The CIA Doctors

by Colin A. Ross, M. D.

  ARTICHOKE operations involved detailed, systematic creation of specific amnesia barriers, new identities and hypnotically implanted codes and triggers. An untitled ARTICHOKE document dated 7 January 1953 with a section heading Outline of Special H Cases describes the experimental creation of multiple personality in two nineteen-year old girls by the CIA, in an extended series of hypnotic sessions beginning on January 9, 1952. “H” is used as shorthand for hypnotic, hypnotized or hypnotism in these documents:

  In all of these cases, these subjects have clearly demonstrated that they can pass from a fully awake state to a deep H controlled state via the telephone, via some very subtle signal that cannot be detected by other persons in the room and without the other individual being able to note the change. It has been clearly shown that physically individuals can be induced into H by telephone, by receiving written matter, or by the use of code, signal, or words and that control of those hypnotized can be passed from one individual to another without great difficulty. It has also been shown by experimentation with these girls that they can act as unwilling couriers for information purposes and that they can be conditioned to a point where they believe a change in identity on their part even on the polygraph.

  Another untitled ARTICHOKE document describes a series of cases of which the following, called “Analogous Case #3,” is most compelling:

  A CIA Security Office employee was hypnotized and given a false identity. She defended it hotly, denying her true name and rationalizing with conviction the possession of identity cards made out to her real self. Later, having had the false identity erased by suggestion, she was asked if she had ever heard of the name she had been defending as her own five minutes before. She thought, shook her head and said, “That’s a pseudo if I ever heard one.” Apparently she had a true amnesia for the entire episode.

  The creation of new identities and the detection of foreign agents with hypnotically programmed new identities is mentioned in various locations in the BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE documents. As well, deconditioning of subjects is addressed. For instance, one document entitled, “CONDITIONING (& Deconditioning)” states:

  Jones learns to respond to stimuli intended for a Smith, as though he were that Smith. He has been “conditioned” to Smith, “deconditioned” to Jones.

  Such trainings are integrated on all levels, conscious and subconscious. Hypnosis can assist in establishing the desired conditioned responses.

  A C.R. (condit. resp.) is meant to stick. It can be interfered with, or abolished, by new training in another direction, or back to the earlier state.

  Deconditioning can probably be expedited by hypnotizing procedures. Also, a C.R. can be interfered with or abolished by violent physical shocks (e.g., electric shocks to the brain) although this reporter has not found a specific electric-shock procedure that would assuredly decondition any particular kind or number of C.R.’s.

  Still problematic is the use of drugs for deconditioning. Chlorpromazine ought theoretically to have some value, and some deconditioning effect has been produced in laboratory animals. However, hospitalized patients taking daily doses of this drug seem to have been deconditioned only selectively; against certain psychotic behavior. It may be that this property is exactly what we are looking for; perhaps it could decondition an enemy agent out of his simulated personality and back to his real one.

  It is evident from this passage that the CIA was seeking to improve its techniques for detecting and successfully penetrating the amnesia barriers of enemy Manchurian Candidates over five years before the book The Manchurian Candidate66 was written.

  A MEMORANDUM dated 25 January 1952 describes another case in which problems of reconditioning and the disposal of subjects arose:

  On Friday, 25 January 1952, the writer was called to the office [whited out] for the purpose of a conference with one [whited out] concerning the instant case.

  [Whited out] explained in substance the [whited out] case as follows: [whited out] (whose real name is [whited out], is a 29-year old [whited out] and was the head of a small political party based in [whited out] and ostensively working for [whited out] independence. [Whited out] was described by [whited out] as being young, ambitious, bright (elementary college education), a sort of “man-on-a-horse” type but a typical [whited out] politician. According to [whited out] our people discovered that [whited out] Intelligence Service were attempting to bribe [whited out] and make him a double agent and [whited out] was looking with favor upon the [whited out] offers. Accordingly, a plot was rigged in which [whited out] was told he was going to be assassinated and as a “protection”, he was placed in custody of the [whited out] Police who threw [whited out] into a [whited out] prison. [Whited out] was held in the [whited out] prison for six months until the [whited out] authorities decided that [whited out] was a nuisance and they told our people to take him back. Since our people were unable to dispose of [whited out] they flew him to [whited out] where, through arrangement, he was placed in a [whited out] as a psychopathic patient. [Whited out] now has been in the [whited out] hospital for several months and the hospital authorities now want to get him out since he is causing a considerable trouble, bothering other patients, etc. [Whited out] is not a psychopathic personality.

  [Whited out] explained that they can dispose of [whited out] by the simple process of sending him to a friend of his in [whited out], and as far as they are concerned, that type of disposal is perfectly o.k. However, because of his confinement in [whited out] prison and his stay in [whited out] hospital, [whited out] has become very hostile toward the [whited out] and our intelligence operations in particular. Hence [whited out] considering an “Artichoke” approach to [whited out] to see if it would be possible to re-orient [whited out] favorably toward us. This operation, which will necessarily involve the use of drugs is being considered by [whited out] with a possibility that [whited out] will carry out the operation presumably at the [whited out] hospital in [whited out] Also involved in this would be a [whited out] interpreter who is a consultant to this Agency since neither [whited out].

  [Whited out] pointed out to [whited out] that this type of operation could only be carried out with the authorization of Security and that, under no circumstances whatsoever, could anyone but an authorized M.D. administer drugs to any subject of this Agency of any type. [Whited out] pointed out that there was a strong possibility that the military authorities would not permit their hospital to be used for this type of work and also that a re-conditioning operation of this type might take 30-60 days. [Whited out] further pointed out that if such an operation were carried on, Security would have to be cognizant of it, would have to be co-ordinated into the organization and would possibly take over and run the operation themselves since this type of work is one which Security handles.

  It was agreed between [whited out] and the writer that a conference would be laid on Monday afternoon when [whited out] representatives and the [whited out] interpreter return from [whited out] and their talk with [whited out] At which time, the angles would be explored and a dispatch would be forwarded to our people in [whited out] directing them to find out whether the [whited out] would permit such an operation and whether the [whited out] would allow the Agency to have the use of the necessary rooms, medical facilities, etc. as would be required for this type of operation. At this time, it was also to be determined whether the disposal of [whited out] could in fact be laid on.

  Comment:

  This particular operation was mentioned in general terms to the writer by [whited out] approximately thirty days ago on an informal basis but no significant details were given at this time.

  While the technique that [whited out] are considering for use in this case is not known to the writer, the writer believes the approach will be made through the standard narco-hypnosis technique. Re-conditioning and re-orienting an individual in such a matter, in the opinion of the writer, cannot be accomplished easily and will require a great deal of time and the fact that an interpreter i
s necessary in the case complicates it considerably more. It is also believed that with our present knowledge, we would have no absolute guarantee that the subject in this case would maintain a positive friendly attitude toward us even though there is apparently a successful response to the treatment. The writer did not suggest to [whited out] that perhaps a total amnesia could be created by a series of electric shocks, but merely indicated that amnesias under drug treatments were not certain.

  A document entitled, “Hypnotic Experimentation and Research, 10 February 1954” describes a simulation experiment of relevance to the creation of Manchurian Candidate assassins:

  Miss [whited out] was then instructed (having previously expressed a fear of firearms in any fashion) that she would use every method at her disposal to awaken Miss [whited out] (now in a deep hypnotic sleep) and failing in this, she would pick up a pistol nearby and fire it at Miss [whited out]. She was instructed that her rage would be so great that she would not hesitate to “kill” [whited out] for failing to awaken. Miss [whited out] carried out these suggestions to the letter including firing the (unloaded pneumatic pistol) gun at [whited out] and then proceeding to fall into a deep sleep. After proper suggestions were made, both were awakened and expressed complete amnesia for the entire sequence. Miss [whited out] was again handed the gun, which she refused (in an awakened state) to pick up or accept from the operator. She expressed absolute denial that the foregoing sequence had happened.

  In another experiment described in a document entitled “SI and H Experimentation (25 September 1951),” two of the female subjects took part in an exercise involving the planting of a bomb. SI means “Special Interrogations.” Both Subjects performed perfectly and were fully amnesic for the exercise:

  [Whited out] was instructed that upon awakening, she would proceed to [whited out] room where she would wait at the desk for a telephone call. Upon receiving the call, a person known as “Jim” would engage her in normal conversation. During the course of the conversation, this individual would mention a code word to [whited out]. When she heard this code word she would pass into a SI trance state, but would not close her eyes and remain perfectly normal and continue the telephone conversation. She was told that thereafter upon conclusion of the telephone conversation, she would then carry out the following instructions:

  [Whited out] being in a complete SI state at this time, was then told to open her eyes and was shown an electric timing device. She was informed that this timing device was an incendiary bomb and was then instructed how to attach and set the device. After [whited out] had indicated that she had learned how to set and attach the device, she was told to return to a sleep state and further instructed that upon concluding of the aforementioned conversation, she would take the timing device which was in a briefcase and proceed to the ladies room. In the ladies room, she would be met by a girl whom she had never seen who would identify herself by the code word “New York”. After identifying herself, [whited out] was then to show this individual how to attach and set the timing device and further instructions would be given the individual by [whited out] that the timing device was to be carried in the briefcase to [whited out] room, placed in the nearest empty electric-light plug and concealed in the bottom, left-hand drawer of [whited out] desk, with the device set for 82 seconds and turned on. [Whited out] was further instructed to tell this other girl that as soon as the device had been set and turned on, she was to take the briefcase, leave [whited out] room, go to the operations room and go to the sofa and enter a deep sleep state. [Whited out] was further instructed that after completion of instructing the other girl and the transferring to the other girl of the incendiary bomb, she was to return at once to the operations room, sit on the sofa, and go into a deep sleep state.

  Hypnosis was not the mind control doctors’ only method for creation of controlled amnesia, however. Drugs, magnetic fields, sound waves, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and many other methods were studied under BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE. The amnesia was often tested through memorization tasks of various kinds, and experiments were conducted to amplify subjects’ memory for information hidden behind amnesia barriers. As well as being potential couriers and infiltration agents, the subjects could function in effect as hypnotically controlled cameras. They could enter a room or building, memorize materials quickly, leave the building, and then be amnesic for the entire episode. The memorized material could then be retrieved by a handler using a previously implanted code or signal, without the amnesia being disturbed. The research and its applications were both offensive and defensive, as evidenced by the following untitled and undated passage from the documents:

  For instance, Metrozal, which has been very useful in shock therapy, is no longer popular because, for one thing it produces feelings of overwhelming terror and doom prior to the convulsion.

  But terror, anxiety, worry would be valuable for many purposes from our point of view. We have some information (not in detail and not confirmed) that the Soviets and their satellites have used drugs which work along these lines. Therefore, this should be studied both from our use offensively and defensively and to find antidotes or counteracting agents.

  The many different physical means for assisting interrogators were often combined with or amplified by hypnosis:

  Quite often amnesia occurs for events just prior to the convulsion, during the convulsion and during the post seizure state. It is possible that hypnosis or hypnotic activity induced during the post-seizure state might be lost in amnesia. This would be very valuable.

  The fact that complex Manchurian Candidate experiments were conducted can be inferred from an untitled February 6, 1957 document in which the writer states that:

  Since the international situation is in its present state, I feel the need for positive action in the military application of hypnosis is imperative. In a field such as this you need an individual, such as myself, who has lived with the problems of hypnotism and its military applications for many years …

  Please look over the enclosed proposal and give me your reaction. The hypnotic messenger technique is relatively uncomplicated. There are several other projects which I could submit to you for consideration which are, in my opinion, even more important than this but involve much more complicated techniques.

  Similarly, a MEMORANDUM from the Chief, Security Research Staff to the Chief, Technical Branch dated 15 July 1954 states that:

  The idea of a courier that has been hypnotized is not new and I am absolutely certain that [whited out] did not invent this idea. We ourselves have carried out much more complex problems than this and in a general sense I will agree that it is feasible.

  [Whited out] proposal about using hypnotized individuals as counteragents is also not new and we, of course, have discussed this many times. Whether in fact it can be demonstrated we are not sure and it is hoped that the field tests we are working on may help us along these lines.

  Yet another document entitled “STUDIES IN THE MILITARY APPLICATION OF HYPNOTISM: I. The Hypnotic Messenger” is a proposal for a grant of $10,000.00 to create hypnotic messengers out of twenty selected highly hypnotizable military personnel. The subjects would be sent to foreign countries to deliver their messages and then would be interrogated to determine if the amnesia barriers could be breached. Interrogation methods were to include “use of his wife, girl friend, alcohol, amytal or even physical duress.”

  Another prospective mind control doctor wrote a handwritten note to the CIA on a ruled notepad that has been labeled “A/B 5, 264/1” by hand by someone responsible for filing the document. “A/B” stands for ARTICHOKE/BLUEBIRD. The document reads:

  I have developed a technic which is safe and secure (free from international censorship). It has to do with the conditioning of our own people. I can accomplish this as a one man job.

  The method is the production of hypnosis by means of simple oral medication. Then (with no further medication) the hypnosis is re-enforced daily during the following three o
r four days.

  Each individual is conditioned against revealing any information to an enemy, even though subjected to hypnosis or drugging.

  If preferable, he may be conditioned to give false information rather than no information.

  This should be repeated every six months in each case, in order to be sure that the suggestions established have not “worn off.”

  I would be glad to go anywhere in the world (including Korea) to accomplish this for you. I think that the greatest security would be in my travelling as a naval flight surgeon doing research in aviation medicine, especially with the project of “motion sickness” in mind.

  Of course I would be willing to undertake more hazardous investigative methods if you should deem them advisable.

  Another problem addressed repeatedly in the documents is called “The Problem of Disposal of Subjects.” Several personnel recommended the use of lobotomies for this purpose, but according to the documents this was rejected as too unethical and too high a negative publicity risk for the CIA. Another document describes an alternative strategy for disposing of ARTICHOKE subjects: