Ethics haven’t exactly been the core focus of US governmental agencies over the decades — they prefer to make use of their stealth prowess for nefarious purposes, which is why we’re going to take a look at project MK Ultra and other shocking CIA programs.

Unethical human experiments were the norm a few decades back, and they could still be going on for all we know. Much like people didn’t know about past projects when they were going on, it’s quite unlikely that citizens would be aware of the new ones taking place.

The purposes of these experiments weren’t always clear, but for the most part, the CIA wanted a way to gain the upper hand against the enemies of the United States, whomever they may be. Whether it was by drugging people just to see whether they’d become easier to control or straight-up torturing them to see when they broke, the CIA has done it all.

Mad scientists got a free hand to try out their wildest ideas, while unsuspecting citizens got dragged into experiments they knew nothing about and certainly did not agree to be a part of. This was done for “the greater good,” that elusive concept spouted by all government agencies trying to justify their activities that are borderline legal, if not completely on the dark side.

No matter what conspiracy theories some came up with, they were denied or blatantly ignored by the authorities… until the files pertaining to various projects were declassified and the government had to admit to having authorized the program. Most often than not, however, since this declassification was done decades after the deeds, they’d just raise their shoulders in a shrug, apologize for their predecessors and move on. If you want to see what the US government is able to do, just read up on 6 facts about Operation Northwoods conspiracy theory.

Either way, we’re going to take a look at Project MK Ultra and other shocking CIA programs to see what the Central Intelligence Agency cooked up over the years.

6. Operation Midnight Climax

The CIA was particularly busy in the mid-60s with running brothels and drug houses. Yes, it’s not exactly what you’d associate with the Central Intelligence Agency, but it was something that apparently happened back in the day.

This project the CIA was running was tied closely to the MK Ultra program in the sense that it was using massive amounts of LSD. Other than that, the program involved hiring prostitutes to pick up unsuspecting men who were then drugged with LSD. Their reactions were monitored and recorded from adjoining rooms with one-way mirrors, much like the ones you see in movies.

Operation Midnight Climax is as bad as the name is cheesy. Brothels run by the CIA were opened in cities such as San Francisco and New York and dozens of prostitutes were on the agency’s books. The data was used to research sexual blackmail as well as surveillance technology.

The whole thing was established by American chemist and spymaster Sidney Gottlieb. It was placed under the direction of George Hunter White, an officer of the Narcotics Bureau.

5. Operation Paperclip

Kicking off in the 1940s, Operation Paperclip involved hiring former Nazi scientists. It sounds like the prologue of some kind of crime horror novel, right? Well, unfortunately, it’s true. The scientists that were getting hired had even been prosecuted as war criminals during the Nuremberg trials, which is hopefully enough evidence.

When the Truman administration refused to have its name linked to Nazi criminals, the answer was simple – erasing their criminal records and military records. As if nothing ever happened! If it only were that simple for everyone on the planet to get their history wiped clean of all mistakes. Some 1,500 German scientists, engineers and technicians were employed by the Office of Strategic Services, the CIA’s predecessor.

One of the purposes of this program was to stop these mad scientists from going over to the Soviet Union or the United Kingdom and revealing all they know. These individuals were then used for various projects within the United States.

4. Biological Warfare on US soil

The CIA has apparently also worked on a different kind of program that would come in handy abroad: biological warfare. The experiment took place near Tampa Bay, Florida, but also in other areas in Florida, where the whooping cough bacteria was released. According to some data, some 1,000 cases were reported of people getting the disease. What’s more, about 12 people died from a whooping cough during 1955 when the experiment was deployed.

Of course, without linking the strains that caused these people to die it’s quite impossible to put these tragedies on the account of the CIA experiment, but let’s just call it an educated guess. After all, the jump from one single death from whooping cough in 1954 to twelve in 1955 couldn’t have been just a coincidence. It’s unlikely, however, that this has troubled anyone at the CIA for very long.

3. Project Bluebird

In the 1950s, the CIA initiated a program called Bluebird, which was later renamed to Project Artichoke. Once more, controlling people was the purpose of it all, as the CIA was looking for ways to control individuals through specific interrogation techniques. As an extension of this program, the CIA also wanted to make sure they had a way to prevent the extraction of information from CIA agents should they get caught by foreign forces. Hypnosis and drugs were part of Project Bluebird too, including LSD, marijuana, cocaine, PCP, heroin, and more.

Most importantly, in a memo from 1952, the scientists running the experiment wondered whether they could get people to do what they wanted against their will and even against what they called “laws of nature,” meaning instincts of self preservation.

Over 7,000 US military personnel were given LSD without their knowledge or consent. This earns it a place alongside project MKUltra and other shocking CIA programs.

2. Project QKHILLTOP

Back in the 50s, which seems to be the dark ages of basic human rights, morals and ethics for the CIA, project QKHILLTOP was created by the Central Intelligence Agency. The whole point of it all was to study brainwashing techniques developed by the Chinese.

Most of the early studies were performed by one Dr. Harold Wolff who requested information from the Central Intelligence Agency. He wanted to know any information they had or they could get their hands on regarding to threats, imprisonment, deprivation, coercion, humiliation, torture, brainwashing, hypnosis, and any combination between these. He didn’t even care if chemical agents were used or not.

He was planning, however, to use secret drugs and brain-damaging procedures in his studies, hoping to see how these affected the brain functions of the subjects and their moods. This, of course, sounds like it’s not exactly legal, moral, ethical and in accordance to human rights, but that wasn’t exactly a big worry back then.

1. MKUltra

Out of all the programs the CIA is known to have run, MKUltra is one of the worst. The purpose of this program was to see whether or not, with the right tools, the CIA could control the minds of people.

The program was illegal, as you would expect given its purpose and, more importantly, its methods. MKUltra involved experimenting on humans who had no idea what they were getting themselves into, which is something that is obviously wrong for anyone that has any kind of morals. Alas, when it comes to this type of things, it seems government agencies believe that the end justifies the means and everything else doesn’t matter, that human rights are optional and ethics is just a word in the dictionary.

MKUltra began in the early 1950s and was stopped two decades later. In this time, numerous individuals were used as test subjects in experiments where the CIA used various methods to try to manipulate their mental states; basically, they were trying to find ways to make mind control a possibility. Some were dosed with LSD and other drugs and chemicals, others were hypnotized, some were sent in isolation or subjected to sensory deprivation, others were abused verbally or sexually, while some were tortured. Whether mind control was possible in the end, it’s certain that the vast majority of these innocent people were left with permanent mental scars.

It was all revealed to the world in 1975 when the CIA’s activities were investigated. What’s worse is that this is what we know happened, but it’s only a part of it all. CIA Director Richard Helms had ordered in 1973 to have all MKUltra files destroyed. Only a few documents survived.

This is the worst program the CIA worked on back in the 50s and 70s, or at least the worst that we know of. After all, if these are programs that we’ve found out about, what other skeletons do they have in their closets? The Cold War and fear seemed to throw their morals out the window.

Project MKUltra and other shocking CIA programs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unethical human experimentation in the United States.