Loading summary
Transcript11 lines
- [00:02]
Vanessa Richardson
Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes out every Monday.
- [00:41]
Edwin Covarrubias
This is crime house.
- [00:47]
Vanessa Richardson
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was detonated over Nagasaki. The the combined blasts killed and maimed over 200,000 people. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man responsible for organizing and overseeing the multi billion dollar project to develop those weapons, was presented with an award a few months later. Here's what he had to say during his acceptance speech if atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The people of this world must unite or they will perish. End quote. Despite his role in the top secret weapons program known as the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer recognized the dangers of nuclear war. His sudden change of heart also raised a lot of questions. Oppenheimer was the father, father of the atomic bomb. Of all people, he'd known the true toll of dropping those bombs, so why was he reversing course? Some wondered if Oppenheimer feared for his own life. While working on the Manhattan Project, those closest to him were surveilled by the CIA. One of those people turned up dead, which begged the question. Was Oppenheimer more scared of what these weapons could do? Or of how far the US Government was willing to go to keep the secrets of the atomic bomb from its enemies? From UFO cults and mass suicides to secret CIA experiments, presidential assassinations and murderous doctors, these aren't just theories, they they're real stories that blur the line between fact and fiction. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Every Wednesday, I'll explore the real people at the center of the world's most shocking events and nefarious organizations. These cases are wild and I want to hear what you think at the end of each episode. Leave a comment wherever you listen. Be sure to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes to continue building this community together and for early ad free access to every episode plus exclusive bonus content. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple podcasts. Today, I'm talking about the Manhattan Project, America's secret World War II program that created the very first nuclear weapons. The initiative was led by a theoretical physicist named J. Robert Oppenheimer. Dr. Oppenheimer's research was monitored by the FBI, as was his personal life. The bureau kept close tabs on his relationship with a woman named Jeanne Tatlock. Some suspected she was a Soviet spy and that Oppenheimer was a double agent. But before they could learn any more, Jean mysteriously died in August of 1944. Her cause of death is one of many unanswered questions surrounding the Manhattan Project because. Because decades later, we still don't know the full scope of Oppenheimer's work. Did the government experiment on US Citizens as part of their research? What were the true goals of the program? And did the Manhattan Project actually come to an end? All that and more coming up. In the summer of 1939, another World War seemed imminent. No one knew what Nazi Germany was capable of, but the possibilities were terrifying. On August 2nd of that year, physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard wrote to the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. They warned him about an emerging field in theoretical physics. Nuclear technology, where incredible power could be unleashed by splitting the nucleus of an atom. At that point, it wasn't clear if it was actually possible to build an atomic bomb to. But if there was even a tiny chance it was worth preparing for. Einstein and Szilard urged the President to develop the technology before Nazi Germany could. Roosevelt knew they were right. The first country to create a nuclear weapon might be able to bring an end to the war. Millions of lives hung in the balance. The race for the atomic bomb was on. But getting to the finish line was. Wouldn't be easy. Creating this kind of weapon required a team with extensive scientific and mathematical expertise. The list of qualified people was short. On top of that, everything had to be done with the utmost secrecy. If German spies heard what the US Was doing, who knew how they would retaliate? It took several years, but by 1942, planning was almost complete. General Leslie Groves of the US army was heading the program. He'd named it the Manhattan Project because the headquarters was originally in New York City. At that point, Groves had one last executive position to fill, and it was the biggest one. The research director would be responsible for everything from planning safe experiments to keeping the results completely under wraps. The government needed someone with the intelligence to understand complex science and the leadership qualities to direct a group of the country's top top researchers. They needed a unique kind of genius. And General Groves knew just the man for the job. 38 year old Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was born in New York City in 1904. His parents were both Jewish and his father had immigrated to the US From Germany. Growing up, Oppenheimer was a precocious child. He earned top grades in almost every subject and went on to study physics at Harvard and Cambridge. After that, he got his PhD from a German university. He returned to the US afterwards, where he did research and taught at several colleges before settling at University of California, Berkeley. Oppenheimer was undeniably talented, but he wasn't the most reliable researcher. He was interested in everything from Hinduism to theoretical astronomy. With so many ideas rattling around in his brain, he had a hard time focusing. It wasn't unusual to see him pacing back and forth on campus muttering to himself. Despite his eccentricities, he got along well with the other intellectuals at Berkeley and often attended parties with them. Most of the guests found him charming, though his strong opinions didn't always win everyone over. One time, economy professor John Washburn called Oppenheimer more pompous than the ancient Greeks. That didn't bother a woman named Jeanne Tatlock, though. In 1936, the 22 year old psychiatry student was at one of these parties and was introduced to Oppenheimer. They got to talking and Gene was immediately smitten with him. Though Oppenheimer was 10 years older, the age gap didn't bother Jean. He was confident, smart and loved the same poetry she did. Oppenheimer was intrigued by her as well. The two bonded over their shared interests and started dating in the fall of that year. As their relationship progressed, he discovered that Jean experienced periods of depression. Oppenheimer could relate. After opening up to each other about their mental health struggles, the couple grew even closer. There was just one catch. Jean was an avid member of the Communist Party usa. At the time. Communism was becoming increasingly popular for working class Americans. Industrialists and prominent business leaders didn't feel that same way. Despite all the talk about communism, Oppenheimer didn't know much about the organization. In fact, politics was one of the only things he didn't have much of an opinion on. Of course, Jean changed that. She told him all about Stalin and other communist leaders. She explained how she dreamed of a society where everyone was equal. At first, Oppenheimer just listened and learned. But before long, he started to see the importance of Gene's teachings. In 1936, Germany emerged from an economic depression and began a terrifying slide towards fascism. And antisemitism. As a Jewish man with family in Germany, Oppenheimer was outraged by the Nazis treatment of Japan Jewish people. He personally intervened to help his relatives get out of the country when Hitler took power. But for the most part he could only watch from a distance, feeling powerless as the world fell apart. These events, along with Gene's influence naturally led him to run in left wing circles. Though he was never a card carrying communist, many of his friends were. And on more than one occasion he wholeheartedly supported supported their views. But eventually Gene pushed Oppenheimer to go even further to take real action to support the causes they cared about. By the end of 1937, the two had been dating for over a year and Oppenheimer had transformed into an energetic activist which rubbed some people the wrong way. A few of his co workers found his political views inappropriate and urged him to focus on physics instead of. For the most part, Oppenheimer ignored them. He didn't consider himself a communist, a conservative, a liberal or anything else. He believed in what made sense to him and above all else, he believed in Gene. But in early 1939, their relationship was on the rocks. Oppenheimer was passionately in love and even suggested they get married. 25 year old Jean wasn't ready. Though she had a lot on her plate. She was trying to become a psychiatrist at a time when few women were allowed to attend medical school. On top of that, she was still trying to work through her own mental health struggles. It put a lot of stress on their relationship. The harder Oppenheimer pushed, the more she shut him out. He came to her room with flowers so often she had to beg him to stop getting her gifts. Whenever Jean rejected him, Oppenheimer lashed out at those around him. It became a vicious cycle. By the summer of 1939, they were at a breaking point. After Jean turned down a second flashy proposal, she broke things off between them for good. 35 year old Oppenheimer was devastated. But instead of working through his emotions, he threw himself into a series of new relationships. And in August, a few months after the breakup, he met 29 year old Kitty Harrison at a garden party. The two of them clicked right away. Like Jean, Kitty had dark hair and a thin frame. Many people said they looked eerily similar. They were both committed communists too. But their personalities couldn't have been more different. Where Jean was moody and combative, Kitty was bold and vivacious. At 29 years old, she'd already been married twice. When she and Oppenheimer started dating, she was technically still with her second husband. Even though they were separated, it meant that Kitty's new relationship with Oppenheimer was a bit of a scandal. Some of Oppenheimer's friends shunned Kitty, hoping he would find a way to make it work with Jean. But Oppenheimer insisted Kitty wasn't going anywhere. In the summer of 1940, about a year into their relationship, Kitty got pregnant with Oppenheimer's baby. With a little one on the way, Kitty knew it was time to make her divorce official. Thankfully, her husband didn't push back. They finalized the paperwork and in November, 36 year old Oppenheimer and 30 year old Kitty tied the knot. The following year, their first first child was born. Fatherhood was an adjustment for Oppenheimer, but he embraced the new role. And that wasn't the only thing changing in his life. In 1942, Oppenheimer started researching nuclear reactions with some of his colleagues. Not only was it new and exciting, but it was also incredibly important. The US had officially entered World War II the previous year and the threat of nuclear war was on everyone's mind. As a Jewish man, Oppenheimer was staunchly opposed to the Nazi regime. He'd do whatever it took to bring Adolf Hitler down. And before long, Oppenheimer got the opportunity to take his work to the next level. Later, in 1942, General Leslie Groves heard about Oppenheimer's research at Berkeley. At that point, he was looking for one more person to round out the Manhattan Project's leadership team. And as soon as the two men met, Groves was convinced Oppenheimer was the missing puzzle piece. That October, Groves asked Oppenheimer to head up the project. Oppenheimer eagerly accepted. He had no idea his new role would turn his life upside down and hurt the people he loved. The.
- [14:42]
Cars.com Advertiser
This episode is brought to you by cars.com on cars.com you can shop over 2 million cars. That means over 2 million new car possibilities. Like making space for your growing family. Becoming the type of person who takes spontaneous weekend camping trips or upgrading your commute wherever life takes you next. Or whoever you're looking to be. There's a car for that on cars.com visit cars.com to discover your next possibility.
- [15:09]
Vanessa Richardson
In 1942, 38 year old J. Robert Oppenheimer became the director of the Manhattan Project. He and many of his fellow scientists believed the fate of the world was at stake. And if that wasn't enough pressure, they also had to finish their work as quickly and quietly as possible. Oppenheimer started by choosing an isolated location for the New laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The government purchased a private boys school which they converted into a research facility. It included temporary homes for the scientists and their families, military barracks and its own hospital. While they got busy with construction, Oppenheimer filled out the rest of the research team. Although General Groves had already hired the highest ranking members like Oppenheimer, they still needed a lot more scientists to run the tests. But Oppenheimer had a hard time getting everyone on the same page. And some rejected his job offers because they didn't agree with what he was doing. They worried that bringing a nuclear bomb into the world would lead to more suffering and death. Worst case scenario, it could wipe out the entire human race. Oppenheimer wrestled with the same ethical questions. But ultimately he decided he couldn't risk Germany developing the bomb first. If he refused to do his part for his country now, the Nazis might win the war. Anything would be better than that. But there was another issue. When he first signed up to lead the project, he didn't realize how drastically his life would change. He had to undergo extensive background checks to get the proper security clearance, which put everyone he knew under a microscope. Like many top officials, he was constantly monitored by the FBI and to make sure he wasn't secretly conspiring with the Nazis or the Soviet Union. Since Oppenheimer had family in Germany and a history of left wing political views, he was watched very closely. Some of Grove's colleagues had argued against Oppenheimer's appointment for those exact reasons. But Groves defended Oppenheimer. Even so. The FBI secretly installed wiretaps in Oppenheimer's home and bugged his friends phones too. They opened all mail that came through the Los Alamos laboratory and sometimes even prevented the scientists from speaking to their families for long periods of time. There was virtually no privacy for anyone. It sounds like a lot to deal with. I'm not sure I could ever live like that. Especially the part about not speaking to my family for long periods of time. Even if I was working on something as important as as the Manhattan Project. I'm curious what you all think. Would you sacrifice your own privacy for the greater good? Let us know what you think in the comments. As for Oppenheimer, he was willing to face the consequences, but it put him under a lot of stress as he threw himself into his work. His relationship with his wife Kitty became strained. Though she lived at Los Alamos with him, he worked long hours and barely saw her. Kitty began drinking to cope, which only made their problems worse. By 1943, Oppenheimer already wanted to quit the project. He thought it was the only way to save his relationship and his sanity. His colleagues had to talk him out of it. If he backed out, there was no one who could replace him. And so he stayed. But that didn't mean it was easy. Although he knew the FBI was tracking his every move, Oppenheimer turned to his ex, Jean Tatlock, for support. Even after marrying Kitty, Jean was always the one who got away. And eventually he started seeing her again in secret. They met up at least a few times in 1942 and 1943. Oppenheimer never said whether they were having an affair, but it seems likely. While their relationship may have been a valuable outlet for Oppenheimer, it was tough on Jean. In 1943, she was 28 years old and already a successful psychiatrist in California. In private, however, she continued to experience depression because she didn't know the full extent of Oppenheimer's work. She didn't understand why he hardly saw her. In passionate letters, she she begged him to come and visit more often. Oppenheimer felt horrible. He knew that Jean felt upset and isolated. She probably had no idea she wasn't actually alone because someone else was watching her. During this period, FBI agents were following Jean around the clock. Some of them suspected her of being a spy for the Soviet Union, dead set on stealing state secrets from Oppenheimer. As far as we know, they never found any hard evidence that she was a mole. But the surveillance continued. In June of 1943, agents watched from a distance as Oppenheimer met with Jean. She picked him up at the train station in Berkeley, kissed him, then drove them to a local cafe. They stayed out together, drinking and dancing until around 11pm Oppenheimer, speaker, spent the night with Gene in her apartment. She told him she still loved him and asked him to stay with her. He said he couldn't, not just because of Kitty and his family, but because the government would never allow it. He may not have known that the FBI suspected Jean of being a spy, but he must have known the Bureau was watching. He couldn't bear to put her through that anymore. We don't know exactly how much Oppenheimer told her that night, but the following morning he left her apartment and never went back. Even so, the FBI continued to track Jean carefully. They documented her changing moods over the next six months as she fell into another bout of depression. By the beginning of 1944, she was 29 and in a pit of despair. On January 3rd, Jeanne's father, John, spent the day with her and she wasn't doing well. The next day she didn't answer his calls. The day after that he showed up at her apartment. When he rang the doorbell and got no response, the 67 year old climbed in through a window. He found his daughter dead in the bathtub. There was a suicide note by her side. Instead of calling the police, John carried her to the couch and then he searched Jean's apartment. Eventually he found her private letters and photographs. To this day, we have no idea what he discovered. Afterwards, John burned most of the materials. Hours later he phoned a funeral home. And finally the authorities detectives launched an investigation that same day. Although the official cause of death was drowning, a medical examiner found several different drugs in Gene's investigation system. There was a barbiturate and a faint trace of a chemical called chloral hydrate. When mixed with alcohol, the combination can render someone unconscious. The coroner theorized that Jean willingly took the chloral hydrate herself before getting into the bathtub. But oddly, there was no trace of alcohol in her system. That was a pretty big surprise to investigators because she was a well known drinker and and the medical examiner found extensive pancreatic damage that indicated heavy alcohol use. While the investigation was ongoing, Jean's friends tried their best to process her sudden death. She'd been doing well at work and was good at concealing her depression from her colleagues. Some found it hard to accept and questioned the circumstances. But in the end, the police declared that Jean died by suicide. Oppenheimer heard the news one day after she was found dead. He was completely blindsided. In private, he blamed himself. He worried that Jean had ended her life because he broke things off between them. And while he didn't question her cause of death, others did. It's not clear if Jean was aware the FBI was following her. However, Jean's brother had his suspicions and he pushed the police to reopen the case. But they refused, which meant he had no way of finding the truth. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer had to swallow his grief and focus on the research at hand. The Los Alamos lab made huge progress between 1942 and 1944. By the end of that period, they were close to a working prototype. One of the biggest questions was the impact of long term exposure to radiation. And at the time, the effects of handling uranium and plutonium simply weren't clear. Researchers suspected radiation could wreak havoc on the human body, but they had no idea how severe the consequences were. And they had no way of knowing how quickly the effects spread either. To figure it out, chemists At Los Alamos ran experiments on lab rats and dogs in 1944. They wanted to know if the animals could build a tolerance to radiation and how poisonous it actually was. Despite months of tests, the results were inconclusive. There were too many biological differences between humans and animals. Scientists needed to know exactly how much, if any, radiation was safe for people and the true dangers of chronic exposure. And there was only one way to find out. In August of 1944, the researchers decided to move to human trials. They planned to secretly inject small quantities of plutonium into the bloodstreams of 18 men, women and children. Oppenheimer was aware of the experiments, but frankly, he had other problems on his mind. He was more concerned with making his bomb work than assessing the health risks. He authorized the human trials and requested that they take place outside of Los Alamos. With his approval, the experiments were held in Chicago, Cincinnati and California starting in April of 1945. The first patient to be injected was a 55 year old man who'd recently been hospitalized after a car accident. The researchers insisted the injections would have little to no possibility of affecting the normal course of his life. But this was difficult to believe. Scientists were already aware that the injections would likely cause permanent damage. They weren't trying to kill anyone deliberately. But there was still a lot of guesswork involved. Most damning of all, none of the subjects consented to participate in the experiments. Even the existence of plutonium was a state secret and often referred to by a codeword. Doctors injured injected the patients with radioactive material without telling them what it was and giving them no option to refuse. Most assumed it was some kind of experimental medicine. While many of the people involved already had terminal illnesses, the selection process wasn't exactly ironclad. For example, the third test subject, a 58 year old house painter named Albert Stevens, was misdiagnosed with cancer. Researchers only expected him to live a few months. They were shocked when they eventually learned his tumor was completely benign. Albert lived another 21 years and they continued experimenting on him the entire time. Worse, they never told him he didn't actually have cancer. They let him believe the so called experimental injections had cured him. By the end of Albert's life, he'd become the most radioactive man ever recorded. The bones and discs in his spine were severely deteriorated by the plutonium. In total, he accumulated an effective radiation dose of more than 10 times the maximum safe limit. In 1966, the 78 year old died of heart disease. While his death was never confirmed, conclusively linked to the plutonium injections. Radiation poisoning can lead to heart disease, so it's very likely that the Manhattan Project did ultimately kill him. And he wasn't the only victim of the US Government's research. The youngest subject was just four years old with terminal bone cancer when they were injected with plutonium, all without their parents knowledge. Each and every researcher, including Oppenheimer, knew they were violating ethical standards with these experiments. Still, they went ahead. With the fate of the world on the line. Scientists and doctors believed that the ends justified the means. This rationale allowed them to look the other way when putting other people's lives at risk. However, that enthusiasm began to wane in May of 1945 when, when Nazi Germany officially surrendered, the US was still at war with Japan. But many scientists wanted to call the Manhattan Project off. With Adolf Hitler gone, they felt the bomb was no longer necessary. But the government disagreed. By June, the atomic bomb was ready to be tested for the first time. The researchers at Los Alamos would see the impact of their work. It was an image they'd never unsee.
- [29:02]
Dropbox Advertiser
Making Films Then you got footage in Dropbox, scripts and docs, notes and slack and no time to hunt. Dropbox Dash, new from Dropbox, pulls it all together so you can focus on the final edit. Learn more at Dropbox.com/this episode is brought.
- [29:19]
Netflix Advertiser
To you by Netflix. Everyone is telling her she dreamt it, but in the woman in cabin 10, Lo Blacklock is determined to uncover the truth in the gripping new thriller coming to Netflix October 10th. Keira Knightley plays a journalist aboard a luxury yacht who witnesses a crime she can't unsee. Adapted from Ruth Ware's best selling novel, directed by Simon Stone. Watch the woman in Cabin 10 only on Netflix on October 10th.
- [29:46]
Edwin Covarrubias
Dark history, true crime and old legends find their way to us like dark memories approaching on the road at night. Join me Edwin COVARrubias from Scary FM as we explore haunted places and relive dark events. Together, we'll investigate present day mysteries and share tales and legends. Subscribe for free to Horror Story. It's a podcast with the yellow letters and the windshield. Find it on your favorite podcast app or visit us over@horrorstory.com On July 16.
- [30:20]
Vanessa Richardson
1945, 41 year old J. Robert Oppenheimer supervised the first full scale nuclear test at the Alamogordo bombing range in New Mexico. He and a team of scientists watched from a base camp miles away as their bomb, nicknamed the gadget, was fixed to the top of a 100 foot steel tower. This was the moment they'd all been working towards pushing science to the limits. Some looked through UV protected windows. Others used welders, glasses and dark screens. When the time came, the explosion was like nothing they had seen before. The entire sky flashed white. In a matter of seconds. The light turned yellow, then orange, morphing into into a fireball that soared into the stratosphere. Even from 20 miles away, researchers could feel the heat. A shock wave erupted like thunder that could be felt all the way to the other side of New Mexico. As Oppenheimer watched, the fireball started to wilt. Turning black at the edges. It swirled in a cloud of purple smoke that expanded like a mushroom on the horizon. In the aftermath of the test, Oppenheimer had mixed emotions. First and foremost, he was relieved it had worked. The lab had succeeded, creating something that could change the balance of power across the entire world. He would forever be known as the father of the atomic bomb. But he also understood the long term consequences. The deadliest weapon in human history was now in the hands of the US military. And even after the test they wanted to try it out in the field. A lot of the staff on the Manhattan Project strongly disagreed. Most of the scientists who worked on the bomb originally intended to use it against Adolf Hitler. They considered him a uniquely evil and dangerous dictator. Someone whose actions warranted such horrible consequences. But by mid-1945 he was already dead. The only significant threat that remained was Japan, a Nazi ally. President Truman and many other high ranking government officials wanted to use the bomb to force them to surrender too. Despite his complex feelings, Oppenheimer agreed. On August 6th and August 9th, 1945, the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Not only were the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed, but over 200,000 people died or were seriously injured. In the years to come, thousands of the survivors would develop illnesses and other long term effects caused by the radiation. The people living near the Alamogordo bombing range in New Mexico would face those same issues. Thanks to the government's secret human trials, scientists were already aware of some of these consequences before the bombs were detonated. Japan officially surrendered on August 15, 1945. Two days later, Oppenheimer traveled to Washington D.C. he thought he was prepared for the damage the bombs would cause. He believed he was doing the right thing. Now he knew he was wrong. But on August 17, he personally delivered a letter to the Secretary of War asking for nuclear weapons to be banned. Then in October, Oppenheimer met with President Truman and said he believed he had blood on his hands. Truman was unmoved. As President, he took full responsibility for ordering the bombs to be dropped. After Oppenheimer left, Truman told his staff that he never wanted to see Oppenheimer in his office ever again. He called him a crybaby scientist for voicing his concerns. Despite his own feelings of remorse, a lot of people saw him as a hero. In the years afterward, Oppenheimer became one of the world's most recognizable figures. For a brief period, he was in charge of the newly created Atomic Energy Commission. In this role, he lobbied for harsh restrictions on the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons. But not everyone in the government appreciated his work. The FBI never stopped monitoring him. They continued to think he was a communist spy. While Oppenheimer probably knew they were still watching him, it didn't change his convictions. And in the 1950s, he made new enemies by opposing the development of a hydrogen bomb. This was seen as the next frontier in weapons technology, and his stance frustrated some members of the military. At one point, it seemed like his advocacy would make a difference. In the end though, President Truman agreed to research a hydrogen bomb anyway. Though Oppenheimer had failed, his critics still believed he had too much influence on politics. In 1953, they took their concerns to the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover. He he intensified the level of surveillance Oppenheimer was under. Slowly but surely, agents billed a case alleging he was a Soviet spy during a lengthy private hearing In June of 1954, the height of McCarthyism, 50 year old J. Robert Oppenheimer was forced to resign his post on the Atomic Energy Commission because of his past perceived communist leanings. He spent the rest of his life going on speaking tours around the US and vacationing a few months a year in the Virgin Islands with his wife Kitty and their children. By that point, the family had been through their share of ups and downs. Oppenheimer's celebrity status meant a lot of fancy cocktail parties, which worsened Kitty's alcoholism over the years. But toward the end of his life, the couple became closer than ever. However, Oppenheimer's past infidelity was forgotten and he treated Kitty as his closest confidant. They were together until he died in 1967 of complications from throat cancer. Since then, new details about the scope of the Manhattan Project have been steadily discovered by journalists and whistleblowers. In 1975, the US Senate kicked off the Church Committee that aimed to expose abuses by the CIA, NSA and FBI. The committee famously uncovered evidence that the CIA had assassinated foreign political leaders in the past. One of the witnesses who testified was Boris Pash, who worked as a CIA chief from 1949 through 1952, he told Congress that he ordered the secret wiretap of Gene Tatlock's phone. On a single separate occasion, he suggested torturing and killing several of Oppenheimer's communist friends. His testimony severely disturbed Jean's brother Hugh. He called for a new investigation into his sister's death. He was convinced the CIA had assassinated Jean because they suspected her of being a spy. That investigation was never carried out. To this day, we can't be sure what caused Jean's death death. But conspiracy theorists agree with Hugh. And if he's right, the implications are chilling. There's no telling who else may have been caught in the crossfire. Everyone working on the Manhattan Project was surveilled and paranoia was rampant. But that's only the tip of the conspiratorial iceberg. There were plenty of things the church committee did not expose in 1975, most notably the no one mentioned the human radiation trials that poisoned 18 men, women and children during the Manhattan Project. That's because those experiments were actually still going on all the way into the 1980s. Remember, some of the test subjects were injected as children. Even though the Manhattan Project was officially shuttered, the government still wanted to know the long term effects of radiation. So they continued to monitor their health for decades. Even then, the participants were never made aware of the experiments they were roped into, and they were never asked to consent to anything that happened to them. Even worse, we didn't learn about the trials until 1993, 40 years after they began. And it wasn't because the government decided to come clean. It was because a dedicated reporter named Eileen Wilson uncovered the abuses and published her findings. The bombshell story backed the government into a corner. At that point, President Clinton finally decided to make the records publicly available. Eileen Wilson's work opened a huge can of worms. Suddenly, people started to wonder if there were other aspects of the Manhattan Project we still didn't know about. Since World War II, two nuclear weapons have only ever been detonated for testing purposes. The issue is more countries than ever are trying to develop this technology. It's created a deep sense of paranoia in the international community. And it's why some conspiracy theorists believe the Manhattan Project never ended at all. They think that today it's just operating in the shadows, allowing the US Government to develop even more powerful bombs to use in future wars. I'm not counting anything out, but I want to know what you all think. Do you believe the Manhattan Project is still going on? And are there other parts of Oppenheimer's research we still don't know about. Let us know what you think in the comments. It's a disturbing thought. Many people, including Robert Oppenheimer, put aside their convictions to develop nuclear weapons because they believed the entire world was in danger. Once Oppenheimer saw the real toll of his creations, he spent the rest of his life trying to reverse the damage he caused. And while he did educate the public about the dangers of nuclear weapons, advocacy can only do so much. The fact is, Oppenheimer's research changed the nature of war forever, and we all live in a more deadly world because of it. Science and technology are evolving every single day. We've only skimmed the surface of what's possible. There's no telling what the next world war will look like. But if the Manhattan Project has taught us anything, it's that the government is willing to do anything to defeat its enemies. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes. Come back next week. We'll decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world's most notorious cults, conspiracies and criminal acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, Rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference and to enhance your content. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free plus exciting bonus content. We'll be back next Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Terrell Wells, Leah Roche and Michael Langsner. Thank you for listening.
- [42:52]
Experian Advertiser
It's okay not to be perfect with finances. Experian is your big financial friend and here to help. Did you know you can get matched with credit cards on the app? Some cards are labeled no Ding Decline which means if you're not approved they won't hurt your credit scores. Download the Experian app for free today. Applying for no Ding Decline cards won't hurt your credit scores. If you aren't initially approved. Initial approval will result in a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit scores.
- [43:20]
Vanessa Richardson
Experian Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. Dive into the real events behind the world's most terrifying terrifying blockbusters and beyond. Twisted Tales is a crime house original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes out every Monday.