MKUltra belongs to the documented history of U.S. intelligence abuses. Its story is disturbing enough without adding speculation: the CIA funded experiments on drugs and behavior, including tests on people who did not know they were subjects.
A program authorized in 1953
CIA Director Allen Dulles approved MKUltra on April 13, 1953. Sidney Gottlieb directed work that included research into drugs and interrogation. The authorization came before the Korean War armistice, not after it.
Research was spread among subprojects and outside institutions, with funding arrangements that could conceal CIA involvement. LSD and other substances were tested, sometimes without informed consent.
A damaged but surviving record
Many program records were destroyed in 1973. Investigations in 1975 exposed abuses, and additional surviving financial records prompted a joint Senate hearing on August 3, 1977. That later hearing was separate from the Church Committee investigation.
The surviving record establishes serious violations while leaving gaps about the full extent of the work. Those gaps do not establish unrelated claims about modern technology or medicine.
Why the history matters
Consent, independent scrutiny and meaningful oversight are central to this story. Reading the hearing record allows us to ask hard questions while distinguishing what documents demonstrate from what remains unknown.
Adapted from the article by Matthew Willis · From the August 2025 [provisional] issue. Edited for accuracy.