When choosing topics for Dark Distractions, I often find myself desensitized to my research, especially given our current level of dystopian malaise. However, every now and then, even I have to stop and ask, WTF? Project ARTICHOKE qualifies for that query.
In a CIA memo dated January 1952, the agency posed a chilling question: “Can we get control of an individual to the point where he will do our bidding against his will and even against the fundamental laws of nature, such as self-preservation?” While the ultimate answer remains classified, the mere fact that such a question was asked is unsettling enough.
Project ARTICHOKE was launched in August 1951 by the CIA’s Office of Scientific Intelligence and coordinated with elements of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and FBI. The goal—using mind control as the method—was to create assassins from the “weaker and less intelligent” segments of society, as well as from foreign agents, POWs, defectors, and refugees.
To achieve this, the CIA experimented on its own agents, using an arsenal of drugs, including morphine, marijuana, heroin, cocaine, peyote, mescaline, and LSD. These substances were paired with extreme isolation, subversive interrogation tactics, and hypnosis. Of all the techniques tested, LSD yielded the most promising results. Subjects were often dosed without their knowledge, allowing their reactions to be observed in real time. Some agents were kept in a drug-induced haze for months, emerging with only foggy recollections of their experiences.
But the project wasn’t limited to drugs and hypnosis. The CIA also studied biological agents, including malaria and dengue fever, for their potential to incapacitate subjects both short- and long-term. Imagine suffering from dysentery while unknowingly being treated with LSD and cocaine, all while undergoing psychological torment, hypnotic suggestions, and relentless sleep deprivation. That was a day in the life of Project ARTICHOKE.
Initial experiments were conducted domestically, primarily on CIA personnel. The results remain classified, but they were encouraging enough to move forward with field testing. This phase took place overseas, spanning Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines. Subjects were to be procured from “alien” populations, and while details remain redacted, considering the project’s objective—developing “zombie” assassins—the implications are deeply disturbing.
The true extent of ARTICHOKE’s success is buried beneath redacted documents and vague memoranda. But one thing is clear: the project ended in 1953, only to be replaced by its infamous successor—MK Ultra
Brainwashed assassins have long been a staple of spy novels and Hollywood thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate (1962), but are they real? And more importantly, would we even know if they were? Declassified documents confirm that the CIA spent decades and untold millions in black-budget funding researching the possibility of creating mind-controlled killers. It would be naïve to assume they found nothing.
So, what would a real-life ARTICHOKE assassin look like? Based on the project’s methods, we’d expect a lone gunman, likely exhibiting cognitive issues such as mania, paranoia, or some other psychological dysfunction that could explain their behavior. This individual would likely have no formal connection to intelligence agencies but could be an immigrant, foreign national, religious or political dissident, or extremist—someone whose motives could be conveniently framed by authorities. In short, the ideal candidate would be a radicalized, unstable individual—one who, following their crime, would be publicly written off as either insane or a fanatic.
Sound familiar?
Historically, a few names fit this profile. Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, and Sirhan Sirhan—all tied to the Kennedy assassinations—are the most infamous examples. James Earl Ray’s alleged involvement in a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King Jr. has also drawn speculation. Then there’s John Patler, who assassinated George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, in 1967. More recently, Mark David Chapman, who killed John Lennon in 1980, and John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan in 1981, fit the textbook definition of what Project ARTICHOKE sought to create.
The lone, mentally unstable attacker with murky motives has become a recurring archetype in modern tragedies. Consider Aaron Alexis, the Navy Yard shooter who claimed to hear voices; Esteban Santiago, who said the government was controlling his mind before opening fire at Fort Lauderdale Airport. Then there is Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old shooter who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in 2024. With no clear ideology, no criminal record, and an abrupt act of political violence, his case mirrors the characteristics of previous lone gunmen. Whether coincidence or something more sinister, the specter of Artichoke lingers.
Sure, these theories might sound like recycled conspiracy fodder, but that’s exactly the point. I’m not saying the CIA orchestrated these assassinations—but if they did, this is what it would look like. And it would fit neatly within the framework of their own highly focused, extremely well-funded, and disturbingly persistent research.
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed western horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy as well as other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
