Posted this the other day. Seems relevant and interdasting.
Project MKOFTEN was a covert Department of Defense program developed in conjunction with the CIA. A partner program to MKSEARCH, the goal of MKOFTEN was to "test the behavioral and toxicological effects of certain drugs on animals and humans".[1]
According to author Gordon Thomas' 2007 book, Secrets and Lies, the CIA's Operation Often was also initiated by the chief of the CIA's Technical Services Branch, Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, to "explore the world of black magic" and "harness the forces of darkness and challenge the concept that the inner reaches of the mind are beyond reach". As part of Operation Often, Dr. Gottlieb and other CIA employees visited with and recruited fortune-tellers, palm-readers, clairvoyants, astrologists, mediums, psychics, specialists in demonology, witches and warlocks, Satanists, other occult practitioners, and more.[2]
Also:
Project Artichoke was the Central Intelligence Agency's secret code name for carrying out in-house and overseas experiments using LSD, hypnosis, and total isolation as a form of physiological harassment for special interrogations on human subjects.[9] The subjects who left this project were fogged with amnesia, resulting in faulty and vague memories of the experience.[10] According to Jeffrey Kaye, the name of this project came about from New York City criminal Ciro Terranova who was nicknamed "the Artichoke King".[citation needed] It was formerly known as Project Bluebird, but in August 1951, the operation was renamed.[11] This project was a kickoff for MKUltra.