On November 28, 1953, a fast-rising scientist fell off his 13th-floor New York City hotel window. Dr. Frank Olson’s death, which became national news, was hurriedly ruled a suicide. The whole nation moved on.
Decades later, some vibrations began to occur at the foundations of political power. The CIA MK-Ultra secret program was finally exposed, and so was the actuality of Dr. Olson’s demise.
The scientist didn’t die from suicide but was more likely murdered. The CIA had reportedly dosed the doctor with LSD, a drug that hypnotizes people. According to reports, the murder was an attempt to cover their tracks.
What followed was a sinister and desperate attempt to outdo their opponents. This move birthed the MK-Ultra program, one of the most brutal and inhumane spy experiments ever conceived.
Dr. Olson, who was an Army and CIA contractor, was betrayed and killed by the very agency he served. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. The scandal got even messier.
Dr. Olson was just one of dozens of other people who became the subject of an undercover CIA mind control experiment called MK-Ultra. It turned out to be one of the most horrible covert programs ever launched by the agency.
Let’s examine the motivation behind this dangerous mind-altering experiment. We’d see the damage it caused to people’s minds, such as Olson’s, and why the United States allowed it to run.
Cold War Paranoia – The Birth of MK-Ultra
The Cold War of the mid-20th century changed the general idea of war. Nations took their fights away from the battlefield and into more confined and unlikely spaces.
War shifted from battlefields, bombs, and tanks to the quietness of laboratories and hospitals. Agents of security agencies even operated from the backrooms of nightclubs and other businesses.
It was an era of intense competition between the United States and its two major adversaries, China and the Soviet Union. Washington feared that its adversaries were advancing in chemical warfare.
They believed that the two biggest Eastern powers were developing Cold War secret programs, advanced technologies that controlled human thought. Reports began to surface of the Soviet Union brainwashing American captives to extract information and turn them against their nation.
If these assessments were accurate, it would mean one thing. America was on the verge of losing its global superiority. They couldn’t let this happen.
The United States government quickly went to work. What followed was a sinister and desperate attempt to outdo their opponents. This move birthed the MK-Ultra program, one of the most brutal and inhumane spy experiments ever conceived.
The biggest tool of the CIA’s 1950s mind control program was a psychoactive drug called LSD—lysergic acid diethylamide.
Heading the program was chemist Sydney Gottlieb. He was commissioned by CIA Director Allen Dulles in 1953, the same year the program was launched.
The United States Central Intelligence Agency committed all manner of atrocities under MK-Ultra. It drugged, hypnotized, and psychologically broke people without their knowledge or approval.
They aimed to see how possible it was to control, erase, or edit people’s minds. They did this with impunity, under the banner of “national security.”
The name MK-Ultra has remained in common usage to date. It has become a catchword for high-handedness, cruelty, and human rights violations. But its true story is even more troubling.
LSD – The Drug That Opened the Door
Perhaps the biggest tool of the CIA’s 1950s mind control program was a psychoactive drug called LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide is a potent hallucinogen that the agency found immensely useful.
Developed by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffmann in 1943, LSD was a drug with terrifying capabilities. It was notorious for its history of mind control.
It was an extreme move—a gross violation of research ethics. But the government’s human experimentation relied on “national security” as its justification.
Gottlieb saw a gem in LSD. He spotted its potential capabilities in the interrogation room. He planned to turn it into a tool to control a person’s mind and extract information from it. Better still, to completely reset a person’s mind and rebuild it from scratch.
After working on the chemical, the next stage was the testing. Initially, the agency recruited willing volunteers for the LSD experimentation. Unsatisfied, the agency then resorted to using people without their consent. Hence, research became abuse.
The Victims – From Soldiers to the Unwitting Public
The CIA MK-Ultra tests soon left the controlled lab environment and entered society. It was an extreme move—a gross violation of research ethics. But the government’s human experimentation relied on “national security” as its justification.
The CIA dispersed its agents into society to slip LSD into drinks at events. To execute this sub-program called Operation Midnight Climax, operatives attended parties and infiltrated workplaces disguised as regular citizens.
The agency even turned a San Francisco safehouse into a brothel to try out the drug on customers. They then monitored the subjects through one-way mirrors.
CIA agents tried the drug on prisoners, psychiatric patients, and even soldiers. Again, the agency wasn’t satisfied. They took the experiment to another level. This time, they began to target their own.
The Mysterious Death of Dr. Frank Olson
Dr. Frank Olson worked in the U.S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories at Camp Detrick (now Fort Detrick), Maryland. The CIA had contracted him in several of its psychological warfare sub-programs.
While on a retreat at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland, Olson and other scientists reportedly had their drinks laced with LSD by Sidney Gottlieb and his deputy, Robert Lashbrook. Their objective was to test whether the chemical could compromise loyalty.
They were curious to find out if the drug would be successful on one of their scientists if the enemy captured them. But the plan turned out to be a nightmare even for the agency.
Olson began to react uncontrollably. He lost coordination, was extremely restless, and was afraid of the unknown. This continued for some days before his supervisor, Lt. Col. Vincent Ruwet, booked him for psychiatric examination in New York.
The forensic experts found that Olson had been struck before he was thrown down the building.
Olson went to New York in the company of Ruwet and Lashbrook. There, his condition worsened. On November 28th, he was found on the sidewalk by his hotel, from where he had fallen.
The CIA announced that his mental health breakdown led him to suicide. Lashbrook, who shared the same room with Olson, denied knowledge of the moments leading up to the incident.
Lashbrook claimed to be asleep and was awakened by the sound of crashing glass. However, the hotel’s night manager contradicted Lashbrook’s claim. The manager said there was no broken window in the hotel room.
The CIA never mentioned LSD dosing in their report. They stated that Olson killed himself after being triggered by stress. They also refused to let his family see his body, citing the severity of the cuts on his face.
The 1975 Revelation: CIA Cover-Up Exposed
Decades later, thanks to the 1974 Rockefeller Committee and the 1975 Church Committee investigation, the lid was blown open over the CIA’s activities. Secret CIA files revealed that the agency dosed a scientist with LSD without consent before their death. It was Dr. Olson.
The nation was enraged when the news spread across. Then, President Gerald Ford had to issue a personal apology to Olson’s family on behalf of the country, as well as a settlement of $750,000. The family decided not to sue.
It was also discovered that government officials erased CIA documents regarding the program. This occurred in the 1970s, immediately following the failed Vietnam War and the Watergate Scandal.
The Olson revelation got even more interesting in 1994 when Olson’s son chose to exhume his father’s corpse for further examination. During the medical checks, it was discovered that contrary to the CIA’s claim, there were no facial cuts on Dr. Olson’s face.
Going further, the forensic experts found that Olson had been struck before he was thrown down the building. Dr. Olson didn’t kill himself. He was murdered.
Witnesses recounted how subjects were locked in tanks to float in total darkness and silence for hours or days.
In 1996, New York authorities changed the cause of death from suicide to “unknown.” But the case couldn’t continue as major witnesses died along the way in suspicious circumstances.
Olson’s family stated that the late doctor expressed deep regret over his involvement with the agency. They also firmly believed that the agency was agitated by the scientists’ restlessness and, hence, plotted to eliminate them.
But LSD was just one of several tools of postwar intelligence abuse. It was a web of injustice that was far-reaching.
Hypnosis, Sensory Deprivation, and “Reprogramming”
During the Church Committee’s investigation, other chilling aspects of the CIA’s MK-Ultra program came to light. LSD turned out to be just one of many psychological warfare tools.
In some more horrifying instances, according to testimonies of former CIA workers, the agency combined the substance with hypnosis. This was to see if people would act against their own will.
Another technique was sensory deprivation. Witnesses recounted how subjects were locked in tanks to float in total darkness and silence for hours or days. This was aimed at destroying their self-awareness.
One stain that will forever plague the United States government is the CIA’s MK-Ultra program. A project born out of needless desperation and competition. A program that sacrificed its citizens.
Most of the subjects of these experiments were psychiatric patients. Most of these patients came out of the experiences with damaged speech faculties and worsened mental states.
Gottlieb and his colleagues sought to erase memories and render their subjects as blank slates. Thereafter, they planned to plant new ideologies and loyalties in the empty minds.
Such an elaborate project would require lots of funding. Reports have estimated that between $10 and $25 million was invested in the program and its 149 sub-programs.
These included radiation, drugs, biological agents, and psychological warfare studies. But due to the destroyed files, most of the program’s details remained a secret. The most significant proof of the experiments was the damage they left behind in the lives of those involved.
The Survivors’ Struggle for Justice
There was little or no justice for the victims of the CIA MK-Ultra program or their families. Many of them, including Dr. Olson’s family, had to fight tirelessly to uncover the truth.
But these battles raged for many decades and weren’t all successful. The best that happened for the Olson family was an apology and compensation. Other victims were too mentally impaired to testify about their ordeal. Most of the subjects experienced lifelong mental health damage.
Additionally, there was little to no available documentation to support their cases. They were left helpless in the face of government cruelty and impunity. Only a few government officials were prosecuted. None of the top dogs faced the music for their actions.
Notably, Sydney Gottlieb remained untouched. He retired to a quiet life for many years before he died in 1999.
Conclusion – A War Without Honor
One stain that will forever plague the United States government is the CIA’s MK-Ultra program. A project born out of needless desperation and competition. A program that sacrificed its citizens.
For years, the CIA developed weapons and psychological warfare techniques and tested them on fellow Americans. Families were destroyed, and lives were permanently altered.
Vulnerable people were used without their consent to test destructive weapons. Humans became tools. Mere statistics that could be sacrificed on the altar of national security.
The human soul is the greatest asset. When the government begins to demand it, no one is safe.
Thankfully, the truth came out against all odds. Now the world knows what is possible when the government isn’t accountable to the people.
The chilling testimonies from survivors of the psychological warfare are a sobering reminder that the fight for human dignity shouldn’t end. History can repeat itself unannounced.
We have also learned that the ultimate battle isn’t with rockets, tanks, or bombs. It isn’t a contention for land, oil, or gold. But a battle for the mind. The human soul is the greatest asset. When the government begins to demand it, no one is safe.
Who do you think threw Dr. Olson through the hotel window? On a scale of 10, how much do you trust the government and the intelligence community? Let’s hear your thoughts.
