There is very little in the world of conspiracy that is as fertile a ground for rumor and theory as MKUltra.
MKUltra was a CIA project to an illegal human experimentation program to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used during interrogations to weaken individuals and force confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
It was declared illegal and has been widely condemned as a violation of individual rights and an example of the CIA’s abuse of power, with critics highlighting its disregard for consent and its corrosive impact on democratic principles.
The term MKUltra is a CIA cryptonym: “MK” is an arbitrary prefix standing for the Office of Technical Service, and “Ultra” is an arbitrary word out of a dictionary used to name this project.
While the description is fairly mundane, a whole industry of conspiracy theories has sprung from this, covering such diverse rumored outputs as mind control, telekinesis, and even some kinds of programmed super-assassin-soldiers.
Now, according to a report in Deadline, the creator of The Sopranos is moving forward with the limited series for HBO. David Chase is creating Project: MKUltra.
He is building the project under his Riverain Pictures production company. This is actually his first series since The Sopranos wrapped. He will base the series on the book Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKUltra by author John Lisle. Chase is adapting the book himself.
Sidney Gottlieb (aka The Black Sorcerer) was a chemically qualified spymaster deep inside the CIA who headed the MKUltra program in the 1950s and 1960s.
Using psychedelics, hypnosis, and even torture to conduct dangerous experiments on subjects – often without their knowledge or consent – was aimed at beating brainwashing techniques employed by the Russians and Chinese.
Hilariously, some of the output from the programme gave birth to LSD counterculture.
Chase will executive produce alongside Nicole Lambert.
