Mind Control and the CIA

Memorandum

Subject: October Newsletter
To: All Readers and Interested Parties
From: Greg Smith, Author
Date: 30 September 2025

BACKGROUND:

Between 1952 and 1953, at the height of the Korean war, Soviet and Chinese officials claimed that the US and UN allies were using chemical and biological weapons. The claims were reinforced by coerced confessions made by captured American pilots. The pilots recanted their confessions after they were repatriated in 1953. The pilots had suffered through torture and coercion techniques that included sleep deprivation, beatings and extensive solitary confinement.

The coercion techniques employed by Soviet and Chinese interrogators reportedly included flashing lights and strobes, isolation, forced physical positioning, and audio played in endless loops. Some reports also indicated the use of hallucinogenic drugs to brainwash the captives. The reports were taken seriously by the US and the CIA, which later developed programs intended to explore the possibility of brainwashing subjects or implanting false beliefs and memories. The concept was also the foundation of the Frank Sinatra movie, the Manchurian Candidate.

The CIA had already begun researching the possibility of brainwashing people into performing assassinations. In 1951, Project Bluebird was founded in cooperation with the Army and Navy to explore the effects of mind control and hypnosis. The project expanded to include the use of morphine, heroin, cocaine, mescaline, and other drugs, namely lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).

Project Bluebird was superseded by Project Artichoke, and later by MK Ultra. MK Ultra researchers conducted experiments on both unsuspecting and witting participants. The CIA sought to implant false memories, develop conditioned responses, and control behavior. CIA researchers solicited test subjects from the student population at elite universities and among the military. The CIA also experimented on unwitting subjects, using incarcerated prisoners. There are also reports of the CIA using prostitutes for test subjects and to administer doses to clients as unwitting subjects. The CIA reportedly established a brothel in San Francisco in the 1960’s to facilitate the experiments in a semi-controlled environment

During the height of the counterculture (hippie) and free-love movement in the late 1960’s, MK Ultra linked doctors were actively involved in free medical clinics founded in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, where they had easy access to drug-addicted research subjects, most of whom were unaware of their status. MK Ultra researchers were also actively involved in the hippie scene in Los Angeles. Some authors even allege a connection to Charles Manson, who had ties to the free clinics in San Francisco and employed LSD and other drugs as well as mind control techniques on his followers. Other alleged participants include:

Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, volunteered while a student at Harvard.

Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, volunteered while a student at Stanford.

Poet Alan Ginsburg, an advocate for personal LSD use, received doses from Dr. Stanley Gotlieb (CIA), though he may have been unaware of Gotlieb’s actual affiliation.

Robert Hunter, lyricist for The Grateful Dead and friend to Ken Kesey, volunteered for LSD experiments that were managed by the CIA, though he may not have realized the connection.

James “Whitey” Bulger, renowned Boston criminal, admitted to participation in LSD experiments for at least one year while in prison in the 1950’s.

MK Ultra was officially cancelled in 1974. Congress attempted to recover the records, but most were intentionally destroyed or “lost” by the CIA and never divulged.

https://tinyurl.com/National-Security-Archive

https://tinyurl.com/Canadian-victims

INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS:

Brainwashing has long been a subject of science fiction novels, spy stories and Hollywood features. However, the records from MK Ultra that survived show that CIA researchers were successful in many cases. CIA doctors successfully implanted false memories and convinced subjects that events in their lives had never occurred. Several investigative reports make a compelling case that MK Ultra doctors successfully convinced subjects to commit acts of violence, criminality, or perform sexual acts they otherwise would never have considered.     

Although MK Ultra officially ended in the US in 1974, it is possible, even likely, that our adversaries have continued to explore the potential of mind control. Many of the techniques employed on captured pilots as well as MK Ultra participants are not only widely available but socially acceptable. Drug use, especially hallucinogenic drugs, has become even more common than during the height of the counterculture movement. The toxicity and potency of modern drugs, especially synthetic or synthesized drugs have expanded the potential for mind altering conditions.

Modern technology has also created an opening for mind control or brainwashing. Social media algorithms, endless doom-scrolling and the twenty-four-hour news cycle creates the endless loop of death and destruction. The algorithms create echo chambers that prior generations had to create through physical means. Social media platforms are known to have been exploited by both Russian and Chinese efforts to influence behaviors. Both Russian and Chinese automated “bots” mimic human users and create content that feeds user algorithms to influence behavior.

Electronic games are another channel of exploitation. Games typically include strobe-like flashing lights and explosions, highly immersive worlds or scenes, and high-definition audio and video to bombard the senses. Players are often isolated in darkened rooms, wear headsets to heighten the engagement experience, and forego sleep. Such immersive experiences mimic techniques used by MK Ultra researchers to implant suggestions or modify behavior. When gamers are already socially isolated or vulnerable, or potentially mentally unstable, implanting thoughts or influencing the player is far easier. When mind-altering substances or drugs are used, the conditions necessary to exploit an unwitting or susceptible participant are enhanced.

Video game participants, like social media users, interact with remote users. Players collaborate toward a goal, or to eliminate opponents. In both social media and gaming, automated bots have been able to mimic human players and influence behavior. The advent of artificial intelligence enhances the ability to exploit these vulnerabilities.  Highly immersive gaming worlds, when used by susceptible players enhanced with drugs, are eerily like the techniques employed by MK Ultra to successfully implant thoughts and control behaviors.

It is not a huge leap to think that our adversaries would seek to create chaos rather than confront the US or other Western nations militarily. The Chinese are heavily involved in the internation drug trade. By weakening the social fabric through social engineering, social influence, mind control, and widespread drug use, our adversaries can sow dissent and disaffection among the most vulnerable. The social media and other technology platform algorithms feed the narrative which can also be exploited by other bad actors.

Many of the terrorist plots of the last twenty years have been from home-grown terror cells. Previously law-abiding citizens or immigrants sometimes seek connection and belonging through online groups, games, chats, and social media that feed narratives of dissatisfaction. The algorithms build upon that sense of disaffection and create the echo chamber necessary for exploitation. There is a thread of social media and online gaming that occurs frequently in the terror cells that have broken up in both Europe and the US in recent years. Social media and online gaming are also part of the backstory of the two people who attempted to assassinate President Trump in 2024, as well as the man who did assassinate conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, and the man who attempted to assassinate Immigration officers in Dallas in 2025.

CURRENT OPERATIONS UPDATE:

Killer’s Reign is still with the story editor. We have had a few discussions concerning potential changes to the story structure and characters, and I look forward to a full review with the editor in the coming days. Several of the changes will make the story stronger, more entertaining and a much better read. Once I complete the changes and another round of edits, I hope to complete the manuscript and have it ready for publication in 2025. Meanwhile, I continue to work the rewrite of Sleeper Cell and develop the plot and story line for a World War II historical fiction thriller and associated screenplay.

COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE:

All my stories are passion projects and stories I enjoy reading as well as writing. I also write  some nonfiction, including the recently released The Coach’s Playbook, which was a collaboration project that became a best-seller on Amazon in July. I have also joined a new collaboration project which is scheduled for publication in February 2026.  

My fiction stories, Killer’s Reign and Sleeper Cell draw heavily on current events. Although works of fiction, I strive to ensure that the events and characters are plausible and representative of real word events and scenarios.

Check my website regularly for more information about my books and stories, updates on current events, and interesting tidbits of intelligence.

https://gregsmithonline.com/

Stay safe, stay alert, stay informed.