The 'Conspiracy Theorists' Are Looking Pretty Sane Right Now, And This Declassified CIA File Is Why
For years, babies have cried through a series of tens of so-called routine vaccinations beginning at birth—shots that were said to protect against diseases like tetanus, measles and mumps, and polio.
Doctors and medical experts keep telling us that every single vaccine is one of modern medicine's greatest achievements and babies need each and every shot on the recommended list in order to live a safe and happy life.
However, debate around the childhood vaccine schedule has resurfaced. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., long critical of vaccine safety and effectiveness, has prompted a review of the CDC's carefully structured immunization schedule. Former President Donald Trump has also publicly questioned the number of shots infants receive. The CDC committee now examining the schedule is reassessing the timing and grouping of more than 30 doses that protect against over a dozen diseases.
The fact that there are government officials who are taking this topic seriously proves that we have come a long way in the last few years. When the Covid vaccine first surfaced in 2021, anyone who resisted or refused to get the shot was called everything from a science denier to a grandma killer. During all the heated debates online, more and more mothers were coming forward to express their distrust not only in the Covid vaccine but in the entire vaccine schedule recommended to their young children.
How does that saying go? "The only difference between a conspiracy theory and the truth is six months?" Well, it turns out that the conspiracy theorists and so-called crazy mothers who were highly skeptical of all these vaccines were onto something.
The program focused on interrogation techniques, behavior modification, and the broader question of whether human thoughts and actions could be influenced, or even controlled, through chemical and psychological means.
A recently resurfaced CIA document is reigniting debate over one of the most controversial intelligence programs of the Cold War called Project Artichoke, drawing particular attention to a disturbing detail buried within its pages: discussions about potentially disguising behavior-altering substances within medical treatments, including injections and vaccinations.
The document, now accessible through the CIA's public reading room, outlines research proposals connected to Project Artichoke, a classified initiative that operated between 1951 and 1956. The program focused on interrogation techniques, behavior modification, and the broader question of whether human thoughts and actions could be influenced, or even controlled, through chemical and psychological means.
According to the Daily Mail, many of the files were destroyed in the 1970s, but we do know that much of the report centers on drugs designed for two purposes: immediate interrogation compliance and longer-term emotional or behavioral manipulation. Researchers examined substances similar to sodium amytal and pentothal—sometimes referred to as "truth serums"—as well as compounds capable of producing anxiety, tension, depression, or lethargy over extended periods.
But one section stands out for its implications beyond interrogation rooms. The document discusses the importance of concealment and lists potential delivery methods that would avoid detection. "This study should include chemicals or drugs that can effectively be concealed in common items such as food, water, Coca-Cola, beer, liquor, cigarettes, etc.," the document reads. "This type of drug should also be capable of use in standard medical treatments such as vaccinations, shots, etc."
This document was declassified back in 1983, but most people are just discovering it today. Even though there is no evidence in the available files that such a plan was ever fully operationalized in public vaccination programs, the mere discussion of disguising substances within legitimate medical treatments underscores the mindset driving the research at the time: the pursuit of undetectable influence.
Project Artichoke emerged during a period of acute Cold War anxiety. U.S. intelligence officials feared that adversaries, especially communist regimes, had developed advanced "brainwashing" techniques, following reports from the Korean War that American prisoners had been psychologically manipulated. Internal CIA memos reveal concern that the United States was falling behind in psychological warfare capabilities.
The document discusses the importance of concealment and lists potential delivery methods that would avoid detection.
In response, the agency expanded its exploration beyond drugs alone. The documents reference hypnosis, sensory deprivation, gases, aerosols, and oxygen deprivation as potential tools. Researchers even questioned whether it might be possible to compel individuals to carry out actions against their will, potentially without retaining memory of the event.
The vaccine reference must be understood within this broader experimental framework. During the early 1950s, ethical oversight standards for human research were far less developed than they are today. Institutional review boards did not exist in their modern form, and informed consent protections were inconsistent. The program reportedly involved prisoners, military personnel, and psychiatric patients. These groups are now considered highly vulnerable in research settings.
In 1953, Project Artichoke evolved into the more expansive MKUltra program, which further explored mind-altering substances, particularly LSD. Many records were destroyed in 1973, limiting historians' ability to fully reconstruct what was tested, on whom, and to what extent certain proposals moved beyond theory. When congressional investigations, including the Church Committee hearings, exposed MKUltra in the 1970s, the revelations triggered widespread public alarm about government secrecy and human experimentation. The vaccine-related language in the Artichoke files has fueled renewed speculation.
Researchers even questioned whether it might be possible to compel individuals to carry out actions against their will, potentially without retaining memory of the event.
The discussion of this document highlights why transparency, oversight, and clear ethical boundaries remain central to maintaining public trust in both intelligence institutions and medical systems. Over the last few years, trust in medical experts has plummeted, and understandably so, considering how many times we have been gaslit about everything from the Covid vaccine's effects on women's health to the negative effects of hormonal birth control. Seeing this CIA document in plain sight only makes people more concerned about the true purpose of medical decisions such as vaccines that patients are often coerced to say yes to. We don't know for sure how much Project Artichoke has, if at all, actually influenced the creation and dissemination of today's vaccines, but it certainly doesn't make the "crazy" conspiracy theorists look any less crazy. If anything, they're appearing more sane by the day.