American Alchemy with Jesse Michels

Episode: How the CIA Creates Mind Controlled Assassins

Date: March 26, 2026
Guest: Dr. Colin Ross, psychiatrist, author of "CIA Doctors"

Overview

This episode dives deep into the CIA's secret mind-control programs, especially MK Ultra, exploring their origins, methods, and chilling legacy. Host Jesse Michels welcomes psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Colin Ross, who has spent decades investigating government-sanctioned mind control and dissociative identity experiments. The conversation ranges from historical abuses (like Tuskegee and radiation testing) to the creation of "Manchurian candidates" and the speculative overlap with high-profile assassinations, pop culture, and current events. Dr. Ross also discusses the science—and mainstream neglect—of the human energy field.

Key Topics & Insights

1. The Government and Mind Control: Why and How?

[01:01–06:41]

• MK Ultra & Variations: The CIA sought ways to manipulate, split, and compartmentalize personalities to create spies, messengers, and even assassins. Techniques included hypnosis, drug experimentation, sensory deprivation, and electrical brain stimulation.
• Notable Quote:
  "Creating splits and multiple personalities... couriers and spies. Manchurian candidates assassinate world leaders. It is mind blowing and it's jarring, to say the least."
  – Jesse Michels [05:48]

2. Dr. Colin Ross: How He Entered the Rabbit Hole

[06:41–11:09]

• Discovery through Patients: Ross was introduced to MK Ultra after a patient paranoidly shared documents mentioning it.
• Accessing the Files: In the early 1990s, Ross visited a government building in Virginia to review thousands of classified CIA documents—gaining direct access to the 149 subprojects and 15,000 pages of records.
• His Credentials: Ross is a psychiatrist specializing in dissociative identity disorder (DID); his approach is rigorous and document-based—no current insider knowledge.

3. Examples of Documented Medical Atrocities

[11:09–14:28]

• Tuskegee Syphilis Study: Government prevented Black men from receiving syphilis treatment for decades to observe disease progression.
• Radiation Experiments: Unconsenting hospital patients were injected with plutonium as part of classified studies—fully documented.
• Notable Quote:
  "If the guy arrived in a coma, I'm guessing he didn't give informed consent, right?"
  – Dr. Ross [14:13]

4. The Birth of U.S. Mind Control Programs

[14:28–18:27]

• Timeline: OSS during WWII; postwar, CIA founded (1947), launching Bluebird and Artichoke, precursors to MK Ultra.
• Techniques: Early focus on hypnotizing “susceptible” individuals and implanting trigger words to unlock compartmentalized personalities for missions.
• Notable Quote:
  "He describes a hypnotic code word—that's implanted—which was the moon is clear... This is explicit, clear detail. This is described."
  – Dr. Ross [16:44]

5. MK Ultra: Methods and Cover-ups

[18:27–26:25]

• Methods Used:
  • Hypnosis
  • Electroshock
  • Brain implants
  • Wide array of drugs (120+ substances, 1,500+ subjects admitted)
• Disinformation: CIA justified mind control research as a reaction to Chinese communist tactics, but files reveal U.S. programs predated these threats.
• Networked Conspiracies: Interconnections run deep—between scientists, intelligence, mafia, even media.
• Notable Quote:
  "This is all some secret web of something."
  – Dr. Ross [21:49]

6. Key Personalities & Their Roles

[26:25–33:24]

• Sidney Gottlieb: CIA’s “Poisoner in Chief,” ran MK Ultra.
• Frank Olson: Biowarfare researcher dosed with LSD, pushed (not jumped) to his death; family later compensated after documents surfaced [22:23].
• Jolly West & Martin Orne: Top psychiatrists with deep involvement in hypnosis research and secret clearance.
• Plausible Deniability: Programs always obfuscated—from “Bluebird” to “Artichoke” to “MK Ultra” to “MK Search."
• Notable Quote:
  "Top psychiatrists, top government people, top secret, cleared. So creepy."
  – Jesse Michels [41:32]

7. High-Profile Assassinations & Possible Mind Control (“Manchurian Candidates”)

[23:39–55:15]

• Case Studies & Patterns: Allegations (and sometimes evidence) of MK Ultra-related involvement in:
  • Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK) – Networked with known CIA operators, possibly handled. [23:39, 21:52]
  • Jack Ruby (killed Oswald) – Interviewed by Jolly West, claimed amnesia and “epileptic seizure” during murder. [47:37]
  • Sirhan Sirhan (RFK) – Lifelong amnesia for killing, weird diary entries. [48:26, 55:15]
  • Timothy McVeigh (Oklahoma City) – Believed he had a chip implanted; interviewed by Jolly West. [33:24]
  • Charles Manson – Repeated contacts with MK Ultra-linked clinics, e.g., Haight Ashbury Free Clinic under Jolly West. [35:43]
  • Mark David Chapman (John Lennon) – Described multiple personalities, possible programming via “Catcher in the Rye” as a trigger. [53:03, 54:42]
  • Patty Hearst – Kidnapped, possibly mind controlled, underwent personality transformation during captivity. [45:04]
• Overarching Pattern: Many involved recalled nothing—or described amnesia, memory blanks, or outside impulses.
• Notable Quotes:
  "He comes out, does a press conference, says Jack Ruby's gone crazy... That was the breaking point."
  – Jesse Michels [47:37]
  "If you can compartmentalize a person... you can create a trigger to move somebody from their normal generic personality into this kind of... secret courier person."
  – Jesse Michels [17:53]

8. Trauma, Sexual Abuse, and Cover-up Culture

[59:08–62:34]

• False Memory Syndrome Foundation:
  • Not coincidentally, key “memory experts” who were also linked to MK Ultra pushed to discredit DID and survivor memories.
  • Motives included scientific bias, defending actual abusers, and covering up unethical research.
• Massive Cover-up: Physical, emotional, and sexual trauma widely ignored or denied by mainstream psychiatry—suppression documented as recently as the 1980s.
• Notable Quote:
  "It's just now leaking out into public. So that better get shut down."
  – Dr. Ross [62:33]

9. Mind Control Today: Echoes in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and Beyond

[62:40–64:38]

• Modern Practices:
  • Techniques used in “enhanced interrogations” mirror classic mind-control/brainwashing experiments (sensory deprivation, forced postures, humiliation).
  • Possibility: Some facilities covertly breed double-agent “Manchurian candidates.”
• Notable Quote:
  "Guantanamo Bay is actually a training breed ground for Manchurian Candidate double agents who then get released."
  – Dr. Ross [64:03]

10. Broader Speculation: Manipulation of Culture, High-Profile Events & UFOs

[68:46–73:24]

• Gifted & Talented Programs: Occasional rumors about mind control tie-ins, but little hard evidence—possible targeting via afterschool or special programs.
• UFO Connections:
  • No direct overlap with MK Ultra in documents, but intelligence agencies showed peripheral interest.
  • Manipulation of UFO communities and abduction narratives as distraction or cover.
  • Notable: The CIA sometimes used “limited hangouts” to admit selective truths and obscure broader realities [44:18].

11. The Human Energy Field & Electromagnetic Medicine

[95:37–124:05]

• Ross’s New Book & Research:
  • Martialing both Western and Eastern ideas, Ross posits a scientific basis for “qi” and subtle energies as measurable electromagnetic fields.
  • Experiments: Non-contact EEG/ECG electrodes, evidence of “extramission” (bioelectrical waves from the human body—possibly strongest from eyes and solar plexus).
  • Health: Potential for “tricorder”-like medical diagnostics and healing devices; parallels to pacemakers, Royal Rife machines, and limb regeneration via voltage studies.
• Notable Quotes:
  "Every atom, everything in the universe emits an electromagnetic field... We already measure EEG, EKG... why aren't we measuring the rest?"
  – Dr. Ross [97:06]
  "So it's a whole electromagnetic medicine. And...can you spot disease at the electromagnetic level before it trickles down to the biological level? Probably."
  – Dr. Ross [118:04]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• "You think my mind is like your mind. But it isn't. This is really creepy."
  – Dr. Ross [02:39]
• "In the MK Ultra documents, they describe a hypnotic code word—that's implanted—which was 'the moon is clear'."
  – Dr. Ross [16:44]
• "The odds that it's never been done anywhere seem slim to me."
  – Dr. Ross [64:34]
• "Do you ever feel in danger talking about this stuff?"
  – Jesse Michels [94:05]
• "My effort is to boil it down to actually testable stuff."
  – Dr. Ross [108:20]
• "So the implication is: electromagnetically, we can start scanning the human body, detect disease, tune it—just like a tuning fork for the human body."
  – Jesse Michels [115:05]

Timeline of Key Segments

• [01:01–06:41] — Opening discussion about mind control, the aims of MK Ultra, and initial context
• [06:41–11:09] — Dr. Ross’s personal involvement and early research methods
• [11:09–14:28] — Historical abuses as precedent for government secrecy and malfeasance
• [14:28–26:25] — The birth of mind-control programs and core documented techniques
• [23:39–55:15] — In-depth exploration of assassinations, "Manchurian Candidate” operations, and cover-ups
• [59:08–62:34] — The false memory movement and psychiatric suppression of traumatic dissociation
• [62:40–64:38] — Parallels between historical mind control and modern U.S. “interrogation” practices
• [68:46–73:24] — Fringe/secondary programs, cultural manipulation, and UFO intrigue
• [95:37–124:05] — The science (and promise) of human bioelectric fields and electromagnetic medicine

Overall Takeaways

• MK Ultra and similar programs used a wide variety of unethical methods for mind control on both American citizens and others; documentation exists, but much remains hidden.
• There are compelling, though often circumstantial, links between mind control research and major political assassinations, cult crimes, and anomalous behavior by “lone wolf” attackers.
• The intersection of trauma, false memory, and psychiatric institutions is a key axis in the cover-up and social denial of legacy mind-control experimentation.
• Advanced, science-based exploration of the human energy field could open the door to new (and less harmful) approaches to medicine and healing—if research isn’t suppressed.

Related Books & References

• The CIA Doctors — Dr. Colin Ross
• Chaos — Tom O’Neill (re: Manson & mind control)
• Poisoner in Chief — Stephen Kinzer (biography of Sidney Gottlieb)
• Body Electric — Robert Becker
• Forbidden Science — Jacques Vallee

Final Thoughts

This episode offers both a disturbing and thought-provoking look at the hidden history, culture, and science of mind control in America—paired with a call for open inquiry and new paradigms in both psychology and medicine. Dr. Ross provides rare, first-hand insight into the primary-source material, and the conversation ultimately urges skepticism, rigor, and vigilance when examining both government “truths” and the unexplained.

“We know the tiny tip of the iceberg... the whole iceberg is just who knows what's going on down there?”
– Dr. Colin Ross [37:25]