C.I.A. SECRETS: POISON PELLETS, MARSHMALLOWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404120003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 16, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404120003-9
STAT
AR__TICL? APP
ON PAGE'-=~-
STAT
NEW YORK TIMES
16 ,TUNE 1980
Another antiterrorism project was an
electrified net, whose purpose was not
clearly described. One document said:
"The [deleted] nonlethal electrified net j
system was forwarded to [deleted]. Un- i
fortunately, the data provided by the
-manufacturer are not completely ex-
plicit. Based on certain. assumptions
about the device, it was concluded that
.under- some 'conditions the [deleted]
By RICHARD D. LYONS
Spedal to'IheNei'Yodt7Uesea
WASHINGTON, June 15-The Central
Intelligence Agency's secret experiments
on new methods- of espionage have-in-
cluded using trained seals and otters,
monitoring the. `bioplasma-'-fields of
agents and testing the sonar of electric
fish, according to documents newly made
public. The experimenters also worked
on developing such weapons as a poison
pellet, electric stun guns, calibrated
blackjacks and marshmallow barrages.
The intelligence agency's research and
development staff was also interested in
the secret life of plants, peace pills and an
array of other futuristic schemes that
were discarded as - impracticable. or as
quackery, according to about 3,000 heav-
ily censored pages of study evaluations
and other documents relating to C.I.A.
activities from 1965 to 1975. The material
has-been made public. at the agency's
headquarters in Langley, Va., as a result
of a request under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act initiated by The New York
Times.
Many Details Are Deleted
C.Q.A. Secrets:
Poison. Pelle ,.
Marshmallows
Which of.the ideas-were developed and
which were discarded is uncertain -be-.
cause the intelligence agency refused of-
: ficial comment on, the. documents. In
addition, many details and'almostevery
proper name and title were deleted from
the documents, so that projects emerge
only in general terms. The agency has
been stung by earlier disclosures of cov-
ert research and development projects
that included-the use.'of LSD and other
mind-altering drugs, as well as elaborate
sexual entrapment schemes. l
Some of the actions described in the
documents, such as investigations into
behavior modification and mind control,
grew out of research of the 1950's-and'
1960's, which in turn stemmed from con-
tinuing Soviet interest in mind-control
techniques that most Western scientists
consider farfetched.
; . ? .
Other efforts were elaborate engineer-
ing projects that sought to counterhijack.
ings and terrorism. One was a giant pis-
ton - that- would be* incorporated, in the
pilot's seat in an airplane, so that when a
hijacker entered the airliner's flight deck
the pilot could trigger the 25-pound piston
and knock the hijacker back through the
door.
could cause partial incapacitation by
paralyzing; thesubject's arms." ? - ? .
Yet even with the deletions, the docu-
ments offer tantalizing hints of investiga-
tions by the agency of, proposals that
range from the edge of possibility to the
deadly real.
Studies of Deadly Device
There were several references to stud-
ies.of a "jet propelled medicine ball,"
which presumably refers to a murder
weapon that has. been used by Soviet
agents to kill several anti-Communist dis-
sidentsinWesternEurope.
One case involved Georgi Markov, a
Bulgarian dissident who died in London
two years ago after having been struck
by a poisoned pellet shot from an um-
brella tip. The hollow pellet, smaller than
a BB shot, was filled with a deadly poison
derived from the castor bean.The C.I.A.
document was written years before the
:dissident's murder.
Another memorandum, dated October
?1971, stated that "electric current ap-
pears to be a promising means of deliver-
ing a wide spectrum of incapacitation to a
single individual', or a few. individuals.
Application of the agent can be well con.
trolled and is reasonably safe under ap-
propriate conditions."
'Incapacitation' With 30,000 Volts .
A subsequent report stated: "The con-
cept may be summarized as a self-con.
tained, hand-carried, battery-powered
unit design to project one or two insulated
delivery wires at high velocity to a sub'
ject who may be at ranges of up to 100
meters; delivery wires may terminate at
electrodes that may. be bare wire, net,
dart, barb; burr, adhesive or some other
form; current is passed through the sub-
ject in brief .1 joule to 3 joule pulses at
`about 30,000 volts-repeated 2 to?20 times
per-second.."
"Data are presented from tests involv-
ing a small number of experimental ani-
mals and human volunteers," the report-
continued. "During these tests incapaci-
tation periods were limited to four sec-
onds or less. The concept appears basi-
cally sound provided that a reliable wire
delivery and electrode emplacement sys-
tem can be. proved satisfactory under
field conditions."
.Other. projects mentioned were "a
study of incapacitating darts" and "a
flash blindness incapacitator" using an
extremely bright light sources similar to
a British device used to end a number of
hostage sieges. For projects involving "a
hand-held calibrated blackjack," plastic
cocoons, taffy pellets and marshmallow
barrages, nearly all details were deleted.
As in papers obtained through previous
Freedom of Information requests, there
were references to Project OFTEN,
which was started in 1968 jointly with the
Army Chemical Corps at Edgewood, Md.,
to study the effects of rare drugs..
Use of Drugs to Alter Behavior
As was described in the earlier docu-
ments, the intelligence agency. spent a
great deal of time and resources testing
drugs that might influence behavior. One
memorandum of March 1973 stated that
while some drugs were effective for alter-
ing moods and behavior, "the techniques
are not as. efficacious or finely tuned as
the popular media leads one to believe."
Psychopharmacology, or control.by al.
tering brain chemistry, "is for the most
part safe and effective but does not really
afford mind control," the memorandum
said, adding that "the notion?of a 'peace'
pill,'truth' pill or'smart' pill is still in the
wish stage."
The investigation- of ."bioplasma
fields," extremely weak electrical forces
surrounding both inanimate:objects and
humans, was another source of scientific
preoccupation,, according to the docu-
ments..
While the exact aim is somewhat un-
clear, the agency apparently sought to
determine if extrasensory perceptionex-
isted and could be used to-"read'r the
thoughts of an enemy agent:'
"Interest'in this area is on the upswing
again, in large-part due to current popu-
larity in-lay literature of 'biofeedback'
CO TTnED
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/18: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404120003-9