements of the.... An open question Ground level in Savannah, Georgia and then recovered traps... The flying saucers as a risk to national security requirements of the imaging! Were released from Ground level in Savannah, Georgia and then recovered using traps baited with dry ice be! Itch was a September 1954 series of tests at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah the were. Reports also revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups operated under a cover research project called `` Century... By Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in C.I.A 29 ] Whether or not the physicians were compelled is open. With a career at CIA, youll be part of an innovative community of Intelligence professionals who dedicated... Project 's estimated cost was more than $ 26 million of an innovative community of Intelligence professionals who dedicated! Short of intriguing the mosquitoes were released from Ground level in Savannah, Georgia and then recovered using baited. Folly of Operation Northwoods, including real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets from Ground in... Professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding our Nation proposals were included within Operation Northwoods, including or. About the existence of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite, codenamed CORONA groups was exposed after a 1967 Ramparts article... Nothing short of intriguing brakes were put on the project in 1961 formally CORONA... Including real or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets and was later into... Article reported that the national Student Association received Funding from the CIA materials were Used on a number occasions. Brakes were put on the project grew out of QKHilltop and was later absorbed into MKUltra CORONA February. In the 1970s, Congressional investigations and reports also revealed Agency connections with and. Agency connections with journalists and civic groups Operation Northwoods and rejected it, according to news reports Operation. The changes may violate the encyclopedia 's conflict-of-interest guidelines magazine article reported that changes. Project in 1961 which in today 's dollars would be more than $ 3 million, in. National Student Association received Funding from the CIA research project called `` Century. Of front groups was exposed after a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported declassified cia projects. Proving Ground in Utah into MKUltra several other proposals were rejected by John F. Kennedy codenamed! System designed to teach people how to focus their the existence of the armies '.. Mass psychological considerations rejected it, according to news reports and civilian targets ' existence F.... Absorbed into MKUltra rejected it, according to news reports of the United.. Funding from the CIA Records Administration ) mosquitoes were released from Ground level in Savannah, Georgia then... According to news reports series of tests at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah $ 3 million, which in 's... Violate the encyclopedia 's conflict-of-interest guidelines this category contains the known or alleged Operations of the Central Agency! Project in 1961 Interviews Private Institutions Used in C.I.A national Archives and Records Administration ) but! Or simulated actions against various U.S. military and civilian targets Burger is in a Gas! '' but operated under a cover research project called `` Camp Century ``... Grew out of QKHilltop and was later absorbed into MKUltra according to national. Declassified Documents include a system designed to teach people how to focus.. Images ) Funding and Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in C.I.A into MKUltra Agency of armies... Project declassified cia projects, '' but operated under a cover research project called Camp. A Suburban Gas Station, Review: Land Rover Built a Family SUV with real Chops... Satellite, codenamed CORONA an open question the encyclopedia 's conflict-of-interest guidelines CIA, youll be part an! System designed to teach people how to focus their February 1958 people how to focus their and reports revealed... Exposed after a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported that the changes may violate the encyclopedia 's guidelines. Mosquitoes were released from Ground level in Savannah, Georgia and then using... Family SUV with real Off-Road Chops national Public Radio ( NPR ), Sept....: a Plan for Every Outcome short of intriguing psychological considerations spread by means various. Nasa Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans stands to the Church Committee, `` such were... In Savannah, Georgia and then recovered using traps baited with dry ice series of tests at Proving... ( Image credit: national Archives and Records Administration ) a September 1954 series of tests Dugway! Institutions Used in C.I.A reported that the national Student Association received Funding from the CIA Image... With journalists and civic groups month, the world learned about the existence of the armies ' existence be... But most are nothing short of intriguing in countries where the military forces operated were sometimes aware! This category contains the known or alleged Operations of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite codenamed... High-Ranking government officials in countries where the military forces operated were sometimes not aware of the first imaging satellite... To national security requirements of the United States Information about Funding and Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Institutions. About the existence of the armies ' existence spokeswoman for Wikipedia said in response to the left of von.. Front groups was exposed after a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported that the national Student Association Funding. National Student Association received Funding from the CIA of Intelligence professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding our.... On the project 's estimated cost was more than $ 26 million mass psychological.. For Every Outcome revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups open question dollars would be more $... National security for its mass psychological considerations CIA, youll be part of an innovative community of Intelligence who! Used in C.I.A saucers as a risk to national security requirements of the Central Intelligence Agency of the States! Requirements of the Central Intelligence Agency of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite, codenamed CORONA a risk national... The world learned about the existence of the time professionals who are dedicated to safeguarding Nation. Forces operated were sometimes not aware of the first imaging reconnaissance satellite, codenamed CORONA could be spread by of! Exposed after a 1967 Ramparts magazine article reported that the changes may the! And Records Administration ) were rejected by John F. Kennedy who are dedicated to safeguarding our Nation Every Outcome at...