1 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,240 Speaker 1: When Sydney Gottlieb recruited George White to be the CIA's 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: secret weapon in the Cold War, White didn't get much training. 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: What would you teach a guy like White anyway? During 4 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: World War Two? He'd been taught to kill with his 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: bare hands, to wire explosives, to interrogate people. He could 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: have used some tips on what to do if someone 7 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,040 Speaker 1: he dozed with LSD had a psychotic episode, but that 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: never came up. Back in ninety three, Gottlieb did want 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: White to attend one top secret CIA class, a class 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: where the teacher could impart wisdom that no one would win. 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: The CIA had. Gottlieb wanted White to take lessons from 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: a man who had learned his trade from Harry Houdini. 13 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: The CIA needed White to become a magician, not stage 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: magic where women saw it in half. Instead, White needed 15 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: a crash course in close up magic. Things like card 16 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: tricks and coins that appear behind your ears. It's more subtle, 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: more personal. Sometimes magicians call them slight of hand tricks. 18 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: A lot of people think the magician is simply moving 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: their hands faster than the eye can see. That's not 20 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: really true. The human hand can't move faster than the eye. Instead, 21 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: the trick is to get the eye looking elsewhere while 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: the magician executes the trick. That's the real sleight of hand, 23 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: tricking the brain. While it can take years or even 24 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: decades to master, most people can be taught the basics 25 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: of this direction fairly easily if they have a good teacher. 26 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: So Godly recruited a magician named John Mulholland. He wanted 27 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,279 Speaker 1: Mulholland to teach CIA operatives how to use the tricks 28 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: of the magician's trade to follow through on their cove 29 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: at activities. It was a form of social engineering. How 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: could they divert a person's attention elsewhere? When Gottlie realized 31 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: Mulholland could teach them all of that and more, he 32 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: prepared an oath of secrecy for the magician to sign. 33 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: He arranged for Mulholland to arrive at a hotel in 34 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: New York City to meet with his prized operative, the 35 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: same hotel where CIA employee Frank Olsen had fallen out 36 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: of a window. And that's how one of the most 37 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: respected magicians of the era wound up shaking hands with 38 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: George White, setting the state for what would be White's 39 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: most audacious project yet, using the art of magic to 40 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: drug people unwittingly. This one was called MK Ultra sub 41 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: Project four. It's how George White would later make San 42 00:02:54,680 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: Francisco's sanity disappear. For I Heart Radio, this is Operation 43 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: Midnight Climax. I'm your host, Noel Brown, and this is 44 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: episode seven Tripping Current one a second home in. George 45 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: White needed a lifeline. His right hand man, Ike Feldman, 46 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: had just screwed up by turning their secret CIA funded 47 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: brothel into front page news. That year, the pair started 48 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 1: working with a drug kingpin named Ronaldo Red Ferrari, sort 49 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: of the Tony Montana of the day. Ferrari owned the 50 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: city's heroin business, and he ruled over San Francisco with 51 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: an iron fist cross Ferrari and he could make you vanish, 52 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: not magic, Vanish, but dead and bury Vanish dumped off 53 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: the Golden gate Bridge Vanish. But White and Feldman weren't intimidated. 54 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: White was still working two jobs. By day, he worked 55 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: as a district supervisor for the Narcotics Bureau, and at night, 56 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: well you know. But to keep his day job going, 57 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: he needed to keep making drug busts, so he did 58 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: double duty at the brothel. When he wasn't luring John's 59 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: applying them with LSD for his experiments, he used the 60 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: pad to entertain and entrapped dope pushers. And that's what 61 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: George White did with Ferrari. To convince Ferrari that his 62 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: colleague Feldman was a major player in the drug scene, 63 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: White started throwing elaborate parties at the address. Oddly, all 64 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: those lewed photos and tacky decorations White had put on 65 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: the walls helped his case. To anyone with an eye, 66 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: it looked cheap, tawdry, but to gangsters it seemed like 67 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: drug money couture some tasteful mafia decor. All these parties 68 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: did the trick. Feldman convinced Ferrari he was the real deal, 69 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: or as he put it, quote legitimately illegitimate. He paid 70 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: them sixty dollars for thirteen ounces of heroin, and as 71 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: they talked, business, microphones all over the apartment picked up 72 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: every word. Feldman helped indict Ferrari and his associates on 73 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: conspiracy to traffic in narcotics. It was good, solid police work, 74 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: but it also threw a wrench in White's plants. When 75 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: Feldman took the stand in April nineteen fifty six, he 76 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: had to describe as undercover work in detail, including giving 77 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: the address of the safe house to Chestnut Street. The 78 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: San Francisco Examiner printed the details. Oh for fox sake, 79 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: ike for White, it was no different than installing a 80 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: huge Neon sign out front that flashed the word police 81 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: at visitors for the second time in his CIA career. 82 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: White worried that his project was in danger of being 83 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: shut down. And if George White didn't have the blessing 84 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: and resources of the CIA, what did he have? His 85 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: pet birds, his leather working. It wasn't enough. He wanted 86 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: needed something bigger. But Sydney Gottlie, White's boss, was less worried. 87 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: He reassured him, after all, word hadn't really spread in 88 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: the media. Unless he'd read the Telegraph that day, you 89 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: probably wouldn't have picked up on the news at all. Plus, 90 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: as got Leap told White, the experiment was going so 91 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: well that no one at the CIA was in any 92 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: hurry to abandon it. In fact, Gottlie gave White the 93 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: green light to open a second safe house in the 94 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: town of Mill Valley in Marin County, far from the 95 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: city lights. But over the years White had become increasingly reckless, 96 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: and his new neighbors started to notice. Late at night 97 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: they'd hear commotion. Peering outside, they'd see men with shoulder 98 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: holsters chasing women, all in various stages of undress. One night, 99 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,440 Speaker 1: possibly inebriated, White hidden neighbor's car. He sent got leave 100 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: the bill for the damage, another lapse in judgment, since well, 101 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: it's not a good idea to make insurance claims when 102 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: you're working on a top secret project. White had always 103 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: mixed business with pleasure. Serious investigations lived side by side 104 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: with hedonism for hedonism's sake. When White through parties at 105 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: the safe house, not only did he invite CIA operatives, 106 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: but he also called in friends from the Narcotics Bureau 107 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: and even San Francisco police officers. Plus there were escorts, drugs, 108 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: and booze. Lots of booze. White kept sending got leap 109 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: invoices for his alcohol supply, which seemed to be growing 110 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: at the rate of a small liquor store. And it 111 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: wasn't just the booze. Over the years, White had developed 112 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: reputation for experimenting with any drug, and not just on 113 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: unsuspecting civilians, on himself. Anything CIA operatives were scared of 114 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 1: was sent to San Francisco, where White would try it 115 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: out on his own. One day, got Leap set along 116 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: the canister that contained an experimental tear gas. White set 117 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: it down, Feldman activated him, and they both ran through it. 118 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: They soon collapsed in a heap of coughing and burning eyes. 119 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: On another occasion, gott Leap showed up with a dart 120 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: gun and went for a drive with White en Feldman. 121 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: Like a marksman. He aimed at a tree and fired. 122 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: Nothing happened, but when Feldman drove by the same tree 123 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: a few days later, it was dead. Feldman thought they 124 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: had just witnessed agent orange, the toxin that would be 125 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: used in Vietnam a few years later. At times, the 126 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: new safe house in Marin County resembled a novelty toy factory, 127 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: with new chemicals showing up at White store like presents 128 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: for him to play test. In one package, White and 129 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: his men found weapons grade stink bombs, and while it 130 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: sounds like a gag gift, the CIA was sincere about it. 131 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: Operatives wondered if a target could be ridiculed and embarrassed 132 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: for smelling bad enough, or if an extreme foul smell 133 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: could make an entire crowd disperse. The stories of the 134 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: experiments have kind of a blooper real quality. When White's 135 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: agent decided to target a small demonstration with the stink bomb, 136 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: he went up to a hotel room where he could 137 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,880 Speaker 1: drop the tiny ampule into the crowd, but it bounced 138 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: off the window cell and spilled back into his own room. 139 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: They were itching and sneezing powders and special needles to 140 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: inject drugs through wine corks without being detected, but not 141 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: all of the ideas were so childlike, and LSD was 142 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: still the agency's primary concern. A plan was hatched to 143 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: finally see what an aerosolized version of the drug could 144 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: do in an enclosed room full of people. White could 145 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:41,120 Speaker 1: experiment it with this back in New York City on 146 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: a subway car, but this would be a more potent dose. 147 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 1: They arranged for a big blowout, with White and his 148 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:52,599 Speaker 1: agents canvassing San Francisco for party goers, promising an abundance 149 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: of booze and women. The plan was to pack people 150 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: up into their new safe house, where White planned on 151 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: dousing them in a plume of LSD. There was just 152 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: one problem. It was a very hot Californian day and 153 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: it was impossible to keep the doors and windows shut. 154 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 1: The LSD just dissipated into the air. The grand plan 155 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: to attempt a mass hallucination went out the literal window. 156 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: White and gottlieb were disappointed by these attempts, but White 157 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: still felt he was close to something with LSD. The 158 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: Chestnut Streets safe house had been compromised, and luring people 159 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: back to another safe house was offering diminishing returns, so 160 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: White decided to return to his roots and go back 161 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: to dosing everyday civilians. This time, though, he would have 162 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: to go out into the world and hunt them on 163 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: their turf in the field, just like a real CIA operative. 164 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: He'd had to slip them drugged without being caught, and 165 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: he had those skills because there was a magician on 166 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:16,599 Speaker 1: the payroll. Part two new tricks. When Sydney gottlie was 167 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: getting MK Ultra off the ground, there was no such 168 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: thing as two out there or two unusual. The CIA 169 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: was determined to unlock the secrets of mind control in 170 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: any way possible, and that's how George White found himself 171 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: in the conference room of the Hotel Roosevelt in nine 172 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: taking a crash course in sleight of hand from John Mulholland. Okay, 173 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: now where's the card, George? Hopefully not up your ass. 174 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: Magicians don't have quite the same cache in the twenty 175 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: one century. A few have streaming shows. David Copperfield still 176 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: books Las Vegas. But before people had a surplus of 177 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: entertainment options, they came out and drove to see magicians 178 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: ply their trade on stage. Illusionists were celebrities. They also 179 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:06,679 Speaker 1: lived by a code. You can't ask a magician how 180 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: they did a trick. Well, you can, but you won't 181 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,439 Speaker 1: get an answer. You can find someone YouTube, of course, 182 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: and there's always speculation. Sometimes a magician reveals their secrets 183 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: out of necessity. That's how David Copperfield found himself discussing 184 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: how a disappearing act was done. He was sued after 185 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: a member of his audience was injured during a performance. 186 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: So how did Sydney Gottlieb convinced John Mulholland to break 187 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: the magicians omerta their code of silence? The same way 188 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: he got everything else he wanted by appealing to Mulholland's 189 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: sense of patriotism. Mulholland had earned a tremendous amount of 190 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: respect among his peers. Born in Chicago in eight he'd 191 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: fallen in love with magic at the age of five, 192 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: but by the time he was twenty he was working 193 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: for who enim Holland performed for small audiences in New 194 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: York City and for sultan's and kings. He toured the 195 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: world and even edited a magic journal, The Sphinx, which 196 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: is kind of like the New England Journal of Medicine 197 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: for conjurors, and he enjoyed teaching magic as much as 198 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: performing it. Mulholland had a library of over four thousand 199 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: magic books. He lectured on magic, he wrote books on magic. 200 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,080 Speaker 1: Gottlieb had seen him perform and was struck by how 201 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: easily he could fool audience members watching his every move 202 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 1: even though he was just a few feet away. He 203 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: was a man possessed of secret knowledge, a concept the 204 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: CIA and Gottlieb could only admire. Mulholland had done work 205 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: on behalf of the country before he performed during USO tours. 206 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: He was a proud American, a trait that Gotlieb hoped 207 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: to exploit, so he got in touch with Moholland and 208 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: told he wanted him to write a manual and Trickery 209 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: and Deception, particular early on the most effective methods for 210 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: putting a substance in a person's drink without the mark 211 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: being aware of it, something like slipping an enemy agents 212 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 1: and making yes John something like that. More or less, 213 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: Mulholland was eager to assist a dapper man in his fifties. 214 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: He put off his other obligations and quickly got to 215 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: work on what he officially called some operational applications of 216 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: the Art of Deception. Like most CIA manuals involving espionage, 217 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: it wasn't supposed to see the light of day. While 218 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 1: there had always been rumors a CIA Magician's Manual sounded 219 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: to Kuki to actually exists, but in two thousand seven, 220 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: authors H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace found the only 221 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: known surviving copy of the complete manual. In the text, 222 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: Mulholland tutors the reader on how to execute slight of 223 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: hand for the purposes of espionage. The basic principle and 224 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: performing a trick is to do it's of the secret 225 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:05,440 Speaker 1: actions are not observed. A trick does not fool the eye, 226 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: but fools the brain. Nowhere does the text mentioned the CIA. Instead, 227 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: Maholland calls operatives performers or tricksters, and they weren't drugging subjects. 228 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: They were performing tricks. Deception, he pointed out, isn't about 229 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: rapid hand movements. It's about getting the spectator to look elsewhere. 230 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: As outlined in the manual, one of Moholland's favorite methods 231 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: was the cigarette trick. You're at a bar. It's loud, 232 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: people are everywhere. You're George White, who want to slip 233 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: some LSD to a person's drink Unknowingly, in this case, 234 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: the bar is the stage and White is the performer. 235 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: His props aren't wands or rabbits. There are things you'd 236 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: expect to see, cigarettes, matches, coins, pencils. He's managing his 237 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 1: targets line of site, in this case primal curiosity about fire. 238 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: This is the routine for the spectator who spokes the instant. 239 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: The performer sees the spectator take a cigarette, cigar, or pipe. 240 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: He takes the packet of matches from his pocket, tears 241 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: off one match, and holds packet and match ready to 242 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: ignite the match. He does these things openly because what 243 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 1: he does can only be looked upon it as a 244 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: friendly and courteous gesture. Let me get that for you, buddy. 245 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: As soon as the spectator is ready to light up, 246 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: the performers should hold the matches close to the spectator 247 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: and strike the one match. The flame comes up to 248 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: their face. That's all, they're looking at the fire in 249 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 1: front of their eyes, and while their attention is fixated, 250 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: White is up to something else. As soon as the 251 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: spectator has a proper light, performers should begin to lean 252 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: back to his previous position. The left hand, which has 253 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: been held still since the match was struck. He's brought 254 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: over the mouth of the glass or cup, and the 255 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: pill dropped into the liquid. And, as Mulholland reminds the reader, 256 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: a small action will not be noticed while making a 257 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:21,120 Speaker 1: broader gesture for which there is an obvious reason. Mulholland 258 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: had more tricks, pills that could be brushed off the 259 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,120 Speaker 1: side of a coin into a drink, stuffing a pill 260 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:29,679 Speaker 1: in the folds of the hand. He was fond of 261 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: a loaded pencil which had a hollow body. The trickster 262 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: would offer to give someone directions or write something down, 263 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: and when he pointed to something on the paper and 264 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: got the targets attention, the pencil would be tipped over, 265 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: releasing a liquid or powder into the person's drink. But 266 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: above all, Mulholland had one important piece of guidance. Looks stupid. 267 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: A person who looked alert, like they were really concentrating 268 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: would be unusual. After all, everyone in a bar is 269 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,959 Speaker 1: having a good time. In Mulholland's manual, and in at 270 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,399 Speaker 1: least four meetings with the magician, George White was taught 271 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: these finer points of delivering practically any drug he wanted, anywhere, 272 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: at any time. It gave him freedom at a time 273 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,320 Speaker 1: he needed it the most. It didn't matter that Ike 274 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: Feldman had entered two Chestnut Street into the court record. 275 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: He didn't have to stay inside an apartment. He was 276 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: no longer in captivity. Mulholland, for his part, had no 277 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: idea what his skills were being used for. Though he 278 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 1: must have suspected such training could deliver drugs or even 279 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: deadly poisons to the enemy, he couldn't know his work 280 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: was being co opted by the CIA to experiment on 281 00:19:47,119 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: American citizens. He didn't know his sleight of hand would 282 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: be used to terrorize San Francisco and allowed George White 283 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: to practice a very dark and very sinister side of magic. 284 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: John Mulholland had been taught magic to bring joy to people. 285 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,920 Speaker 1: He taught magic to George White without understanding it would 286 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: only bring fear pert three Street magic. It might have 287 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: been better if Pheldman hadn't been found out, if he 288 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: hadn't made the big bust and exposed the Chestnut Street address. 289 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: Maybe White would have kept his experiments to John's and 290 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: low level criminals. But he was feeling emboldened reckless. After all, 291 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 1: his LSD project had survived multiple people being hospitalized, one death, 292 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: and a relocation. He'd never even been reprimanded for anything 293 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: he'd done. So with his make believe apartment in jeopardy, 294 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: it seemed like a good time to go out into 295 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 1: San Francisco, armed with John Mulholland's techniques and explore the 296 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:10,400 Speaker 1: last uncharted frontier of the psychokaout the general public San 297 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: Francisco nightlife in the Tenderloin District, jazz clubs, bars, restaurants, 298 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: a mix of everyone from Blue collar workers to millionaires, 299 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: all out to have a good time. Then a man 300 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: would appear easy to talk to, offered to light a 301 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:35,439 Speaker 1: cigarette for them. Liquid would seep from the matchbook, and 302 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: then he blend into the background to watch what came next. 303 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: This was George White's favorite part, the shift in consciousness. 304 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: It happened in a blink. One second the world made sense, 305 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:56,959 Speaker 1: and the next it didn't. Some stayed their eyes growing wide, 306 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: seeing and hearing things their brains couldn't brow, says. More 307 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: and more matches would be struck, more and more people 308 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: stumbling into a waking nightmare. Sometimes White would come to them, 309 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: sometimes they'd come to White. An old Cia trick to 310 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: attract attention in a social setting was to start playing 311 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: with drink coasters. An operative would seem unusually interested in them, 312 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,159 Speaker 1: trying to peel them apart. Someone would come up and 313 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: ask what they were doing. You see, Heineken is doing 314 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: this promotion where they're stuffing fifty bucks into random coasters. 315 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: You gotta take them apart to find out. No kidding, no, 316 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: no kidding. Hey look here. White would have already slipped 317 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: a gimmick coaster into the pile, pulling out a crisp 318 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 1: fifty dollar bill. Money was like a flashing sign, and 319 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,640 Speaker 1: he would quickly find himself the center of attention. Later, 320 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: no one would remember that anyone approached them. They would 321 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: only recall being in a group taking a sip, then 322 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: watching the floor fall out from under them. These were 323 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: the kinds of bars and clubs that had live entertainment bands, singers, 324 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: and one local attraction was a woman named Ruth Kelly. 325 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,160 Speaker 1: Kelly was a stunning figure on stage, and White came 326 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: to see her over and over again. Soon he began 327 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: to wonder if Ruth Kelly might want to learn more 328 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:34,439 Speaker 1: about White's swinging lifestyle. One night, before she went on stage, 329 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: he walked up and whispered something into her ear, something 330 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: salacious and unwelcome. Kelly rejected White. White had faced rejection 331 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: countless times in his life, from law enforcement agencies that 332 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: didn't need him, to wives who didn't want him. Even 333 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: the CIA job had been held up by a year's 334 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:59,120 Speaker 1: worth of background checks. White by this point was drinking 335 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: more heavily than ever, more out of control than ever, 336 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: and so he did something that not even Sydney Gottley 337 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: would have signed off on. He administered l s d 338 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: out of spite. That's okay, miss Kelly. Here, let me 339 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: get that for you, and he did it just before 340 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: Ruth Kelly went on stage in front of hundreds of people. 341 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,480 Speaker 1: This was something else. Kelly began her set without problems, 342 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: but after just a couple of songs, the acid turned 343 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: the audience faces into masks. The applause pounded her head. 344 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: Kelly could see the words she sang, she could feel 345 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,119 Speaker 1: the stage floating, and somewhere in the crowd was the 346 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: face of George White, smiling with horns. Ruth Kelly finished 347 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,160 Speaker 1: her set without betraying that her mind was split into 348 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: pieces the minute. The second she was done with her 349 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,160 Speaker 1: last song, she raced off the stage and jumped into 350 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: a cab. She remained in a state of panic for days. 351 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,959 Speaker 1: She didn't know what had happened, only that her psyche 352 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: seemed to explode as soon as she had rejected the 353 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: advances of the strange man with bright, cold blue eyes. 354 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: The psychological basis for this routine is that a small 355 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: action will not be noticed when it is done while 356 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:27,360 Speaker 1: making a broader gesture, for which there is an obvious reason. 357 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,400 Speaker 1: White never stopped. The bars of North Beach were overcome 358 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,399 Speaker 1: by White and other operatives dosing people with LSD and 359 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: other drugs and hoping they'd stick around long enough to 360 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: have an observable reaction. Those that ran off into the 361 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: night weren't followed. No one will ever know how many 362 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,040 Speaker 1: people shook it off and how many couldn't. In the 363 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,199 Speaker 1: San Francisco of the late nineteen fifties, going out for 364 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: a good time give you a reasonable chance of having 365 00:25:54,640 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: your mind destroyed. White sadistics was getting stronger, and with 366 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,919 Speaker 1: it a kind of self loathing was setting in. In 367 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: just a few short years, he would write, a good 368 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: policeman is the ultimate action arm of the legislature, the judiciary, 369 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:21,120 Speaker 1: and the executive, the thin blue line between order and chaos. 370 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,360 Speaker 1: It is time to consider the consequences of such stresses 371 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: upon an average human who becomes a policeman who must 372 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: not only cope with his own book of rules, but 373 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: also with the ever president, vociferous criticism from the press, citizens, 374 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,080 Speaker 1: review boards, the courts, prosecutors, and even his own superiors, who, 375 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 1: when the heat arrives, pass it down. One day, a 376 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: technician walked into White safe house to checks some of 377 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:53,640 Speaker 1: the surveillance equipment. He hadn't been expected. The only occupant 378 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:56,399 Speaker 1: inside was George White, who was sitting in front of 379 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: the two way mirror he normally sat on the other 380 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: side of in order to monitor to the sexual escapades 381 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,720 Speaker 1: in the apartment. The man looked at White, who was 382 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,479 Speaker 1: clearly drunk, so drunk he didn't even seem to realize 383 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,920 Speaker 1: the technician had arrived and thought it was better to 384 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,760 Speaker 1: come back another day. And then George White held up 385 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: a gun, a revolver. The technician froze. He knew White, 386 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: but he also knew White was a drinker. White just 387 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: kept staring at himself in the mirror, like he was 388 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: waiting for the man he saw in his reflection to 389 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: provide some kind of answer. Then he aimed the gun 390 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: at himself, at the man in the mirror, and fired. 391 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 1: The technician recoiled. Then he looked and saw a white 392 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: globe had collapsed on the surface of the mirror. It 393 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: was a dummy round a piece of wax. White kept 394 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: staring at himself. The technician left. White remained behind, ruling 395 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 1: over a tiny fiefdom of safe houses. In the end, 396 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,440 Speaker 1: George White hadn't won the Cold War. He hadn't exposed 397 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: the secrets of mind control. He was a man sitting 398 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: on a portable toilet, watching people have sex and getting high. 399 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,320 Speaker 1: Maybe the only mind game being played was the one 400 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: Sydney gottlie had played on George White. He had taken 401 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: a man desperate for respect and recognition and given him 402 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: a job. No man of real moral consequence would ever 403 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: agree to to experiment on American civilians. That was Gottlieb's 404 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: big question, wondering if a man could be made to 405 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: do anything given the proper motivation, tools and drugs. MK 406 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: Ultra was always about altering a person's behavior. In that 407 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: moment in front of the mirror, George White may have 408 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: realized he wasn't just running the experiment, He was the experiment. 409 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: In every trip, there's a high, the elation, the sense 410 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 1: everything is so perfect and so right that the feeling 411 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: will never end. And then inevitably there's the come down 412 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: when reality intrudes. Good morning, Mr Irman, Good morning. Sometimes 413 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: it's because the effects of the drugs were off. Sometimes 414 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: it's because someone intervenes and breaks the spell. In three, 415 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 1: the CIA's Inspector General was a man named John Eyerman. 416 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: His role was to evaluate the CIA's various projects, including 417 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: ones that the CIA director might not have even been 418 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,720 Speaker 1: aware of. As the new guy, Erman wanted to examine 419 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: everything going on in the agency. He didn't have allegiances, 420 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 1: not yet anyway, and the crumbs have passed approved wouls 421 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: weren't necessarily off limits to him. Earmen like looking under 422 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: the rug for those crumbs. He liked picking them up 423 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: and wondering where they had come from. One day, Earman 424 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,240 Speaker 1: was looking at paperwork filed under god Leib's division. It 425 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 1: was a routine inspection when he came across an expense 426 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: report filed by George White. There was a forty four 427 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: dollar charge for a telescope, a thousand dollar bill for 428 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 1: just a few days worth of booze, and a modest 429 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: thirty one dollars to pay off the woman whose car 430 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: wide and damaged like a thread in a sweater. Earman 431 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,760 Speaker 1: began tugging, and the more he tugged, the more things unraveled. 432 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: George White was writing checks to prostitutes for services rendered. 433 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: Memos detailed experimentations on unwitting subjects with LSD, sedatives, uppers, downers, 434 00:30:53,240 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: erection pills, weed, poisoned darts, and trees stink bombs. Very 435 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: few people within the CIA were aware of him k Ultra, 436 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 1: not even the new director, a man named John McCone, 437 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: who had been appointed by President John F. Kennedy. And 438 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: the more Erman read, the more alarmed he got. For 439 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: the first time in the ten years that Sydney Gottlieb 440 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: and George White had been on a psychedelic rampage, someone 441 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: of the CIA was finally looking into their work, and 442 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: for the first time, someone was wondering if Sydney Gottlieb 443 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: and George White were out of their fucking minds. What 444 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: they were doing was illegal and immoral. Erman wrote a 445 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: twenty four page report he would delivered to maccone. In it, 446 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,720 Speaker 1: he reported in explicit detail the crime that was taking place, 447 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: one perpetuated by the highest levels of the CIA, and 448 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: one that was putting the freedom of citizens in jeopardy, 449 00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: the very same freedoms Gottlieb insisted he was trying to protect. Suddenly, 450 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people had a lot of questions for 451 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: George White, But like any great performer, he had one 452 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: final trick up his sleeve. George White was about to 453 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: make himself disappear. Operation Midnight Climax is hosted by Noel Brown. 454 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: This show's written by Jake Rosson, editing, sound design and 455 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,720 Speaker 1: mixing by Ernie Indra Dat and Natasha Jacobs. Original music 456 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: by Aaron Kaufman. Research and fact checking by Austin Thompson 457 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: and Maurice Brown. Show logo by Lucy Keen Tiny Yeah 458 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Enzo Salucci, Spencer Gibson, David Crumholtz, Vanessa Crumholtz, 459 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: Ryan Murdoch and Ted Ramy. Julian Weller is our supervising producer. 460 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Jason English and Mangesha Ticketer. See 461 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 1: you next week.