The two articles from The Focal Points (link below) dive deep into declassified CIA history, specifically around Project Artichoke (a 1950s-era program) and its alleged ties to mind control via chemicals, drugs, and even medical interventions like vaccinations. They connect Cold War experiments to modern claims about COVID-19 vaccines as a continuation of those efforts. Reading this stuff makes you wonder if there really was (or is) some shadowy corner of Langley where people sat around brainstorming the most dystopian, unethical ways to manipulate human minds and behaviour — "evil maxing. "
What Project Artichoke Actually Was
Project Artichoke ran from around 1951–1953 (evolving from the earlier Project Bluebird) and was a real CIA program focused on "special interrogation methods." The goal? Develop techniques to extract information, induce confessions, create amnesia, or control behaviour — often in response to fears of Soviet/Chinese/North Korean brainwashing during the Korean War.
Declassified docs (available on the CIA's own FOIA reading room) show they explored:
Drugs (including LSD precursors, barbiturates like sodium pentothal for "truth serum," and other chemicals to agitate or depress subjects).
Hypnosis.
Narcosis (drug-induced states).
Sensory deprivation, isolation, and other psychological tactics.
Gases, aerosols, and even oxygen deprivation to cause confusion or amnesia.
A key 1952 memo ("Special Research for Artichoke") explicitly discusses developing chemicals that could be administered covertly — via food, water, drinks, or yes, "standard medical treatments such as vaccinations, shots, etc." The aim was long-term effects like inducing anxiety, nervousness, depression, hopelessness, or lethargy. It wasn't just about single interrogations; some ideas floated population-level incapacitation (e.g., non-lethal viruses or agents).
This directly fed into the more infamous MKUltra (1953–1973), which expanded on it with widespread (and often non-consensual) LSD dosing, electroshocks, and abuse on unwitting subjects — including U.S. citizens, prisoners, and mental patients. MKUltra became public via the 1975 Church Committee hearings, leading to apologies and reforms, but many records were destroyed.
The "nasty" part of this is undeniable: these were Cold War paranoia-fuelled programs that treated people as lab rats, often without consent, causing lasting harm or death (e.g., the Frank Olson case, where an Army scientist dosed with LSD later fell from a window).
The declassified docs show the CIA considered covert delivery via medical means in the 1950s, but there's no public evidence they ever developed or deployed a mass vaccination-based mind control program.
These programs reveal a willingness to push ethical boundaries to extremes in the name of national security. There wasn't necessarily a single "department of evil ideas," but rather the Technical Services Staff (TSS) and figures like Sidney Gottlieb (MKUltra's chemist) who pursued "what if" scenarios with little oversight. Cold War logic: if the enemy might do it, we have to explore it first.
Most of this was shut down post-1970s scandals, with congressional oversight strengthened. But the declassifications keep trickling out (some as recently as 2024), fuelling distrust. It's a reminder that governments can rationalise horrific experiments when fear is high. Or just for business-as-usual social control.
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/cia-project-artichoke-mind-control
https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/declassified-cia-documents-reveal