Alright. I’ll talk about them again. Conspiracy theories.
First, let me say this. Some are total bunk. And we know them when we see them, especially when there has been scientific law to tell us otherwise. For instance: “The world is flat.” Bunk. Sorry, all you Flat-Earthers out there. But it is bunk. If you don’t believe me, turn off your computer right now, go outside, and start walking. Head due east until you step off the edge. Then you can say, “I told you sooooooooooo……..”
Anyway, in many cases, these “theories” persist over time because they contain an element of truth. Oh yes, they do.
One of the most common among conspiracy theorists?
The government is trying to control our minds.
Well. There is a certain truth to that. They aren’t trying to control the minds of the average Joe, per se. And yet, the government has invested millions in mind control technologies.
I mean. Come on. Who doesn’t want some kind of telepathic, mind-bending stun gun? Well, the truth is, the U.S. Army sure does.
Yes. The Army already researched a device that could beam words into your skull. Seriously. This was according to the 1998 report “Bioeffects of Selected Nonlethal Weapons.” ( https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/files/Bioeffects_of_Selected_Non-Lethal_Weapons.pdf ) The report says that, with the help of special microwaves, “this technology could be developed to the point where words could be transmitted to be heard like the spoken word, except that it could only be heard within a person’s head.” The device could “communicate with hostages” and could “facilitate a private message transmission.”
The truths about this sort of thing continue on and on. For instance.
In 2002, the Air Force Research Laboratory patented a similar microwave device. Rep. Dennis Kucinich seemed concerned because one year earlier, he proposed the Space Preservation Act, which called for a ban on all “Psychotronic weapons.” It didn’t pass.
There is a lot that goes on behind closed doors. I know because I’ve seen that Mel Gibson / Julia Roberts movie where they tape his eyelids open. (Conspiracy Theory, 1997).
So yes. The mind games don’t stop there. The CIA’s massive mind control experiment, Project MKUltra, remains the pet project of paranoid people everywhere. Beginning in the early 1950s, the CIA started asking strange questions in memos, like: “Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against fundamental laws of nature, such as self-preservation?”
Seriously. Is somebody writing this stuff down? Oh, wait. They did. And now, I am.
Anyway, in April 1953, the CIA decided to find out. The Agency wanted to develop drugs that could manipulate Soviet spies and foreign leaders. The government wanted to use what was essentially a truth serum. The CIA was chock full of other ideas, too. But then, Director Allen Dulles complained that there weren’t enough “human guinea pigs to try these extraordinary techniques.”
So what did they do? The CIA sauntered over and fell off the ethical deep end, leading the Agency to experiment on unsuspecting Americans.
Believe it or not, about 80 institutions housed MKUltra labs. And I should add that 44 of those 80 were colleges. Anyway, at those labs, the CIA tested drugs on people. Not like baby aspirin. Nope. They used drugs like LSD and heroin, testing if the substances “could potentially aid in discrediting individuals, eliciting information, and implanting suggestions and other forms of mental control.”
The CIA tested LSD and barbiturates on mental patients, prisoners, and addicts. It also injected LSD in over 7000 military personnel without their knowledge. Many suffered psychotic episodes.
It didn’t end there. The CIA tried its hand at erasing people’s memories, too. Project ARTICHOKE tested how well hypnosis and morphine could induce amnesia. They also studied Chinese brainwashing techniques. That project was known as Project QKHILLTOP. It examined ancient mind-scrambling methods to make interrogations easier.
And then there was the coverup. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, the CIA destroyed hundreds of thousands of MKUltra documents.
But whoops. About 20,000 of those documents escaped the shredder. Hence, the knowledge of it today.
So there it is. One conspiracy theory that has some meat with the potatoes.
I venture to say there is a LOT we don’t know about that goes on in the government and military. Maybe we should be like Mel Gibson in that movie and start paying attention to some of those tabloid headlines.
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“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Stephen Hawking
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“A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what’s going on.” – William S. Burroughs
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“People who don’t believe in conspiracies aren’t paying attention.” – Mortimer J. Adler
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Conspiracy Theory. Uhhh. Put on your foil hat folks. This one’s for real.
