'BRAINWASH' ATTEMPT BY RUSSIANS?

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000300340041-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 8, 2001
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: May 10, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

' 'ksiINCTON POST STATINTL
. Approved. For Release 2001/q A;fC~ RDP80-01601 R000
The Washington Men, y-Go.flounit
.By Jack Andersoii
Sit' Afflem'
ritablility, ' even disorders.
They speculated that the Rus-
sians were trying to drive
American diplomats stir crazy
with the -waves.
Neither the Cia nor the
State Department-had the fa-
cilities to test the effects of
the silent rays on human
beings. At the Pentagon, how-
ever, the super-secret Ad.
vanced Research Project had
worked on electronic sensors
and other weird projects.
The agency quietly began a
study, under the direction of
Richard Cesaro, into the ef-
fects of microwaves on people.
Cesaro gave the project the
code name, "Operation Pan-
dora," and called in a physi-
cian, Dr. Herb Pollack, and
two crack military scientists,
Dr. Joseph Sharp of Walter
Reed Army hospital, and engi-
neer-microwave expert Mark
Grove of the Air Force.
Kusszansa
. In the embassy In Moscow,
meanwhile, no one except the
highest diplomats and security
men were aware of the secret
microwave drama.
By 1967, the scientists felt
they had watcued the monkeys
long enough, for a tentative
reading. Some felt there were
signs of "aberrant behavior"
caused by the microwaves, but
the majority disagreed. Only
the rabbits showed clear
changes-in their heart rate-
which Zaret attributed to heat
from the rays.
The disagreement on psy-
chological changes were sent
to a top secret reviewing
board, which also could reach
no absolute .conclusion that
the rays affected the monkeys'
minds.
Nevertheless, the suspicion
lingered, and the White- House,
decided that even if the micro-
waves were not "brainwash-
ing" embassy people, they
should be halted. It was also
suspected that the waves
might be part of . some radical
r `H.idden In the Central Intel-
ligence Agency'sl most secret
'files is an account of a possi-
ble Soviet attempt to "brain-
wash" our em1rassy personnel
in ' Moscow with mysterious
microwaves.
The fantastic details are
contained in a file marked
"Operation Pandora," which
describes how the Russians
bombarded pur embassy with
eerie, low-radiation impulses.
Their secret intent, it was sus-
pected, may have been to alter
the personalities, of our diplo-
mats.
' The bizarre story began in
1945 when a Russian pres-
ented Averell Harriman, then
our ambassador, with a hand-
, some carved Great Seal of the
,United States. Harriman
proudly hung it In' the em-
bassy.
The seal Contained a tiny
electronic eavesdropping de-
vice, -which monitored conver-
sations inside the embassy
until 3.952, when it was de-
tected. From this shocking dis-
covery came urgent orders
-that all embassies must be pe.
riodicaljy checked for . elec-
tronic signals.
In the '60, U.S.-security men
discovered the strange micro.
'wave Impulses,. some steady,
some pulsating, directed into
our Moscow embassy from a
neighboring building.
The CIA quickly learned
that Russian medical litera-
ture' suggested microwaves
Sharp and Grove, supplied
with the microwave data moni-
tored in the embassy, dupli-.
cited the embassy environ-
ment, using monkeys for dip-
lowats.
The monkeys actually were
trained to perform tasks and
then were rewarded with food,
much as embassy employees
might be rewarded with a dry
martini at the end of the day.
The monkeys were studied
night and day for months at
Walter Reed, while a collat-
eral experiment was con-
ducted on rabbits by consult-
ant Dr. Milton Zaret in his
new surveillance technique. .
? At the June 1967 Glassboro
meeting between President
Lyndon Johnson and Soviet
Premier Aleksei Kosygin, the
question of the microwave
rays came up. One informant
insists Johnson personally
asked Kosygin to end the ray.
bombardment, although other;
sources say the request was
made at a lower level.
By 1968, most of Cesaro's
scientists. were convinced that
the microwaves were not psy-
chologically harmful, and the
embassy experiments ended In
early. 1969.
The brilliant work done by
the team, however, has now
led to important research on
the effects of microwaves. 'So
far, tests show high radiation
can injure eyes, genital organs
and perhaps.other parts of the
body. But, as yet, there is no
conclusive proof that low-level
radiation is harmful.
Footnote: We have spoken
with Cesaro, Pollack, Sharp,
Zaret and Grove. All acknowl-
edged they worked on "Opera-
tion Pandora," but all refuse
to go into details. As Sharp
put it: "Pandora was classified
in those days and still is."
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000300340041-0