Part 4/14:
Farrell describes MK Ultra as a sprawling, clandestine project with 149 sub-projects aimed at controlling and manipulating the human mind. The program was initiated under Sydney Gottlieb, head of CIA’s Technical Services Staff, who, like many involved, believed their work was justified by national security needs against the Soviet threat.
The experiments ranged from drug testing, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, to more bizarre ideas like controlling behavior through “psychic driving”—constant playback of negative messages intended to break down resistance and rebuild personalities. These experiments often yielded tragic outcomes, including permanent mental damage, suicide, and institutionalization, as seen in the case of victims such as Mary Morrow and Wayne Richie.