Mind Modification
One CIA mind control project in the 50's aimed at finding ways to protect the security of agents in the field was project BLUEBIRD. It attempted to discover means of conditioning personnel to prevent unauthorized extraction of information. During the project, another goal was established?the evaluation of the offensive uses of unconventional interrogation methods, including the use of hypnosis and sophisticated combination of drugs. Later renamed Project ARTICHOKE the objective was the creation of a "Manchurian" killer marionette with an electronically blanked memory while MKDRACO was developing brain telemetry and intra-cerebral control devices implanting micro-receivers in the frontal or temporal lobes. Various other projects like STARGATE investigated possibilities of using telepathic control or remote viewing for military purposes.
It has been repeatedly suggested that after the termination of MKULTRA, the umbrella for special research purposes, the CIA shifted its programs from public institutions to private cult groups. Several eccentric religious groups and movements were organized or co-opted by intelligence operators (including among others the Peoples' Temple, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Ordo Templis Orientis (OTO), Finders and Switzerland's Solar Temple). As privatization of the public sector is increasing, with commercial prison facilities, private police and security forces, this seems a natural step.