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It was considered an open secret for decades that the CIA was utilizing methods that were unethical at best and disturbing more often than not to control the minds of certain people, yet recently declassified documents have revealed the full extent of these infamous programs.
The decades following World War 2 saw many of the globe's leading political powers bridge into controversial and unethical programs designed to increase their might, with many reaching their heights during the Cold War.
One of the most notable programs relating to these activities was operated by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the cryptonym 'MKUltra' being the name that the experimental program came to be known by.
Beginning in 1953, the MKUltra program specifically focused on engineering human experimentation and mind-control operations that were not only illegal but incredibly disturbing in practice.
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These programs were intended to give the CIA the power to alter human behavior and control populations at large, and while it was officially stopped in 1973 and received significant condemnation in the decades afterwards, only recently have declassified documents revealed the full nature of what was going on.
As reported by the Daily Mail, over 1,200 pages of declassified information relating to the MKUltra program were exposed by the government last year, with many describing frightening procedures like 'psychic driving' designed to effectively reprogram the minds of their subjects through repeated messaging.
Subjects of these frightening experiments included criminals, mental patients, and drug addicts, alongside army soldiers and 'average citizens' who were often administered the treatments without their knowledge.
Part of the CIA's motivation for these experiments was to catch up to advancements allegedly made in the Soviet Union, with the agency's former director, Allen Dulles, arguing that "we in the West are somewhat handicapped in brain warfare."
Described within the files are treatments including a 'knockout pill' that used drugs to plunge subjects into a state of temporary unconsciousness, alongside infamous experiments were individuals were administered large doses of LSD to see the results.
One of the biggest controversies emerging from the MKUltra program wasn't just what was involved, but the fact that the CIA attempted to deny and cover up its existence completely.
Following the conclusion of the program most of the files were completely destroyed, and the CIA lied for many years by claiming the experiments never took place.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, the CIA asserted that it "is committed to transparency regarding this chapter of its history, including by declassifying information on the programs and making it publicly available on CIA.gov."
