The final days and hours of a CIA scientist who worked in the secret mind-controlling ‘MKUltra’ program have been revealed for the first time since his death in 1953.
Dr. Frank Olson, a biological warfare scientist, was secretly dosed with LSD at a meeting and died nine days later after falling from his New York City hotel room, which was declared a suicide – although some people believe he was murdered.
Now a newly released report from Dr. Olson’s boss and former chief of the Army Chemical Corps’ Special Operations Division provides a firsthand account of the last moments of the scientist’s life.
Vincent Ruwet wrote that after a meeting on November 19, 1953, when the scientist was drugged, Dr. Olson seemed irritated compared to his usual social, “party” behavior.
In the days that followed, Dr. Olson became paranoid, barely eating and even disappearing into the night to throw away his wallet, identification badge and money because he believed Ruwet had asked him to.
“After about an hour of discussion, it became clear to me that Dr. Olson needed psychiatric attention,” Ruwet wrote.
Dr. Olson was scheduled to fly to a psychiatric facility on November 27 and tell Ruwet he would see him in the morning to catch a plane.
“About 2:45 a.m. Sat. On November 28, 1953, I received a telephone call from Dr [Sidney] Gottlieb with the message that Dr. Olson was deceased,” Ruwet’s statement concluded.
Dr. Frank Olson, a biological warfare scientist, was covertly administered LSD at a meeting and died nine days later after falling from his hotel room in New York City, which was ruled a suicide – although some people believe he was murdered.
Pictured is Dr. Frank Olson with his wife Alice and their children (L-R) Eric, Lisa and Nils
Dr.’s body Olson was found outside the Statler Hotel, where he was staying on the 13th floor.
His family were not allowed to see his body, but were told that he had suffered significant facial injuries in the fall and that he had committed suicide by jumping.
However, it was confirmed that he had LSD in his system at the time of death.
In 1994, still uneasy with the story he had been told, Dr. Olson’s eldest son had his father’s body exhumed.
The pathologist ruled that Dr. Olson had not suffered any disfiguring facial injuries, as the family had been told, and that he had an injury to his head consistent with being murdered in his room and then thrown out of a window.
The CIA’s MkUltra program, conducted from 1953 to 1964, focused on developing procedures and drugs that could be used during interrogations, weakening individuals and extracting confessions through brainwashing and psychological torture.
A CIA spokesperson told DailyMail.com: ‘The MKULTRA program ran from 1953 until the lack of productive results and ethical concerns about unwitting testing led to its termination in 1963.
“The CIA is committed to transparency regarding this chapter of its history, including by declassifying information about the programs and making them publicly available on CIA.gov.”
Ruwet’s first-hand account was part of a trove of documents from the project released in December detailing Dr. Olson during and in the days after the Deep Creek Lake experiment was described.
Now, a newly released report from Dr. Olson and former chief of the Army Chemical Corps’ Special Operations Division provided a firsthand account of the final moments of the scientist’s life.
Dr.’s body Olson was found on the street after falling from the 13th floor of The Statler Hotel
That’s when Dr. Olson was given the drug, which sent him into a tailspin for nine days.
Ruwet’s statement, dated December 1, 1953, begins by describing the personality of Dr. Olson before the Deep Creek Lake experiment on November 19.
Deep Creek Lake, located in Maryland, was the site of a cabin that the CIA used as a hideout and where mind-control experiments were likely conducted.
“His personality was almost outgoing,” he wrote. ‘He liked a joke, but didn’t take it too far.
‘Socially he was very popular, the ‘party life’ type. He was the first to help anyone who had problems professionally or personally.’
The experiment took place on Thursday, and Ruwet and Dr. Olson met for breakfast the next morning.
Dr. Olson seemed irritated when they sat down to eat, but Ruwet “didn’t think this was abnormal under the circumstances” because he had just completed an MKUltra experiment.
On November 23, Dr. Olson met with Ruwet to ask whether he should be fired or resign.
Ruwet was ‘stunned’ by the comments, and at that point the scientist’s behavior took a dramatic turn.
“I saw him on Tuesday, November 24, 1953, when he was waiting for me again in my office when I came to work about 6:30 in the morning,” Ruwet said.
‘He seemed extremely agitated and, in his own words, ‘completely confused.’ He said he felt like he wasn’t competent, that he had done something wrong.”
Ruwet tried to comfort Dr. Olson, but “after an hour of talking it became clear [him] that Dr. Olsent needed psychiatric attention.”
The scientist agreed to seek help and worked with Dr. Robert Lashbrook to arrange a meeting with a psychiatrist in New York and a stay at a psychiatric facility in Maryland.
Dr. Olson and Ruwet boarded a plane to New York that day, but the scientist “was very worried and felt like someone was out to get him” during the flight.
They met with a psychiatrist, but Dr. Olson became too suspicious and irritated that the meeting was cut short.
And the bizarre behavior continued when Dr. Olson and Ruwet watched a Broadway show, “Me and Juliet,” at 8:30 p.m.
‘Dr. Olson appeared to become upset during the first act and during intermission he became very agitated and stated that he knew there were people waiting outside to arrest him as he left the show,” Ruwet said.
That same evening, Doctor Olsen disappeared into the dark streets of Manhattan to throw away his money and identification.
“He stated that he did this because I had told him to do so since I was with him,” Ruwet wrote.
“I told him I wasn’t with him; he said, ‘Yes, that’s right. I must have been dreaming.’
His family were not allowed to see his body, but were told that he had suffered significant facial injuries in the fall and that he had committed suicide by jumping. However, it was confirmed that he had LSD in his system at the time of death
The two returned to Washington DC, but Dr. Olson got worse. He begged to be handed over to the police as they were already after him.
When this happened, Dr. Olsen returned to New York to see the psychiatrist again.
“That was the last time I saw Dr. Olson,” Ruwet said.
But the two spoke on the phone because they planned for Dr. Olson to admit himself to Chestnut Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, and they had reservations about going together.
‘Dr. Olson seemed very relaxed on the phone,” Ruwet said. “He told me about the trip in the morning, about the fact that they had reservations at Chestnut Lodge.”
The scientist even urged him not to go because ‘he knew that’ [Ruwet] I probably had to do some work around the house since it was a Saturday.
“I told him not to think about that and that I would meet him,” Ruwet said. ‘He said: fine. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. ”
The family of Dr. Olson believes he “became uncomfortable with the nature of his work, showed signs of being a security risk, and then became unstable when he was drugged with LSD at an outside business meeting designed to test his trustworthiness.” ‘
“He had become a man who knew too much,” said his cousin Paul Vidich.
The New York District Attorney’s office reopened its file on Olson’s death in 1996 and eventually changed the cause of death from “suicide” to “unknown” after a lengthy investigation.