# MKUltra

Declassified MKUltra documents
**MKUltra** was an illegal human experimentation program. The program was made by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The project would create drugs and methods that could be used in interrogations that could force confessions with brainwashing and psychological torture. The word "MKUltra" is a CIA cryptonym: "MK" was a random abbreviation that stood for Office of Technical Service. "Ultra" is a random word from the dictionary to name the project. The program has been very unpopular. It violated individual rights. It is an example of the CIA's abuse of power. Many critics say it did not allow for consent and hurt democratic ideas.

Project MKUltra started in 1953. The project was stopped in 1973. MKUltra used many ways to change people's brain functions. They tried to use high doses of psychoactive drugs (like LSD) and other chemicals. Consent was often not given. They also tried to use other methods. They used many types of torture, like electroshocks, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse.

MKUltra was organized through the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence. It was coordinated with the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories. The program did many illegal things. For example, they used U.S. and Canadian citizens as test subjects. MKUltra did many things that they said was research. They worked at over 80 institutions that were not the military. Many of these were colleges and universities, hospitals, prisons, and pharmaceutical companies. The CIA used many front organizations, though some officials at these organizations did know about the CIA's involvement.

Project MKUltra was revealed to the public in 1975 by the Church Committee. This committee was named after Senator Frank Church. It was also revealed to the public because of Gerald Ford's United States President's Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (the Rockefeller Commission). The investigation into the project was difficult. This was because past CIA Director, Richard Helms, ordered all MKUltra files be destroyed in 1973. The Church Committee and Rockefeller Commission investigations only used testimony (interviews) with participants. They also had some documents that survived Helms's order. In 1977, a Freedom of Information Act allowed for 20,000 documents about MKUltra to be revealed. This led to Senate hearings. More information about MKUltra was declassified in 2001.

## Related pages

* Unit 731 (Japan)

* Brainwashing

External video|  Presentation by Stephen Kinzer on *Poisoner in Chief*, October 3, 2019, C-SPAN |

* *Poisoner in Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control*, Henry Holt and Co., by Stephen Kinzer, 2019, ISBN 978-1250140432
* *The Secret History of Fort Detrick, the CIA's Base for Mind Control Experiments*, by Stephen Kinzer, Politico, 2019.
* Potash, John L. (2015). *Drugs as Weapons Against Us*. Trine Day LLC. ISBN 978-1-937584-92-4.
* "U.S. Congress: The Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, Foreign and Military Intelligence (Church Committee report), report no. 94-755, 94th Cong., 2d Sess. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1976), 394".
* "U.S. Senate: Joint Hearing before The Select Committee on Intelligence and The Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. August 3, 1977". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
* "The Search for the "Manchurian Candidate": The CIA and Mind Control: The Secret History of the Behavioral Sciences". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
* *Acid: The Secret History of LSD*, by David Black, London: Vision, 1998, ISBN 1901250113. Later edition exists.
* *Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond* by Martin Lee and Bruce Shlain, New York: Grove Press, 1985, ISBN 0802130623
* *The Agency: The Rise and Decline of the CIA*, by John Ranelagh, pp. 208–10.
* *80 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time*, by Jonathan Vankin and John Whalin, chapter 1, "CIAcid Drop".
* *In the Sleep Room: The Story of CIA Brainwashing Experiments in Canada*, Anne Collins, Lester & Orpen Dennys (Toronto), 1988.
* *Journey into Madness: The True Story of Secret CIA Mind Control and Medical Abuse*, by Gordon Thomas, NY: Bantam, 1989, ISBN 0553284134
* *Operation Mind Control: Our Secret Government's War Against Its Own People*, by W H Bowart, New York: Dell, 1978, ISBN 0440167558
* *The Men Who Stare at Goats*, by Jon Ronson, Picador, 2004, ISBN 0330375482
* *The Search for the Manchurian Candidate*, by John Marks, W.W. Norton & Company Ltd, 1999, ISBN 0393307948
* *Storming Heaven: LSD and The American Dream*, by Jay Stevens, New York: Grove Press, 1987, ISBN 0802135870

## Other websites

* Entire Four CD-ROM set of CIA / MKUltra Declassified documents released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), image format, *The Black Vault*
* MKUltra Declassified documents (PDF)
* U.S. Supreme Court, *CIA v. Sims*, 471 U.S. 159 (1985) 471 U.S. 159, FindLaw
* U.S. Supreme Court, *United States v. Stanley*, 483 U.S. 669 (1987) 483 U.S. 669, FindLaw
* Mind Control and MKULTRA by Richard G. Gall
* Results of the 1973 Church Committee Hearings, on CIA misdeeds, and the 1984 Iran/Contra Hearings
* XXVII. Testing and Use of Chemical and Biological Agents by the Intelligence Community
* List of MKULTRA Unclassified Documents including subprojects