The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) raised eyebrows decades ago with its controversial "Operation Midnight Climax." The program was allegedly America's response to the Soviet's "mind control," which breeds "brain warfare."
What Is Operation Midnight Climax?
The United States was terrified of brainwashing in the 1950s after hearing stories of brainwashed G.I.s (general infantry) returning from China, Korea, and the Soviet Union. The idea of brainwashing allegedly prompted the CIA to do an experiment.
Initial LSD trials by the CIA were surprisingly unethical but relatively straightforward. Usually, the agency dosed a single target, recruiting volunteers and occasionally slipping the chemical into the drinks of other CIA personnel, per History.
These LSD experiments become more complex over time. The most infamous of these initiatives was Operation Midnight Climax, part of a larger research program code-named MKULTRA.
On 225 Chestnut Street in San Francisco, the CIA spent much time renovating a bedroom in 1955. George White was in charge of the interior remodeling. White had a long career in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics despite not being much of a decorator. Getting White on board became a high objective when the CIA started conducting drug trials.
Pictures of French can-can dancers and flowers were hung on White's walls. He covered the windows with sumptuous red bedroom drapes. He used black silk mats to frame several posters by Toulouse-Lautrec. Each item conjured images of sensuality and glamour for the middle-aged drug administrator.
Instead of constructing a typical bedroom, White set up a trap. After that, he paid a Berkeley engineering student to install a two-way mirror and bugging technology.
White waited for the action to start while sitting behind the mirror with a martini. Unaware males would be coaxed into the bedroom by prostitutes, where they would be given LSD, and White would watch them from behind the mirror.
Small sums of cash are given to the sex workers in exchange for their services. White promises to step in if the women ever have any future encounters with police authorities; even though the CIA used these safe houses as a trial ground for LSD's effects, White's attention switched to another aspect of his observations - sex. As officials started asking new concerns about how to work with prostitutes, how they could be trained, and how they would handle state secrets, the San Francisco mansion became the hub of what one reporter called "the CIA carnal operations."
The organization also looked at when during a sexual encounter, information might be best collected from a source, ultimately concluding that it was right after intercourse.
However, it shouldn't be surprising that much of White's behavior was motivated only by voyeurism. White later said it was fun to witness a red-blooded American guy steal, rape, kill, cheat, plunder, and do all those things with the alleged go signal from the "All-Highest?"
How Did the Operation End?
LSD trials by the CIA continued until 1963 before falling to an unremarkable halt. In the spring of 1963, John Vance, a CIA Inspector General's staff member, learned about the project's "surreptitious administration to unwitting nonvoluntary human subjects."
The MK-Ultra directors attempted to persuade the CIA's independent audit board that the research should continue. However, the Inspector General insisted the agency follow new research ethics guidelines and end all programs on non-consenting volunteers.
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