Retin-A's Wrinkled Past

Professor Albert Kligman's Dubious Experiment at Penn and Its Relevance to the Miracle Cream by Jonathan Kaye

On March 4, 1979, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that in 1971 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) secretly tested a mind controlling drug on 20 "human guinea pigs," five of whom were prisoners in Northeast Philadelphia's Holmesburg Prison. "The tests began," reporter Aaron Epstein wrote, "after the CIA discovered that year that the Soviet Union had been trying to develop an undetectable drug that could incapacitate a victim's mind." (1) Calling for "needed countermeasures" against this "true potential threat to U.S. VIP's and other key personnel," the CIA authorized the Army's Edgewood Arsenal Research Laboratories in Maryland to conduct research similar to that undertaken by the Soviets. Using fifteen soldiers and five Holmesburg prisoners as guinea pigs, Edgewood researchers successfully developed a drug that, according to a 1973 CIA memorandum, "produced delirium and other psychotic behavior lasting from three or four days with subsequent amnesia," and was entirely undetectable in a victim's body (2). Epstein claimed that such programs "designed to alter human behavior through drugs, poisons, brain surgery, and electric shock techniques, were conducted by the CIA for about 25 years." What he did not mention in that article, however, was that many such programs-in addition to numerous other brands of experimentation on human beings-were also performed by the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) under contracts with both the United States government and the private sector. In fact, most of Penn's experiments were performed years before and included larger numbers of human subjects than the Edgewood program. The main significance of the later program is that it was among the first to catch the media's eye.

Various experiments on humans were performed by many different individuals associated with the University. However, in the interest of specificity, we will concern ourselves with the work of then-Professor of Dermatology Albert Kligman. Even a cursory examination of any number of documents or articles reveals that Kligman conducted more experimentation on humans-mainly Holmesburg prisoners-than anyone else at the University, making him an obvious person through whom to trace Penn's suspect experimentation practices. The scope of Kligman's tests demonstrates the scope of testing in general; similarly, Kligman's range of experimentation helps reveal those general trends. Although a dermatologist by training, Kligman often strayed far from his area of expertise into whatever field was the hotbed at the given time. "I like to do the ground-breaking research," he said in 1989 (3). Born in Philadelphia in 1916, Kligman earned his bachelor's degree at Pennsylvania State University in 1939. He received his doctorate and M.D. from Penn in 1942 and 1947 respectively. Kligman began his internship at Albert Einstein Hospital in 1948 and, in 1951, returned to Penn and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to complete his residency. Following that, Kligman accepted an offer from Penn and became a professor in the Division of Graduate Medicine where he served until 1972. (4) It was in this last capacity that Kligman performed the inhumane experiments on unsuspecting prisoners in question within this study. We will examine in detail three of Kligman's more significant experiments on humans: his testing of mind-controlling agents, his experimentation with "skin-hardening" agents, and his experimentation with Dioxin under a contract with the Dow Corporation.

Experimentation with Mind-Controlling Agents - Between 1964 and 1968, two trailers were parked inside the heavily guarded walls of Holmesburg Prison. Nearly a decade later, the story of what transpired inside the trailers began to surface. "Today it is clear," Epstein wrote in 1979, "that the activities within the trailers, with their padded cells, had nothing to do with crime and punishment. In that three-and-a-half year period, the Army and the University of Pennsylvania were turning 320 prisoners into human guinea pigs in secret chemical warfare experiments." (5) However, to prisoners at the time, the trailers with the white University of Pennsylvania lettering on their sides were a mystery. Donnell Wilson, who was incarcerated at the prison during those years, recalled in an interview how he learned of the trailers at Holmesburg: "I was on 'D' Block. Guys told me that if I wanted money for the commissary, all I had to do was go to 'A' Block, where Penn was testing people. I asked, 'for what?' They said, 'Look, you can go over there and make money. Just go and see what's going on.' So I went over, and saw different doctors in different cells and rooms." (6) What Donnell Wilson was encouraged to "go over there and see" were Dr. Kligman's testing grounds. The 1964 arrival of these trailers at Holmesburg marked the beginning of a three-and-a-half year relationship between the Army and Penn during a time when military research in chemical and biological warfare was at its peak. It also marked the end of the Edgewood Arsenal scientists' exhaustive search for a university able and willing to test mind-control drugs and other substances on humans.

Penn was an ideal choice for the Army, as it already had access to Holmesburg prison from an agreement that provided the University with inmate "volunteers" for drug testing for civilian purposes-namely for contracts with pharmaceutical companies. The new contract, however, had an explicit military focus. According to the agreement Penn researchers were to work with Edgewood scientists at Holmesburg to determine the MED-50-the Minimum Effective Dose needed to disable 50 percent of a given population-of seven different mind-altering substances. Kligman and Dr. Herbert W. Copelan, another Penn physician, were the chief investigators for the University. To this day, the $386,486 paid to Penn by the Army is the largest contract ever for testing on human subjects (7). By the end of their contract, Kligman and Copelan claimed to have found the MED-50 of all seven compounds. In their final report they wrote: "no subject suffered any [permanent] toxic or harmful effect." It is difficult to refute or verify this statement because the prisoners' names were crossed out in the report and they were not examined subsequent to the testing to determine whether they actually did suffer any "permanent" toxic or harmful effects. (8) However, Kligman and Copelan did include in their report a description of the effects that a few of the experimental agents (referred to as "Agent #_," not their constituent chemicals) had on prisoners. These records certainly reveal that even if the testing did indeed have no "permanent" effects (a claim this study rejects) the testing did have quite devastating effects during the experiments. The following excerpts illustrate those effects (9): Agent 668: Heaviness of the eyes and unsteadiness were the dominant central symptoms...[The prisoners] felt mildly high or intoxicated...Subjects were slightly drowsy, dozed more and daydreamed a little more than normal...

Significant mental impairment was usually evident by 30 minutes...A few visual illusions and rare minimal hallucinations were reported. Occasionally cracks or spots were interpreted as 'insects' or 'faces'...A few subjects reported apparent motion of the walls after one or two hours. The walls 'seemed to be breathing.' Two subjects at intermediate doses had mild transient nausea at about five minutes. Another subject, on the highest dose, became nauseated and vomited at 80 minutes.

Agent 302,212: Subjects became drowsy and often fell asleep...They swayed on standing and staggered mildly on walking, often brushing against corridor walls...Slight impairment of thinking...Subjects reported difficulty in carrying numbers in arithmetic problems. They felt unsure of answers.

Agent 302,196: Within five minutes of injection, subjects often noted a sense of increased effort and clumsiness on motion. Feet and legs felt heavy. Hands felt strange and distant...Later, during the numerical faculties test, it was difficult to move and control the pencil...It was 'hard to make the pencil reach the paper.' Handwriting reflected this...Speech was slightly affected...Thought was slowed slightly and concentration impaired...A few subjects noted optical illusions.

Agent 302,368: Hallucinations and nonsensical speech occurred at the dosage when incapacitated effects were produced. One subject developed acute anxiety at this dose level.

Agent 1-H: Consciousness during the test appeared dull. Several subjects had symptoms suggesting mild delirium. They reported hallucinations and dreams that were primarily visual and in color...The hallucinations occasionally were frightening. Subjects had difficulty distinguishing reality from fantasy...A few subjects complained of minor symptoms for periods as long as six weeks after receiving the agent. These consisted of difficulty focusing and headache when reading for several minutes...subjects often recalled 'thinking' during the mathematical test that they had completed several problems and then realized that they had finished none. Contrary to Kligman's claim in the report that he and Copelan had successfully determined the MED-50 of all seven agents and had compiled a "perfect safety record," subsequently obtained documents suggest that the experimenters knowingly subjected prisoners to agents capable of irrevocably harming them. In fact, before the study even began, an Army attorney named E.G. Scott wrote a memo questioning any research project intended to produce "irrational or irresponsible" behavior among volunteers. Beneath Scott's memo was a handwritten notation, probably added by a superior officer, stating, "investigating such mentally incapacitating chemicals is precisely the purpose of the study." (10) Thus, the Edgewood and Penn researchers were not only aware of the implications of the work on which they were to embark, but these implications were the main purpose of their research.

Questions of the propriety of these experiments continued after Kligman began his work. For example, at Holmesburg, the Edgewood Army officer charged with overseeing the professor's work expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the tests' procedures and even purpose. Chief of Clinical Research Lt. Col. M.G. Bottiglieri wrote in a 1965 letter to Kligman that Penn's psychological reports were Pure gibberish...absolutely...nothing but a list of clichés seemingly pasted together without consideration of coherence, in an attempt to provide a façade of competence and ability. It seems incredible that a psychologist with...apparent qualifications would attempt to palm off such shoddy and psychologically naive material in response to our request (11). Despite the complaints, in 1966, about two years into their contract with Penn, Edgewood relinquished full control of the Holmesburg experiments to the University when an Army legal advisor ruled that "the contract cannot be treated as one merely to provide subjects for the use of Edgewood medical personnel." Once Kligman and Copelan assumed full control of the program, they simply reported their results to Edgewood. The aforementioned final report was one of a few such reports that they submitted to Edgewood. After Edgewood removed itself from Holmesburg in 1966, the Army was essentially paying Penn to perform experiments that it would not allow its own scientists to perform, likely on humanitarian grounds or for fear of the possible legal repercussions. These revelations not only call into question the Edgewood researchers' and Kligman's intentions, but also the legitimacy of their results. Because there is no documentation available describing to what use the Army put Kligman's and Copelan's results, it is possible that the prisoners' exposure to the experimental agents-and the attendant health risks-served no purpose whatsoever, especially considering Bottiglieri's statements about the substandard quality of Kligman's work.

Kligman's Quest for Skin-Hardening Agents - Although the Army's $386,486 Edgewood contract with Penn was the largest and entailed the largest-scale experimentation, there were various other contracts between the Army and the University that used Holmesburg prisoners as subjects. Another noteworthy program, for example, was one whose purpose was, as Kligman wrote, "to learn how the skin protects itself against chronic assault from toxic chemicals, the so-called hardening process." (12) Ostensibly, this program had both offensive and defensive military implications. Kligman and his assistants worked with a variety of blister-producing chemicals, applying them to prisoners' foreheads and backs, and immersing entire limbs in solutions. "An inescapable conclusion ," he wrote in his 1967 report, "from all our studies is that solid hardening is attainable only if the skin passes through a very intense inflammatory phase with swelling, redness, scaling and crusting...Once hardened, the immersions may continue indefinitely without noticeable effect." He wrote that turpentine would be a good skin hardener, except about half the prisoners exposed to it had allergic reactions. "These reactions may be quite severe," he wrote in the same report, "when an entire forearm is involved" (13). Kligman reported some degree of success in hardening his subjects against such chemical warfare agents as sodium lauryl sulfate and chlorinated phenol. Twelve subjects, for example, were hardened to them for an entire year. However, the toxic effects of other agents mitigated his subjects' ability to achieve total insusceptibility to them. For example, all three prisoners exposed to pure ethylene glycol monomethyl ether, a highly toxic gas, "exhibited psychotic reactions (hallucinations, disorientation, stupor) within two weeks and had to be hospitalized." (14)

These effects were caused not by contact with the skin, but by inhalation. Therefore, no "skin-hardening" process would prevent or alleviate any psychological effects a chemical agent may cause. Moreover, Kligman concluded that "hardening is short lived, and requires continuing exposures for its peak maintenance" (15). This study ended not when the Army's contract with Penn expired, but when inmates "complained bitterly...After weeks of apparently peak inflammation, the skin exhibited no willingness to become hardened and the willingness of the subjects to go on diminished to zero." (16) Like the report for the program involving mind-controlling chemical warfare agents, prisoners' names in this report are also unreadable. It is therefore impossible to ascertain whether Kligman's subjects sustained any permanent effects from this skin-hardening experiment.

The Dow Dioxin Tests - There were yet other contracts between Penn-Kligman specifically-and a number of civilian companies that also involved Holmesburg. For example, between 1964 and 1967 the Dow Chemical Company paid Kligman $10,000 to determine how dioxin-a highly poisonous component of Agent Orange and other herbicides-affects humans. Chloracne, an acne-like skin disease, had reached epidemic proportions at a Dow plant in Midland, Michigan, so the corporation commissioned Kligman to determine whether this outbreak was attributable to the workers' exposure to dioxin (17). TCDD, or 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, which Kligman applied to the skin of 70 prisoners, is the most potent of about 75 dioxin compounds. (18) Later studies found the extent of that potency: "since the last of Kligman's experiments [under his contract with Dow], TCDD has been linked by scientists to cancer, birth defects, fetal death, and other effects. One Harvard University biochemistry professor even claimed that dioxin may be 'the most powerful carcinogen known'" (19).

In a letter to Dr. Kligman, Gerald K Rowe, a Dow official, wrote that he was sending the TCDD to be used in the tests. He warned that the chemical was:

highly toxic, and an oral dose of one-half to one microgram [one one-millionth of a gram] of it is always fatal in laboratory animals, with a typical clinical picture of severe liver and kidney injury...The seriousness of the consequences that might develop from testing with this type of compound require that we approach the matter in a highly conservative manner (20). Rowe authorized Kligman to begin with a dose of .2 micrograms (applied topically) and to gradually increase doses to 16 micrograms. (21) Rowe believed these amounts to approximately mirror those to which Dow workers had been exposed on a regular basis. In May of 1966, months after having received the TCDD from Rowe, Kligman reported "astonishingly negative results" to Dow. He had applied up to 16 micrograms of the chemical to six groups of ten men, all of whom underwent liver and kidney tests. "No subject developed symptoms that could be related to the treatment," he reported. (22) In a personal letter to Rowe he wrote, "I am grieved that so little has been learned" (23).

In January 1968, Rowe received a letter from Kligman. "We followed a specific protocol laid down by you," Kligman wrote. "Unfortunately, not a single subject developed acne nor was there any evidence of toxicity. This encouraged me to proceed more vigorously." (24) And proceed more vigorously he did. In the same letter, he told Rowe that in the year-and-a-half since his 1966 report, he had done further testing on a new panel of ten prisoners. He had increased the dosage to 7,500 micrograms, 468 times that which Rowe had authorized him to administer. The increase had the desired effect; Kligman reported that, "Eight of ten subjects showed acne lesions usually beginning in three to four weeks. In three instances, the lesions progressed to inflammatory postules and papules. These lesions lasted for four to seven months, since no effort was made to speed healing by active treatment." (25) The subjects were given kidney and liver tests for six weeks after the experiment and "in no instance was there laboratory or clinical evidence of toxicity" (26).

In 1980, Rowe testified before an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) committee that neither he nor anyone else at Dow knew of Kligman's subsequent testing (the 7,500 dosage) until Kligman had already completed them. "In January of 1968," he testified, "I was surprised to receive a letter from Dr. Kligman reporting new results." (27) It was in Rowe's testimony before the committee that the EPA-and the public-first learned of Kligman's dioxin experiments. The hearing was about whether Dow's Silvex, which was restricted to some agricultural uses, should be prohibited altogether. Silvex contained chemicals very similar to those tested by Kligman (28).

Like all of Kligman's reports of experiments on prisoners, the one for the Dioxin tests did not include any legible names of prisoners. This omission is particularly significant. After the EPA leaned in 1980 of Kligman's experimentation with dioxin, it searched tirelessly for the 70 prisoners, most of whom were presumably no longer incarcerated. The New York Times reported in 1981 that "information about the Holmesburg tests, apparently an unusual instance of human exposure to controlled doses of dioxin, would be invaluable in resolving the question of how safe the poison is when used in herbicides." (29) The EPA was particularly interested in locating the ten recipients of 7,500 micrograms of dioxin. Two years later, in a report on the EPA's inability to locate the 70 former inmates, EPA Pesticides Investigator Frank L. Davido wrote, "The agency believed that records relating to Dr. Kligman's studies could have provided additional information on the risks associated with the uses of 2,4,5-T and Silvex because the precise dermal dosages of TCDD in the studies were apparently known" (30). When Epstein first disclosed the dioxin tests in the Philadelphia Inquirer in a January 1981 article entitled "Human guinea pigs: Dioxin tested at Holmesburg," forty prisoners and former prisoners contacted the EPA, believing they had been among the tested. But after nine of the men were interviewed, Davido concluded that it was hopeless to try to determine which of them were actually Kligman's subjects (31).

In addition to aiding the EPA in their evaluation of the danger of certain herbicides, locating the prisoners and former prisoners would have been important for two other reasons. First, the individuals subjected to dioxin in the 1960's may have been suffering in the 1980's (and perhaps are today) from long-term health effects that, if detected in a timely fashion, could have been treated successfully. There were, of course, no follow-up medical studies after the experiments (32). Second, the United States Air Force sprayed about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange-of which dioxin is a key component-during the Vietnam Conflict to defoliate five million acres of Vietnam countryside. Locating Kligman's subjects would have been of particular interest to the group Vietnam Veterans Against the Federal Government and Chemical Companies, who sued the government and five chemical companies for the effects they believed Agent Orange had on them and their children. They claimed their exposure to the defoliant produced tumors and other ailments in them and birth defects in their children (33)

Dr. Kligman's failure to record the names of his Holmesburg subjects rendered his dioxin experiment all but useless. His tests were of little help to Dow, as his only subjects to develop symptoms were exposed to vastly more dioxin than the Dow employees. (Perhaps the failure of the first sixty inmates-who were exposed to the authorized amounts of dioxin-to develop Chloracne indicated that the outbreak in the Dow plant was attributable to something else.) Although his experiment could have been invaluable to the EPA and Vietnam veterans, the absence of the subjects' names on the report precludes it from being of any help. Thus, it is likely that 70 human beings suffered, or are suffering, unnecessarily from any number of effects of the testing (possibly even leukemia), and their suffering did not even lead to a better understanding of the toxic chemicals being tested. Kligman, however, dismissed his responsibility for any suffering. In a brief telephone interview with William Robbins of the New York Times, Kligman said of this possibility, "All those people could have leukemia now-about one chance in 20 billion. And I could be hit by an asteroid when I walk out on the street, but I don't think I will" (34)

Revealing Allegations - Dr. Kligman may have hoped that removing the prisoners' names from reports of his Holmesburg experiments would diminish the likelihood that any effects that the tests would have on people in the future be linked to him. But in addition to the increased media coverage and availability of once-classified documents, another factor has enabled historians to attribute to Kligman various consequences of his tests: his subjects' stepping forward, mainly in the form of law suits. Although some of the suits referenced experiments performed by Kligman not mentioned in this discussion, they will all serve as examples of Kligman's utter disregard for his subjects' well-being and his subordination of their health and safety to his advancement within the scientific community. Further, these suits can also serve as the follow-up examinations that Kligman failed to perform. Let us look at a few allegations. In January 1980, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that James Walker was suing Penn for "barbaric" medical experiments performed by Kligman. Walker contended that his lifestyle was permanently changed after he suffered "severe reactions to the experiments, which were conducted from 1964 to 1968 by University dermatology professor Albert Kligman under a [Dow] contract with the University." (35) A year later, Walker learned from the EPA that he was probably one of the ten prisoners to receive 7,500 micrograms of dioxin. Speaking for Walker, his attorney said, "His life is ruined. He has lupus, a skin disease, and whenever he is exposed to the sun his breasts grow. He now can work only at night, and can't enjoy his children. He can't play ball with them or go to the beach. This is hardly a normal life" (36). In November 1981, another five former Holmesburg prisoners filed suit against Penn and Kligman, alleging that Kligman gave them, "potentially harmful drugs during experiments [he] conducted in the 1960's...The suit reportedly charges that the prisoners were not told the nature of the experiments and suffered from outbreaks of rashes following their participation in the studies. They are also allegedly suffering from what they refer to as 'cancer phobia,' or the fear that they will eventually contract cancer." (37) These claims indicate that Kligman's claim that "no subjects suffered any permanent effects" warrants scrutiny.

The Issue of Consent - This discussion would be unduly prejudiced if no mention were made of the fact that all of Kligman's subjects did sign consent forms and were monetarily compensated for their efforts. But did they know what they were signing? Did the consent forms clearly and accurately describe the risks concomitant to the experiments? And were the prisoners justly compensated? That the experiments were performed on prison inmates immediately diminishes the exonerating prowess of a consent form. Why did Kligman not ask Penn students, who were abundantly available to him, to subject themselves to his experimentation for a payment? Would it not have been more convenient, more pleasant and safer for Kligman to perform his experiments on Penn's campus rather than inside the walls of a maximum-security prison? Probably, Kligman decided to capitalize on the desperation pervading Holmesburg rather than deal with the incisiveness of Ivy-leaguers. When someone is serving multiple life sentences, a pack of cigarettes from the prison commissary is rather appealing.

Having said that prisoners are extremely vulnerable, let us briefly examine the consent forms they signed, the context in which they sign them, and how much they were told. Allan Lawson, of the Prisoners' Rights Council and a former Holmesburg inmate testified that, "The only way a prisoner can earn money is by participating in the medical testing program conducted in the prison by the University of Pennsylvania." He conceded that all subjects did sign consent forms, but likened them to "hieroglyphics." Another former inmate, and prisoners' rights advocate Leodus Jones added that "people go into [the tests] in the blind. They don't know nothing about nothing." (38) In the aforementioned court case involving five inmates, the five also alleged that they were not forewarned of the possible effects of the testing. Finally, the payment system for experiments was likewise dubious. No cash or checks were ever paid to "volunteer" prisoners. They were instead issued up to $20 per week in commissary credit, depending upon the severity of the experiment(s) to which they agreed. (39) Contracts usually included funds specifically designated for this purpose. The multiple levels of these arrangements makes the proposition that prisoners did not have "full information" when they entered into these contracts seem patently true.

The Relevance of Retin-A - In 1990, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that Edward Farrington, a former Holmesburg prisoner, filed a $6 million law suit against the University and other defendants, claiming he developed leukemia as a result of Penn-conducted radiation research at the Prison in 1967. Incidentally, he alleged that he had been assured that the experiments would not have any short- or long-term effects. He claimed that radioactive material was injected at seven points along his arms and back, and were marked with permanent tattoos. These marks, he alleged, were periodically examined with a Geiger counter (40). In an article about a week later, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that Associate General Counsel for the University Neil Hamburg said of Farrington's suit, "We're trying to figure out what this person is talking about. If he gave more information, we would have some idea where to look. (41) This appears to be a rather naive statement from one of Penn's attorneys, considering the media exposure that Kligman's experiments have gotten in recent years. Even if the experimentation performed on Farrington actually had nothing to do with Kligman, Penn attorneys were certainly aware of the possibility that Farrington's suit had relevance to Kligman's work. In April 1992, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the University and Farrington reached a settlement. According to the article:

Plaintiff Edward Farrington was paid an undisclosed sum in order to avoid the costs of litigation and to buy peace,' Associate General Counsel Neil Hamburg said...Farrington said in the suit that he could not recall what department of the University oversaw the alleged experiment, and could not produce any names of workers, except 'McBride.' ...Lawyers for the University acknowledged in legal briefs that a person named McBride had worked for the University in 1967. But they firmly denied that any such individual was involved in the kind of experiments described in Farrington's suit (42). Three different facts make this case worthy of further investigation: first, it is somewhat curious that Penn would agree to pay a settlement to a plaintiff whose case was as weak as Farrington's appeared to be. Second, Sol McBride not only worked for Penn in 1967, but was also intimately involved in Kligman's experiments, contrary to Hamburg's statement. Third, and perhaps most importantly, Penn's agreement to pay Farrington came only weeks after they resolved a two-year court battle (between themselves, Kligman, and Johnson & Johnson) over the rights to sell Retin-A, a popular acne drug, as an anti-wrinkle cream.

During the peak years of Army contracts for human experimentation, Kligman founded "Ivy Laboratories" in an attempt to procure for himself some of the massive research grants available. He experimented on prisoners both under Ivy Laboratory contracts and under Penn contracts. Regardless of under what auspices he was performing tests, he was a professor of dermatology in the employ of Penn. The 1975 report of the Inspector General of the Army reported that "Ivy research used at least 94 inmates to test choking agents, nerve agents, blister agents, vomiting agents, incapacitating agents, and toxins." (43) These tests were actually charged with causing a prison riot and fire in 1972, at which time Ivy was banned from Holmesburg altogether. It was at this time that McBride became important. In addition to being a professor at Penn, McBride also held the title of "Medical Administrator" in Kligman's Ivy Laboratories. (44) Although he probably performed experiments in this capacity, he certainly was involved to some extent in Kligman's experimentation. It would seem too coincidental that a prisoner suing Penn would luckily throw out the name McBride as Hamburg suggested. In reality, Farrington was almost certainly among the 94 inmates cited in the Inspector General's report, and Hamburg probably realized the overwhelming probability of this.

So how does this relate to the notorious and lucrative anti-acne and anti-wrinkle cream? In January of 1990, the New York Times reported that Penn was suing Kligman, Retin-A's inventor, as well as the Johnson & Johnson company. Penn claimed that Kligman violated his employment contract and the University's conflict-of-interest policies by striking an independent deal with Johnson and Johnson. The University claims in its contract with professors the rights to virtually all patents acquired if they were developed on University time or on University property. When Kligman developed Retin-A as an acne cream in 1967, Penn signed an agreement with both him and Johnson & Johnson. But the University filed the law suit when it learned that Kligman had obtained a second patent in 1986 to use Retin-A to fight wrinkles; the previous patent only enabled Retin-A to be sold as an acne cream. Penn claimed that Kligman never revealed this 1986 patent, but instead struck a secret deal with Johnson & Johnson. The University claimed that Kligman discovered on University time Retin-A's wrinkle-fighting properties (45).

After a two-year court battle, a compromise was reached in March 1992, which gave Johnson & Johnson exclusive ownership of the patent rights to Retin-A. But Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay Penn all future royalties if the Food and Drug Administration approves a Retin-A compound,-which is similar to Retin-A and will be sold under the tradename Renova-as a treatment for sun-damaged skin. In other words, if the FDA approves Renova, Penn will acquire full rights to the Retin-A patent. This will translate to hundreds of millions of dollars for the University. Meanwhile, Kligman is working to better his relations with the University outside of the courts. As of 1992, Kligman had donated $15 million to the University's dermatology department, and he has promised to donate more (46). Thus, a few weeks after Penn learned that they stood to gain hundreds of millions of dollars from a drug that Kligman developed in 1967-when his experimentation at Holmesburg was as its peak-University officials hastily settled a seemingly weak case filed by an incarcerated convict. (Farrington was still incarcerated when he filed his case.) The conclusion? Hamburg et al. realized that there actually was foundation to Farrington's case. A trial could have revealed that Kligman developed Retin-A from his experimentation on Holmesburg prisoners; for example, his "skin-hardening" tests seem to have obvious application to the development of an acne cream. If this is actually what occurred, it would call into question Penn's standards for scientific research. Hamburg's reaction to a preliminary ruling favorable to Penn early in the court battle would have been ironic if eventually a judge or jury had found against Kligman: "The judge's decision is important because the University is in the business of advancing society through research, and the money the University obtains under its patent policy will go back into research for the betterment of society" (47).

Kligman's Work from an Historical Perspective - When history is discovered, the discoverer often finds himself ashamed and perplexed at how a previous society could tolerate practices that are presently abhorred. Such were the feelings of those discovering Kligman's dubious testing practices. However, Dr. Kligman's tests, as reprehensible as they may seem today, were far from enigmatic-let alone objectionable-when they were performed. Between 1950 and 1975, the Army spent $78 million on drug testing on human subjects alone. (48) That considered, Kligman's tests were but a minuscule portion of those done around the country at the time. Beginning in the 1950's Penn competed with such institutions as New York University, the University of Maryland, the University of Utah, the University of Washington, Tulane, the University of Michigan, and even the New York State Psychiatric Institution to secure Army grants for human testing (49). Also, regulation against such experimentation was at best mere formality. Although the Nuremberg Code of 1947 had forbidden the Army from experimenting on soldiers, the Organization of the Army Act of 1950 allowed the Army some flexibility. In addition to prisoners, the Army tested-or contracted tests for-various nerve agents and other chemicals on more than 7,000 soldiers. (50) This was all part of the government's Cold War agenda and their attempt to keep pace with the Soviet Union in every aspect of warfare development. Eventually, permanently damaging human experimentation testing ended in the mid-1970's when people began to question it on both moral and humanitarian grounds.

Most of Kligman's subjects were young black men. In October 1994, Harriet A. Washington published a comprehensive study in Emerge magazine detailing blacks' history with medical experimentation. She mentioned, for example, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment of 1932-72, during which black men were purposely exposed to syphilis. She also discussed the world-renowned case of Henrietta Lacks, who was dissected without her husband's or family's permission, and her body sold for millions. Washington also wrote that the Virginia Commonwealth University exploited blacks in local hospitals, by subjecting them to radiation burns and phosphorus-32, a radioactive substance (51). Blacks and other socially marginalized groups (other minorities and the handicapped, for example), understandably-but unconscionably-have had the most experience with devious medical experiments. However, as society progresses, so too do all groups within the society, diminishing their marginalization. In 1966, for example, Kligman said to a reporter, speaking of his access to Holmesburg prisoners, "All I saw before me were acres of skin. I was like a farmer seeing fertile field for the first time...[It was] an anthropoid colony...which wasn't going anywhere." (52) It is doubtful that a researcher would think, much less say to a reporter, that statement today.

Protections Against Dubious Experimentation Today - One wonders with a healthy amount of skepticism whether a Kligman experiment could happen today. Thankfully, we tend to learn from those historical episodes that we would often like to forget. Certain modern guidelines have been created for the very prevention of repetition of previous crimes. Specifically, Penn distributes a half-inch thick book of guidelines to all of its medical research called the Guidelines for the Preparation of Protocols for Review. This manual was prepared by the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board Committee on Studies Involving Human Beings and outlines an intricate protocol that all researchers must follow before performing any experimentation on humans. Such guidelines are direct results of public pressure exerted on institutions to curb inhumane testing on humans (53).

Dr. Kligman - Dr. Kligman is now Professor Emeritus of Dermatology. At age 79, he is a world-renowned expert on the aging of the skin, and has appeared in varied publications from Seventeen to Time to the New England Journal of Medicine. A millionaire several times over, he lives in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia with his wife, who is also a dermatologist. To this day, Kligman remains only the second researcher in the FDA's history to be banned from its approved list of researchers entitled to test investigational drugs on human subjects. This ban was reported by Time in August 1966, before the Army granted him, Penn, and his Ivy Research Laboratories about $500,000 in research contracts to test human beings. Dr. Kligman refused to discuss any of the information contained herein.

Source: Retin-A's Wrinkled Past Endnotes

Some Aspects of Anti-Personnel Electromagnetic Weapons by David G. Guyatt

Synopsis prepared for the ICRC Symposium The Medical Profession and the Effects of Weapons

As the threat of global warfare diminishes and the cold war slowly fades into history, more government and law enforcement resources are being re-allocated to fight the "enemy within." And a new class of weapons is being developed to fight "bloodless" battles, fry computer circuitry and control human minds en masse. ParaScope presents David G. Guyatt's overview of the history of electromagnetic weapons, prepared for the Red Cross (ICRC) symposium "The Medical Profession and the Effects of Weapons." Get the scoop on this ominous trend towards a "psycho-civilized society," from early Japanese attempts to manufacture a "death ray" to current law enforcement expenditures on "less than lethal" EM arsenals. Reposted with permission of the author.

Part 1 Toward a Psycho-Civilized Society - The background to the development of anti-personnel electromagnetic weapons can be traced by to the early-middle 1940's and possibly earlier. The earliest extant reference, to my knowledge, was contained in the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey (Pacific Survey, Military Analysis Division, Volume 63) which reviewed Japanese research and development efforts on a "Death Ray." Whilst not reaching the stage of practical application, research was considered sufficiently promising to warrant the expenditure of Yen 2 million during the years 1940-1945. Summarizing the Japanese efforts, allied scientists concluded that a ray apparatus might be developed that could kill unshielded human beings at a distance of 5 to 10 miles. Studies demonstrated that, for example, automobile engines could be stopped by tuned waves as early as 1943. (1) It is therefore reasonable to suppose that this technique has been available for a great many years. Research on living organisms (mice and ground hogs) revealed that waves from 2 meters to 60 centimeters in length caused hemorrhage of lungs, whereas waves shorter than two meters destroyed brain cells.

However, experiments in behavior modification and mind manipulation have a much more grisly past. Nazi doctors at the Dachau concentration camp conducted involuntary experiments with hypnosis and narco-hypnosis, using the drug mescaline on inmates. Additional research was conducted at Aushwitz, using a range of chemicals including various barbiturates and morphine derivatives. Many of these experiments proved fatal. Following the conclusion of the war, the U.S. Naval Technical Mission was tasked with obtaining pertinent industrial and scientific material that had been produced by the Third Reich and which may be of benefit to U.S. interests. Following a lengthy report, the Navy instigated Project CHATTER in 1947. Many of the Nazi scientists and medical doctors who conducted hideous experiments were later recruited by the U.S. Army and worked out of Heidelberg prior to being secretly relocated to the United States under the Project PAPERCLIP program. Under the leadership of Dr. Hubertus Strughold, 34 ex-Nazi scientists accepted "Paperclip" contracts, authorized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and were put to work at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. By 1953 the CIA, U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army Chemical Corps were conducting their own narco-hypnosis programs on unwilling victims that included prisoners, mental patients, foreigners, ethic minorities and those classified as sexual deviants (2).

It was not until the middle or late 1970's that the American public became aware of a series of hitherto secret programs that had been conducted over the preceding two decades by the military and intelligence community. (3) Primarily focusing on narco-hypnosis, these extensive covert programs bore the project titles MKULTRA, MKDELTA, MKNAOMI, MKSEARCH (MK being understood to stand for Mind Kontrol), BLUEBIRD, ARTICHOKE and CHATTER. The principal aim of these and associated programs was the development of a reliable "programmable" assassin. Secondary aims were the development of a method of citizen control (4). Particularly relevant was Dr. Jose Delgado's secret work directed towards the creation of a "psycho-civilized" society by use of a "stimoceiver." (5) Delgado's work was seminal, and his experiments on humans and animals demonstrated that electronic stimulation can excite extreme emotions including rage, lust and fatigue. In his paper "Intracerebral Radio Stimulation and recording in Completely Free Patients," Delgado observed that: "Radio Stimulation on different points in the amygdala and hippocampus in the four patients produced a variety of effects, including pleasant sensations, elation, deep thoughtful concentration, odd feelings, super relaxation (an essential precursor for deep hypnosis), colored visions, and other responses."

With regard to the "colored visions" citation, it is reasonable to conclude he was referring to hallucinations -- an effect that a number of so-called "victims" allude to. (7) As far back as 1969, Delgado predicted the day would soon arrive when a computer would be able to establish two-way radio communication with the brain -- an event that first occurred in 1974. Lawrence Pinneo, a neurophysiologist and electronic engineer working for Stanford Research Institute (a leading military contractor), "developed a computer system capable of reading a person's mind. It correlated brain waves on an electroencephalograph with specific commands. Twenty years ago the computer responded with a dot on a TV screen. Nowadays it could be the input to a stimulator (ESB) in advanced stages using radio frequencies" (8). In any event, narco-hypnosis was found, it is claimed, to be less than reliable, although some writers and observers dispute this. (9) Additional studies, conducted by Dr. Ewen Cameron and funded by the CIA, were directed towards erasing memory and imposing new personalities on unwilling patients. Cameron discovered that electroshock treatment caused amnesia. He set about a program that he called "de-patterning" which had the effect of erasing the memory of selected patients. Further work revealed that subjects could be transformed into a virtual blank machine (Tabula Rasa) and then be re-programmed with a technique which he termed "psychic driving." Such was the bitter public outrage, once his work was revealed (as a result of FOIA searches), that Cameron was forced to retire in disgrace.

Also of interest is Dr. John C. Lilly (10), who was asked by the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to brief the CIA, FBI, NSA and military intelligence services on his work using electrodes to stimulate, directly, the pleasure and pain centers of the brain. Lilly said that he refused the request. However, as stated in his book, he continued to do "useful" work for the national security apparatus. In terms of timing this is interesting, for these events took place in 1953. Scientist Eldon Byrd, who worked for the Naval Surface Weapons Office, was commissioned in 1981 to develop electromagnetic devices for purposes including riot control, clandestine operations and hostage removal (11). From 1965 through to 1970, Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA), with up to 70-80% funding provided by the military, set in motion operation PANDORA to study the health and psychological effects of low intensity microwaves with regard to the so-called "Moscow signal." This project appears to have been quite extensive and included (under U.S. Navy funding) studies demonstrating how to induce heart seizures, create leaks in the blood/brain barrier and production of auditory hallucinations. Despite attempts to render the Pandora program invisible to scrutiny, FOIA filings revealed memoranda of Richard Cesaro, Director of DARPA, which confirmed that the program's initial goal was to "discover whether a carefully controlled microwave signal could control the mind." Cesaro urged that these studies be made "for potential weapons applications" (12).

Following immense public outcry, Congress forbade further research and demanded that these projects be terminated across the board. But as former CIA agent Victor Marchetti later revealed, the programs merely became more covert with a high element of "deniability" built in to them, and that CIA claims to the contrary are a cover story. (13) Despite the fact that many of the aforementioned projects revolved around the use of narcotics and hallucinogens, projects ARTICHOKE, PANDORA and CHATTER clearly demonstrate that "psychoelectronics" were a high priority. Indeed, author John Marks' anonymous informant (known humorously as "Deep Trance") stated that beginning in 1963 mind control research strongly emphasized electronics. An obscure District of Columbia corporation called Wikepedia http://web.archive.org/web/20001007125740/http://www.io.com/~hambone/web/mru.html Mankind Research Unlimited (MRU) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Systems Consultants Inc. (SCI), operated a number of classified intelligence, government and Pentagon contracts, specializing in, amongst other things: "problem solving in the areas of intelligence electronic warfare, sensor technology and applications" (14).

MRU's "capability and experience" is divided into four fields. These include "biophysics -- Biological Effects of Magnetic Fields," "Research in Magneto-fluid Dynamics," "Planetary Electro-Hydro-Dynamics" and "Geo-pathic Efforts on Living Organisms." The latter focuses on the induction of illness by altering the magnetic nature of the geography. Also under research were "Biocybernetics, Psychodynamic Experiments in Telepathy," "Errors in Human Perception," "Biologically Generated Fields," "Metapsychiatry and the Ultraconscious Mind" (believed to refer to experiments in telepathic mind control), "Behavioural Neuropsychiatry," "Analysis and Measurement of Human Subjective States" and "Human Unconscious Behavioural Patterns." Employing some old OSS, CIA and military intelligence officers, the company also engages the services of prominent physicians and psychologists including E. Stanton Maxey, Stanley R. Dean Berthold Eric Schwarz plus many more. MRU lists in its Company Capabilities "brain and mind control." (15) Despite vehement claims by MRU's chairman that it is not a "front organization for any branch of the United States Government..." (16) one must treat these claims with a great deal of skepticism.

Part 2 - There followed an extensive hiatus in available information through the 1980's up to the present day. This initially appears to have closely paralleled Ronald Reagan's presidency and not surprisingly flowed onwards during President Bush's term of office. (17) As a result, the once user-friendly Freedom of Information Act became less accessible and more bureaucratic. Search costs soared and material that had been (or scheduled to be) de-classified was reviewed and re-classified. This phenomenon is not an unusual occurrence in the United States, and tends to shadow the outward face of Congress. Public outrage leads to a temporary liberalization, but as public memory recedes (all too quickly) the old institutionalized covert ways quickly re-engage. We thus move to more recent times. During 1989 CNN aired a program on electromagnetic weapons and showed a U.S. government document that outlined a contingency plan to use EM weapons against "terrorists." Prior to the show a DoD medical engineer sourced a story claiming that in the context of conditioning, microwaves and other modalities had regularly been used against Palestinians.

In 1993, Defense News announced that the Russian government was discussing with American counterparts the transfer of technical information and equipment known as "Acoustic Psycho-correction." The Russians claimed that this device involves "the transmission of specific commands via static or white noise bands into the human subconscious without upsetting other intellectual functions." Experts said that demonstrations of this equipment have shown "encouraging" results "after exposure of less than one minute," and has produced "the ability to alter behavior on willing and unwilling subjects." The article goes on to explain that combined "software and hardware associated with the (sic) psycho-correction program could be procured for as little as U.S. $80,000." The Russians went on to observe that "World opinion is not ready for dealing appropriately with the problems coming from the possibility of direct access to the human mind." Acoustic psycho-correction dates back to the mid 1970's and can be used to "suppress riots, control dissidents, demoralize or disable opposing forces and enhance the performance of friendly special operations teams." (18) One U.S. concern in relation to this device was aired by Janet Morris of the Global Strategy Council, a Washington-based think tank established by former CIA deputy director Ray Cline. Morris noted that "Ground troops risk exposure to bone-conducting sound that cannot be offset by earplugs or other protective gear." In recent months I met with and discussed Russian research efforts, with a contact who had visited Russia earlier this year. He, in turn, met with a number of Russian scientists who are knowledgeable in this field. I have few doubts that the Defense News article cited earlier is fundamentally accurate.

In his pioneering work, Dr. Ross Adey determined that emotional states and behavior can be remotely influenced merely by placing a subject in an electromagnetic field. By directing a carrier frequency to stimulate the brain and using amplitude modulation to shape the wave to mimic a desired EEG frequency, he was able to impose a 4.5 CPS theta rhythm on his subjects. Drs. Joseph Sharp and Allen Frey experimented with microwaves seeking to transmit spoken words directly into the audio cortex via a pulsed-microwave analog of the speaker's sound vibration. Indeed, Frey's work in this field, dating back to 1960, gave rise to the so called "Frey effect" which is now more commonly referred to as "microwave hearing." (19) Within the Pentagon this ability is now known as "Artificial Telepathy." (20) Adey and others have compiled an entire library of frequencies and pulsation rates which can effect the mind and nervous system (21). During the siege at the Mt. Carmel church near Waco, Texas, FBI agents discussed with Russian counterparts the use of acoustic psycho-correction on David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. It is understood that this contingency did not proceed. However, some unusual EM weapons were deployed at Waco. BBC World News and FBI film-footage in the possession of this writer show both the Russian equipment being demonstrated, as well as previously unseen noise generator and an unusual low frequency strobe array in use at Waco.

Have weapons of this nature been developed and field tested? - Judging from the number of individuals and groups coming forward with complaints of harassment, the answer appears to be "yes." Kim Besley, of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, has compiled a fairly extensive catalogue of effects that have resulted from low frequency signals emanating from the U.S. Greenham Common base, apparently targeted at the women protesters. These include: vertigo, retinal bleeding, burnt face (even at night), nausea, sleep disturbances, palpitations, loss of concentration, loss of memory, disorientation, severe headaches, temporary paralysis, faulty speech co-ordination, irritability and a sense of panic in non-panic situations. Identical and similar effects have been reported elsewhere and appear to be fairly common-place amongst so-called "victims." Many of these symptoms have been associated in medical literature with exposure to microwaves and especially through low intensity or non-thermal exposures. (22) These have been reviewed by Dr. Robert Becker, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, and a specialist in EM effects. His report confirms that the symptoms mirror those he would expect to see had Microwave weapons been deployed.

The April 1994 issue of Scientific American carried an article entitled "Bang! You're Alive" which briefly described some of the known arsenal of "Less Than Lethal" weapons presently available. These include laser rifles and low-frequency infrasound generators powerful enough to trigger nausea or diarrhea. Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) noted that non-lethal weapons have been linked to "mind control" devices and that three of the most prominent advocates of non-lethality share an interest in psychic phenomena (23). Current Projects include SLEEPING BEAUTY, directed towards the battlefield use of mind-altering electromagnetic weapons. This project is headed by Jack Verona, a highly placed Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer. Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University is also employed on the project. Other sources have revealed a project entitled MONARCH which, supposedly, is directed towards the deliberate creation of severe multiple personality disorder (24). It is now the opinion of many that these and related programs have been brought under the banner of non-lethal weapons, otherwise known as "less than lethal," which are now promulgated in connection with the doctrine of low intensity conflict, a concept for warfare in the 21st century. It is clear that many of these Pentagon and related LTL programs operate under high classification. Others consider many similar or related "black" programs are funded from the vast resources presently available under the U.S. counter-drug law enforcement policy which has a FY 1995 budget of $13.2 billion (25).

On 21 July 1994, Defense Secretary William J. Perry issued a memorandum on non-lethal weapons which outlined a tasking priority list for use of these technologies. Second on the list was "crowd control". Coming in at a poor fifth was "Disable or destroy weapons or weapon development/production processes, including suspected weapons of mass destruction." It is therefore clear that non-lethality is fundamentally seen as anti-personnel rather than anti-material. In July 1996, the Spotlight, a widely circulated right-wing U.S. newspaper, reported that well-placed DoD sources have confirmed a classified Pentagon contract for the development of "high-power electromagnetic generators that interfere with human brain waves." The article cited the memorandum of understanding dated 1994 between Attorney General Janet Reno, and Defense Secretary William Perry for transfer of LTL weapons to the law enforcement sector. A budget of under $50 million has been made available for funding associated "black" programs. Dr. Emery Horvath, a professor of physics at Harvard University, has stated in connection to the generator that interferes with human brain waves that "These electronic 'skull-zappers' are designed to invade the mind and short circuit its synapses... in the hands of government technicians, it may be used to disorient entire crowds, or to manipulate individuals into self destructive acts. It's a terrifying weapon" (26).

In a 1993 U.S. Air Command and Staff College paper entitled Non Lethal Technology and Air Power, authors Maj. Jonathan W. Klaaren (USAF) and Maj. Ronald S. Mitchell (USAF) outlined selected NLT weapons. These included "Acoustic" (pulsed/attenuated high-intensity sound, infrasound (very low frequency) and Polysound (high volume, distracting) as well as high-power microwaves (HPM) that possessed the ability to deter or incapacitate human beings. These and other classified weapons are being passed to domestic law enforcement agencies, as shown by the 1995 ONDCP (Office of National Drug Control Policy) International Technology Symposium, "Counter-Drug Law Enforcement: Applied Technology for Improved Operational Effectiveness," which outlined the "Transition of advanced military technologies to the civil law enforcement environment." There are some observers who fear that the burgeoning narcotics industry is an ideal "cover" in which to "transit" Non Lethal Technologies to domestic political tasks. Whether this is merely a misplaced "Orwellian" fear remains to be seen. However, organized crime is so globally "organized" that experts now believe it is impossible to eradicate or even effectively combat (27).

Part 3 - The foregoing gives some necessary background to the origins and timing surrounding the development of anti-personnel electromagnetic weapons, and in particular demonstrates that the United States has an intense and long-established interest in mind control and behavior modification that spans five decades. As we have seen, fragmentary information has surfaced for brief spells, only to disappear, once more, from public scrutiny. It remains to be said that a great many advances in the realm of electromagnetic field technology and mind control techniques have, apparently, been made during the sixties, seventies and eighties. In particular, veterans of the Vietnam war are still coming forward with bizarre stories, which collectively (if true) point to a leap in knowledge that largely remains hidden behind the thick curtain of security classification (28). Major Edward Dames, formerly with the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency until 1992, was a long-serving member of the highly classified operation GRILL-FLAME, a program that focused on some of the more bizarre possibilities of intelligence gathering and remote interrogation. Known as "remote viewers," GRILL-FLAME personnel possessed a marked psychic ability that was put to use "penetrating" designated targets and gathering important intelligence on significant figures. The program operated with two teams: one working out of the top secret NSA facility at Fort George Meade in Maryland, and the other at SRI. Results are said to have been exemplary.

Following the Oliver North debacle, the Secretary of Defense officially terminated GRILL-FLAME, fearing bad publicity if the program were to become known to the public. The leading members of the project -- including Dames -- immediately relocated to the privately owned and newly formed Psi-Tech, and continue their work to this day, operating under government contract. In the course of his work, Dames was (and remains) close to many the leading figures and proponents anti-personnel electromagnetic weapons, especially those that operate in the neurological field. During NBC's "The Other Side" program, Dames stated that "The U.S. Government has an electronic device which could implant thoughts in people." He refused to comment further. The program was broadcast during April 1995. This overview is merely a fragmentary glimpse of programs that have been, and continue to be, blanketed under tight security classification. Where information was available through FOIA filings, a great deal of additional information (in fact the greatest bulk) was deliberately destroyed or otherwise lost. However, this writer considers that what is available is sufficient to draw the conclusion that ongoing research, development and deployment of EM weapon systems that impact on the biological functions of the body, or more importantly, interfere with the human mind, are cause for the greatest humanitarian concern.

In an age where the threat of global warfare has diminished as a result of the easing of tension between east and west, it can be anticipated that some form of introspection will occur in the developed western nations. Societies that have been generationally and economically honed for warfare do not, on the whole, assume "for peace" production with such vigor and ability. Why this is so is not the subject of this paper. Unable to so readily project the "shadow" outwards onto another nation, the enemy without soon distills to become the enemy within. (29) In the United States, (30) for example, there is a rapidly developing trend of co-operation between the military and law enforcement agencies in LTL weaponry. While it is clear that this is driven to some extent by budgetary considerations, there remain legitimate concerns regarding the long-term effects on democracy. The reality of a burgeoning and increasingly impoverished lower class that results from "swords to shears" economics, is certain to result in growing civil unrest, disobedience, strife, inner city turmoil and quite possibly much worse. (31) Rather than seeking to resolve the underlying causes of these tensions, it is feared that governments will instead resort to more durable measures to quell domestic dissent. Western industrial nations are especially prone to these developments for a variety of reasons (32).

Less Than Lethal anti-personnel weapons (33) are seen in some influential quarters as being the ideal remedy for future domestic disturbances of this magnitude. (34) The danger with such possibilities is that western democracy may begin to fail, or suffer such severe set-backs in its traditional democratic forms that it will become increasingly repressive and oligarchic. (35) Armed with innovative technological weapons that do not necessarily kill, (36) but which render disenfranchised segments of society physically inactive, emotionally stupefied and incapable of meaningful thought is a goal of those who favor a "psycho-civilized society." This is a frightening and all too realistic scenario. Whether by design or by default, such an outcome is nothing short of a dictatorship.

Addendum: Following the preparation of this paper and prior to its publication by Dr. Nick Begich in Earthpulse Flashpoints, a small number of factual errors and miscellaneous comments have been received and are now included below for the sake of accuracy.
1) Footnote 35. Noam Chomsky, in correspondence with this writer, advises that: "...we don't really 'argue that democracy has already been replaced.' Rather, that its functioning depends on an authentic free press, and that it exists only in part. That there is a one-party state -- in the sense that there are only factions of 'the business party' is not our idea; C. Wright Mills, among others, going way back."
2) Chomsky also refers to my caveat about the Spotlight article (see footnote 26) concerning the comments ascribed to Dr. Horvath and observers that "It's not the kind of comment that a Harvard physicist would be likely to make." It's such an glaring observation that I wonder why I hadn't thought of it myself. I still haven't heard back from Dr. Horvath, if indeed such a person exists. This citation, therefore, needs to be taken with even greater care. On the other hand, Dr. Steve Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists has now written to me advising: "Spotlight is, to my mind, a thoroughly non-credible source (as you suggest). Without being able to verify the rest of the article, however, the quotation ascribed to me was accurate."
3) In a lengthy telephone call, British researcher Armen Victorian pointed out a number of relevant and interesting facts: A) Maj. General Stubblebine is no longer with Psi-Tech -- he was removed in a "palace coup" engineered, Armen says, by Major Ed. Dames and Col. John Alexander. B) In addition to his (DoD backed) Ad Hoc advisory role on Non Lethality for NATO, Alexander has now moved to head up multi-millionaire R. Bigelow's new Nevada-based National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS). Bigelow is recruiting "top draw" personnel to study fringe science subjects including Remote Viewing, UFO's, etc. Jacques Vallee, the renowned French-born UFO researcher, is also part of the team. Armen will have a more in-depth article on these matters published in a forthcoming issue of Robin Ramsay's LOBSTER.
4) Project Monarch: Martin Cannon has more recently written stating that he believes this project to be fabricated.

Footnotes:

1) Interestingly, this capability is now confirmed in recent press reports in regard to LTL weapons.
2) For a fuller account of the Nazi experiments refer to Resonance No 29 November 1995, published by the Bioelectromagnetic Special Interest Group of American Mensa Ltd., and drawn from a series of articles published by the Napa Sentinel, 1991 by Harry Martin and David Caul.
3) In particular the publication of John Marks' The Search for the Manchurian Candidate (Penguin Books, London 1979) and Walter Bowart's Operation Mind Control (Fontana Books, London 1979).
4) Walter Bowart.
5) See Delgado's "Physical Control of the Mind: Towards a Psychocivilised Society", "Intracerebral Radio Stimulation in Completely Free Patients" in Schiwitgebel & Schwitzgebel (eds.). Speaking in 1966, Delgado asserted that his research "supported the distasteful conclusion that motion, emotion and behavior can be directed by electrical forces and that humans can be controlled like robots by push buttons." (Think 32 July-August 1966). Delgado was funded by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). It is believed he still works as a consultant for the U.S. government.
6) My italics.
7) See "Mind Control and the American Government" by Martin Cannon, LOBSTER 23.
8) See "Neural Manipulation by Radar" by Armen Victorian, LOBSTER 30, and also Time Magazine, July 1, 1974 "Mind Reading Computer."
9) Marks notes that the vast bulk of CIA key documents were illegally destroyed, in 1973, at the order of the then DCI, Richard Helms. Other writers have noted the psychological profile of Sirhan Beshara Sirhan, citing a virtually impregnable "amnesia" which lasts to this day. In 1968, Dr. George Eastabrooks (considered by some to be the grand-daddy of hypnosis in warfare) told a reporter at the Providence Evening Bulletin that he had conducted extensive hypnosis work on behalf of the CIA, FBI and military intelligence. He went on to say that the key to creating an effective spy or assassin rests in "creating a multiple personality, with the aid of hypnosis," a technique which Eastabrooks considered as "child's play." He went on to suggest that "Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby could very well have been performing through hypnosis." Of interest in this context was a book written by Lincoln Lawrence (a pseudonym), a former FBI agent who revealed the existence of a 350 page CIA document that outlined a technique termed RHIC-EDOM (Radio Hypnosis Intra-Cerebral Control -- Electronic Dissolution of Memory). Certainly many of the above-cited CIA programs were dedicated to electronically inducing amnesia. The case studies of Dr. Ewen Cameron in this context remain the most notable and the most chilling.
10) See his autobiography, The Scientist.
11) Anna Keeler in Full Disclosure, 1989.
12) Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report released under FOIA. Also see Anna Keeler. Capt. Paul E Tyler, MC, USN paper entitled "The Electromagnetic Spectrum in Low Intensity Conflict" (CADRE 1986) is also relevant in this connection. Tyler's observation are, understandably, shrouded in "maybes and what ifs" but is non the less instructive when placed in context to PANDORA and other projects.
13) In an interview with John Marks. CIA veteran Miles Copeland admitted to a journalist prior to his death that "The congressional subcommittees which went into this sort of thing got only the barest glimpse." Likewise, hypnosis expert Milton Kline, a veteran of covert experimentation in this field confirmed in 1977, that his work for the government continued.
14) See A. J. Weberman's "The Story of Mankind Research Unlimited, Inc." Covert Action Quarterly, Issue 9, June 1980.
15) Ibid. Cited from "leaked" and/or "stolen" documents.
16) Ibid.
17) Despite his apparently Democratic credentials President Clinton is not a reformer in this regard. In lock-step with all previous administrations dating back to the 1930's, President Clinton's administration is heavily composed of individuals who are members of the CFR or the Trilateral Commission (or both). There is some evidence to suggest that President Clinton had a special and close connection to the Central Intelligence Agency during his days as Governor of Arkansas. Terry Reed, and ex-CIA agent, has revealed that Clinton was an Agency "asset" during the period he worked for the CIA. This may not be as preposterous as it appears in view of the Starr Commission's decision to investigate this aspect of the President's past.
18) In connection with "enhancing abilities of friendly forces" see numerous articles and expose's on Col. John B. Alexander. Alexander, a former Commander of Green Berets special forces was a member of the U.S. "Phoenix" assassination program in Vietnam. Until recently he was Director of non-lethal programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory, but has since resigned following, it is believed, an undue amount of negative press. He remains NATO's adviser on NLD. Alexander wrote a book an article (and later co-authored a book entitled The Warrior's Edge) published in Military Review in which he outlined a number of hitherto "fringe" subjects -- including telepathy -- that should be brought in to the battery of future weapons. Alexander is dedicated to the development of a super-human soldier with enhanced abilities leading to an "invincible warrior." In his book he likens such a soldier to be a JEDI KNIGHT, from the film Star Wars (Project Jedi). He has powerful sponsors, including Vice President Al Gore. Alexander is cited as being the grand daddy of NLD. He is known to be heavily engaged in mind control and psychotronic projects. See Armen Victorian, "Psychic Warfare and Non lethal Weapons."
19) In this connection the work of Dr. James Lin of Wayne State University should be noted. Lin has written a book entitled Microwave Auditory Effects & Applications, in which he states "The capability of communicating directly with humans by pulsed microwaves is obviously not limited to the field of therapeutic medicine."
20) Refer to Dr. Robert Becker who has stated "Such a device has obvious applications in covert operations designed to drive a target crazy with "voices" or deliver undetected instructions to a programmed assassin." In 1974, Dr. J. F. Scapitz filed a plan to explore the interaction of radio signals and hypnosis. He stated that "In this investigation it will be shown that the spoken word of the hypnotists may be conveyed by modulate electromagnetic energy directly into the subconscious parts of the human brain -- i.e. without employing any technical devices for receiving or transcoding the messages and without the person exposed to such influence having a chance to control the information input consciously." Schapitz' work was funded by the DoD. Despite FOIA filings, his work has never been made available. Also it is interesting to note the date of 1974, which almost exactly mirror's the period when the USSR commenced its own program that resulted in "Acoustic Psycho-correction technology."
21) During October 1994 Dr. Ross Adey visited London to address a conference on the health implications of EM fields. At that time this writer was collaborating with a well known documentary film maker to make a documentary on this subject. I approached the conference organizers, given a free invite and assured that I would be permitted to speak with Dr. Adey privately. Additionally I assured the organizer that any meeting would be strictly confidential and off the record if Dr. Adey would feel more comfortable with that. In the event, Dr. Adey declined to meet with me and my complimentary invitation to attend the conference was rescinded. Dr. Adey said the subject was "too technical" to discuss.
22) Much similar effects have been reported, for instance, at the Women's Peace camp at Seneca, in New York state.
23) Psychic phenomena studies were, in fact, part of classified Pentagon programs dating back over two decades. Two separate "teams" conducted advanced experiments. One team operated out of SRI and the other from the NSA's Fort George Meade facility in Maryland. During that time, Major General Albert N. Stubblebine, Director of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command, oversaw a program dedicated to "remote viewing" where operatives were tasked with, amongst other things, tracking Soviet "Boomer" submarines. Stubblebine is presently Chairman of the Board of Directors of PSI-TECH, a private company specializing in remote viewing and other activities. Col. John Alexander is also on the board. The company also employs Major Edward Dames (ex-DIA), Major David Moorhouse (ex-82nd Airborne), and Ron Blackburn (former microwave scientist and specialist, Kirkland Air Force base). PSI-TECH operate in the private sector and have received a number of classified government contracts. During the Gulf War, the company was approached by DoD with a request that the company's remote viewers be tasked with tracking and locating Iraq's Scud missiles. Col. Alexander and C.B. Scott Jones (who has previously worked for the U.S. government on mind control technology) both share an interest in Unidentified Flying Objects. The highly regarded New York Times journalist Howard Blum revealed in his book Out There that there is, indeed, a DoD UFO working group within the DIA. I mention this aspect only to demonstrate that the military and intelligence community are not averse to experimenting in and expending prodigious amounts of tax money on some of the "weirder" areas of life. The remote viewing teams were disbanded following the Oliver North fiasco by the Secretary of Defense who was concerned at the potential bad publicity. Thereafter, Psi-Tech was formed and the work continues...
24) Refer Martin Cannon. Lobster 23 "Mind Control and the American Government." Martin is an independent and objective researcher who has spent a considerable amount of time and personal money in researching this subject. See earlier reference to Dr. George Eastabrooks, footnote 3.
25) On October 24-27 1995, the Counter-Drug Technology Assessment Center held a symposium at Nashua, New Hampshire. Subjects discussed included the "transition of advanced military technologies to the civil law enforcement environment. These include advanced tracking, tagging, radio frequency and other "non-intrusive" technologies.
26) I have certain caveats in citing this material. Firstly, I have written to Dr. Horvath and the two other scientists referred to in the Spotlight article. To date none have replied either to confirm or deny their comments. One of them, Steve Aftergood, is highly reputable and is known to me indirectly. The other two are not known to me at all. It is also important to point out that Spotlight is an ultra-right wing publication and one must, therefore, take these citations with due caution. On the other hand, Spotlight shares a considerable "ethos" with some far-right elements of the military and intelligence community who are in a position to know about these developments and for their own reasons may have made this information available.
27) See Brian Freemantle's The Octopus Orion Books Ltd, 1995.
28) See Walter Bowart's Operation Mind Control recounting some chilling stories involving Vietnam veterans. In particular the case of "David" and ex-U.S. Air Force officer who had his memory "erased" following his term of service.
29) See the Collected Works of Carl Gustav Jung for a background to the psychology of "projection."
31) Aggravated by narcotics related crime -- presently estimated to between $500 - $800 billion a year, thus an industry outstripping all other "business sectors" with the possible exception of the weapons industry. These figures extracted from Brian Freemantle's The Octopus, Orion Books Ltd, 1995.
32) The present economic reality (and that for the foreseeable future) is that the once abundant life-style for large segments of western citizens will continue to erode. This will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction that will increasingly manifest itself in civil disturbance. Economically powerless to change direction, governments may possibly resort to authoritarian remedies, fueling greater unrest and a repetition of the vicious cycle. This model is based on the clear evidence that "nations" no longer possess the economic might to "buck" the markets. The globalisation of finance and the internationalization of "free markets", has led to (or perhaps resulted from?) giant "stateless" transnational corporations. Collectively, TNC's far outweigh the economic power of any one sovereign state. Under the combined onslaught of TNC's acting in concert, (referred to as "market trends") even G7 (in the form of combined Central Bank intervention) is often rendered powerless. Under this scenario, the future does not bode well. TNC's will continue to accrue to themselves an increasing proportion of the world's wealth, whereas nation states will grow increasingly reliant upon sovereign indebtedness to finance themselves or gradually assume "Third World" economies. The burden of "servicing" sovereign debt is met by a combination of fiscal measures, primarily increased domestic taxation (direct, indirect and more hidden measures) and decreased expenditure. Both measures impact heavily on the poorer classes and yet generally benefit the TNC's who remain large tax recipients. Effectively powerless, the political structure in sovereign states will have little alternative but to present to its citizens a facade of being in control if it is to remain in power. Bereft of economic muscle, old-fashioned real "muscle" (in the form of soft-kill-technologies) are likely to become more meaningful to the rule of law concept. It is therefore self evident that LTL weapons will thus be directed at the "rebellious" poorer classes. The Mexican "Zapatistas" are an early warning sign of how these socio-economic factors are likely to impact in the future. Mexico today, the United States tomorrow, and thereafter? See Noam Chomsky's World Orders Old and New for a more comprehensive analysis of the TNC global phenomenon.
33) Especially some classes of EM weapons that are viewed as having a capability to remotely modify behavior or attack higher functions.
34) See Department of Defense Draft directive dated January 1, 1995 outlining taking objectives for Non Lethal Weapons.
35) See Noam Chomsky's and Edward Herman's Manufacturing Consent (Pantheon Books, New York, 1988). The authors exhaustingly detail the widespread role of the media to propagandize "elitist" objectives whilst downplaying or ignoring altogether "hard news" that doesn't fit the "propaganda model." As a result, domestic "consent" is engineered both by the absence of information that doesn't fit the "model" and by exclusively featuring stories or hard news that do. The impact of these techniques effectively restricts political and economic debate, sidelining contrary viewpoints. Thus the authors argue that democracy has already been replaced and that, de facto, a one party state has been crafted.
36) This so called "soft kill" ability is politically desirable.
Source: Some Aspects of Anti-Personnel Electromagnetic Weapons by David G. Guyatt

Mike Frost

international spying system "...Retired intelligence officer Mike Frost worked at Canada's CSE, their equivalent of the NSA. He has recently worked to expose some of the abuses of the international spying system generically known as ECHELON, appearing on 60 Minutes and other shows. In this CBN News story, "Surveillance Society: A Spy's Story," he describes the system as well as some of the harassment he has received since working to expose it. "The pressure is being applied very subtly," he says. "Letters that arrive in an opened condition, strange things happening to my answering machine when I'm not even in the house -- it becomes unplugged or turned off, or turned on and plugged in, strange footprints on my carpet, very subtle things. Not that I can go to anyone and say somebody broke into my home, because there is no sign of forced entry in any way. Constantly, my friends will say, what's the matter with your phone; there's an echo. So these things are being done just to keep me on my toes a little bit, and I'm aware of that..." (U.S. Domestic Spying)

signals intelligence "...Intelligence experts believe that high above the heads of the onlookers, the Americans were making themselves right at home, installing a battery of satellite dishes and antennae within the embassy's roof to pry into Canadians' phone calls, e-mail, satellite communications, and even state secrets. If these surveillance mavens are right, such spy equipment would be a massive violation of Canadians' privacy and would violate an agreement between the U.S. and Canada not to spy on each other's government communications...Mike Frost, a 25-year retired veteran of the CSE, sees many reasons to be suspicious of the new U.S. facility. "I watched them with great interest as they put it up", says Frost, who lives in Ottawa. "They were doing all the things they taught me to do." Frost literally wrote the book on the collection of signals intelligence, or SIGINT in spy lingo, at Canadian and U.S. embassies. He told his story to journalist Michel Gratton in the sensational 1994 book Spyworld, exposing for the first time how the CSE spies on Canadian citizens and foreign countries. Frost also described how the U.S. National Security Agency, America's equivalent of the CSE, trained him to help Canada set up its first embassy SIGINT program. This training is what got Frost and some of his CSE colleagues wondering about the strange structures atop the old U.S. embassy then on Wellington Street in Ottawa. His book featured photos of odd-looking air vents and heat pumps on the roof that resembled standard NSA structures used to conceal spying equipment. Frost has no doubt that the new U.S. embassy has similar equipment, but updated and more powerful than ever: "I'd lay my balls on the line it's there." By most accounts, the new four-storey embassy at 490 Sussex Drive is a bizarre-looking structure. The $55-million fortress is said to be capable of withstanding anything short of a nuclear strike and has been called Stalinesque and "the Kremlin's ugly cousin"...What kind of traffic could all these gadgets pick up? Basically, anything. SIGINT captures airborne transmissions, but these days that includes more than cellphone calls and satellite communications. That's because when land lines become congested, phone calls, faxes, and e-mail are often automatically rerouted to microwave towers or satellites, thus making them susceptible to interception, says Frost. "Ottawa is festering with activity", says Frost. "America spies on everybody, even its own people. Of course, they would want to spy on us..." (Hidden Ears)

surveillance equipment "...Frost, who now travels the country speaking to luncheon groups about Canadian intelligence issues, insists it was a sense of ethics that moved him to disclose the questionable CSE capers that he knew of. "If the taxpayers are paying three quarters of a million dollars a day for it, Canadians have a right to know," he says. The CSE's official budget, buried within the defence department's financial figures, is $116.8 million this year. But the military provides an additional 1,100 people and much equipment, bringing CSE's employee count to within about 100 of CSIS's 2,077 and its total expenditure - estimated at nearly $250 million - to 1 ½ times the current CSIS outlay. The CSE's formidable resources include a Cray supercomputer, which at the time of purchase in 1985 was the most powerful data-cruncher in the country. After upgrades and maintenance, CSE had, by 1994, spent more than $34 million on that machine alone. Despite the end of the Cold War and government belt-tightening, a $35-million, windowless extension to the main CSE building was completed in 1992, creating what is known in spy circles as a "Tempest-proof" structure, impenetrable to outside surveillance equipment. Connected by an underground tunnel is yet another smaller building where experts on codes and ciphers work on securing all Canadian government communications against interception. That division, known as INFOSEC, accounts for about 20 per cent of the CSE's total operations, officials have said in the past..." (Canada's Spy Agency from the Inside)

In 1994, long-serving Communications Security Establishment Canada employee Mike Frost wrote a tell-all book, Spyworld. He alleged he knew of several illegal spying operations - including tapping the telephone of Margaret Trudeau, the wife of the prime minister at the time, to see if she had been smoking marijuana. Mr. Frost, who said he was treated poorly by an uncaring employer, complained of being spied on after going public (Fair Whistleblower).

RELATED READING:
Revisiting Echelon: The NSA’s Clandestine Data Mining Program
Canada's NSA Equivalent
Mike Frost: New Zealand Speaking Tour: 14-30 October 2001
SPYWORLD: Inside The Canadian And American Intelligence Establishments
60 Minutes ECHELON transcript
The Communications Security Establishment: Canada's Signals Intelligence Agency
Mike Frost was a participant or observer in the following events
Book Reviews: Frost, Mike with Michel Gratton. Spyworld
Echelon: America's Secret Global Surveillance Network