Branches Book

BRANCHES

Grayson Small

THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF FRANK OLSON

2:30AM November 28, 1953 Manhattan, New York City, NY

American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and Central Intelligence Agency employee Frank Olson is declared dead. Cause of death: Defenestration. Reason: unknown... Background: Frank Olson worked on the MK Ultra project during the 50s. The MK Ultra project was a series of drug tests that the CIA administered, starting in the late 30s and are probably still going on to some extent. These tests had two main purposes: to try and develop mind control techniques, as well as to come up with new torture techniques. Often times, the experiments overlapped. The initial tests were in the 30s and 40s but MK Ultra wasn’t officially established until 1949. In some of the early tests, the CIA used marijuana, opiates, peyote, and scopolamine in an attempt to create a truth serum. They experimented on U.S. soldiers and disguised the tests as attempts to find a cure for shell shock. After deeming the tests as a success, the CIA started using cigarettes laced with marijuana to relax their targets, making interrogation easier. MK Ultra is known for its use of LSD. LSD, developed by Albert Hofmann in 1938, is a hallucinogenic drug that defined the counterculture of the 1960s and supposedly killed Frank Olson. On November 19th, Olson was brought to a secret meeting in Maryland. Soon after, he was taken to New York for psychiatric treatment by CIA officials. At 2:30am on November 28th, Olson fell to his death out of the 13th story of Statler’s Hotel. The same room he was sharing with a CIA doctor. Olson died from impact of the fall, or so the CIA claimed... Theory #1: The CIA Initially, the CIA denied the fact that they had anything to do with Olson’s death. They claimed that he committed suicide. As per usual, the

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