Talk:MKUltra

listen to a mandala?

the Documented Subjects section starts--

Allen Ginsberg first took LSD in an experiment on Stanford University's campus where he could listen to records of his choice (he chose a Gertrude Stein reading, a Tibetan mandala, and Richard Wagner).

i don't believe it's possible to listen to a mandala, well, maybe on lsd it is. perhaps it was a tibetan mantra he listened to, though i seem to recall that he did study a mandala with elephants pictured on it, perhaps during the lsd experiment at stanford, but i couldn't find anything to confirm the recollection. this ring a bell with anyone? Potholehotline (talk) 04:14, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

Radiation and human testing

@LuckyLouie: you removed the word radiation here, saying "According to source cited, radiation tests were specific to atmospheric nuclear test programs, not MKUltra" in your edit summary.

On the document linked as a reference, it says on page 3:

Some of these tests and experiments involved the intentional exposure of people to hazardous substances such as radiation, blister and nerve agents, biological agents, LSD, and phencyclidine (PCP). These tests and experiments were conducted to support weapon development programs, identify methods to protect the health of military personnel against a variety of diseases and combat conditions, and analyze U.S. defense vulnerabilities. Healthy adults, children, psychiatric patients, and prison inmates were used in these tests and experiments.

Based on this I've restored the word with the quote and page citation here.

Can you let me know which page of what document supported your edit, in case I'm in error and need to revert? If you have a better passage and page I can edit to match the source verbatim. — Very Polite Person (talk/contribs) 17:50, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

From the same page in the source cited: "During World War II and the Cold War era, DOD and other national security agencies conducted or sponsored extensive chemical, and biological research programs." Here is my thinking: the article is about MKUltra. The source is obviously talking about a number of different research programs. But the included text could easily be interpreted as saying specifically that MKUltra exposed people to dangerous radiation. I am happy to be wrong about this, however I'd want to see confirming details of how MKUltra conducted these radiation experiments. Thanks, - LuckyLouie (talk) 18:23, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

Sure thing. It'll take some digging to pull it out from all over. Another added here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MKUltra&diff=1327509171&oldid=1327498354 — Very Polite Person (talk/contribs) 19:04, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

Conflicting claims as to origin of name?

Ultra (cryptography) links to this article, claiming the ‘Ultra’ part of MKUltra is ‘in reference to the Ultra project.’ (See article). Whereas this page claims: ‘"Ultra" is an arbitrary word out of a dictionary used to name this project’. First time using talk page on wiki sorry if this is nothing. ~2026-84512-9 (talk) 00:53, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Presence in Stranger Things

In Stranger Things, MKUltra is confirmed to be the origin of Eleven's powers in the experiments in Hawkins National Lab, with her mother(Terry Ives) taking part in the program and being transfused with Henry Creel("01"- first known human with the powers)'s blood while pregnant, in order to try to replicate the powers. Eleven was then taken from her mother at birth and her mother was told that she mismarried. I think that this should be added in some form to the "presence in popular culture" section. ~2026-82294-8 (talk) 04:36, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

MKUltra and Outlast

The Outlast video games are set in an alternate universe where the Murkoff corporation oversees some branches of MKUltra such as the sleep experiments seen in the asylum in the first Outlast game and the sleeper agent brainwashing program you're kidnapped to take part in in Outlast Trials. It could be cool to put this in the pop culture section as Outlast is very iconic and has had a big impact on the video game horror genre.

https://outlast.fandom.com/wiki/Project_MKUltra

https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/news/the-outlast-trials-redefines-multiplayer-horror

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/cia-brainwashing-experiments-helped-make-outlast-an-iconic-horror-series-195055899.html

‘ “The name of the Sleep Room in Outlast Trials, we took that from McGill hospital,” Outlast series writer JT Petty said. “In the 1960s, they had the Sleep Room where they would treat trauma with LSD and induced comas. It was insane. And the people who came out of that came out severely damaged, in worse shape than they were before.” ’ ~2026-20495-53 (talk) 01:15, 3 April 2026 (UTC)

Unnecessary Information under "Death of Frank Olson"

The first paragraph under this heading reads:

"Several known deaths have been associated with Project MKUltra, most notably that of Frank Olson. By 1951, Olson was a United States Army biochemist and biological weapons researcher. In 1951 academic sources attributed the 1951 Pont-Saint-Esprit mass poisoning incident to ergot poisoning through a local bakery (which appeared to be plausible because ergot naturally contains lysergic acid, the chemical precursor to LSD)."

The third sentence here seems irrelevant to the immediate context and caused me some confusion upon initially encountering it. I understand that this incident is mentioned later under the same heading, so it's not completely random, but even then I don't see any reason for further information about it to be included in this article. I would remove it myself, however I am still quite wet behind the ears here and fear that my judgment may not be trustworthy. An Absence of Fish (talk) 01:32, 26 April 2026 (UTC)

To add to article

To evaluate for addition to this article:

Article title: "CIA Took Files on JFK, MK-ULTRA From Tulsi Gabbard ‘in the Middle of the Night’ and Has Refused to Return Them: Report"

Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/cia-took-files-on-jfk-mk-ultra-from-tulsi-gabbard-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-has-refused-to-return-them-report/

~2026-20625-89 (talk) 23:41, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

1973

The Blue Witch (talk · contribs) tagged the statement Project MKUltra began in 1953 and was halted in 1973 with a need for a citation. Since it's in the lead, I assumed it would be sourced in the article, but it doesn't appear to be. Are there any sources that say that the project was actually halted in 1973? I just did a cursory search, and everything I could find indicated that the documents were destroyed then, seemingly with the implication that the project was also halted then, but I couldn't find any that state that explicitly. -- irn (talk) 15:12, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Every source I'd seen said the project name ended circa 1963, documents were destroyed in 1973, but no source IIRC that actually overtly provably says when the underlying program (versus naming scheme) ended. — Very Polite Person (talk/contribs) 18:01, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

The article body contains the statement that the MKUltra program ended in 1972, with a supporting citation. See MKUltra#Experiments on Americans. This date is also supported by other sources, e.g. .TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 20:07, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Jan Goldman is certainly a CIA expert, but there's a question probably worth asking about WP:INDEPENDENT given his deep CIA ties and employmnet: https://www.citadel.edu/intelligence-and-security-studies/faculty-staff/jan-goldman-ed-d/ — Very Polite Person (talk/contribs) 22:23, 3 July 2026 (UTC)