DarkDante
07-24-2005, 01:01 AM
Did The CIA Murder Frank Olson?
In 1990 the rock group, Van Halen had a popular song/music video called "Right Now", in the video there is a little blurb that reads "Right now OUR government is doing things we think only other countries do" - I believe the greatest book that will NEVER BE PUBLISHED is the one containing confirmed detailed accounts of all the murder, lies and deception that the US government has played out for the past century.
Now I am NOT a conspiracy theorist but I do believe chapters would be devoted to Danny Casolaro, Chuck Morgan and Tommy Burkett. Should a chapter be devoted to Frank Olson a government scientist working of biological weapons who plunged to his death from a hotel room in New York in the early 50s?
After watching the UM segment on Olson I would say both YES and NO. In the 50s our country was gripped by what is now regarded by most as an unrealistic fear that the Soviet Union was going to bomb us back into the stone age. This was known as the "Cold War" in which mistrust and fear was bred into the culture of the otherwise "Happy Days" esque era of the 1950s. For those of you too young to remember ask your parents or grandparents to tell you about ridiculous drills they would have to partake in at school in which they would hide under their desks for fear that their school would be bombed and debree would fall on top of them. People were building bomb shelters in their backyard, if you thought that the hoopla surround Y2K was a bit odd - this beats that by a mile. In the end as everyone knows the United State never engaged the Soviets in formal warfare but in Frank Olson's time it was a very real possibility at least in our leader's minds.
Frank Olson DID posess intimate knowledge of chemical experiments using a variety of drugs including LSD done by our government on POWs, suspected spies etc. Olson was apparently disturbed by these experiments and according to some wanted OUT of these situations. According to the UM segment, certain members of the government feared that Olson would reveal intimate details about these experiments to the general American public something that would be a scandal unheard of in the fifties. In November of 1953, Olson attended a meeting in Deer Creek in which he was offered a drink spiked with LSD to which he had an instantaneous psychological reaction. During this "acid trip" Olson was apparently pressed for knowledge of what he knew about the chemical experiments being done by our government. A week later Olson died after falling to his death from a New York hotel room window while he was undergoing treatment for what the CIA termed as "an impending nervous breakdown". For years Olson's family was unsure if Olson jumped out of the window or fell out of the window to his death.
In 1975 it was revealed that Frank Olson had died shortly after being given LSD in a CIA experiment with this information coming about as a consequence of President Ford's Rockefeller Commission investigation into the CIA's domestic activities. Soon Olson's family began to wonder if the CIA murdered him?
My conclusion is they DID NOT and I base my analysis on the following points
1 - While it is definatley immoral and contemptable that the CIA gave LSD to Olson and several other men without their knowledge when they a) were obviously not aware of the the harmful effects the drugs could have - not being scientists and b) not inform Olson's family of the experiments until decades after his death, the fact that the people who spiked the drinks were acting in an OFFICIAL capacity probably makes them immune for criminal prosecution. It is also important to note that when the government admitted to doing this they paid the Olson family $750,000 to settle their claims against the government.
2 - Some wonder if Olson took his own life? - This is unlikely as Olson was not depressed or acting in the manner that one usually acts when they are about to take their own life despite what UM claims. The fact that Olson's window shade was still in place also shows there was little pre meditation on the part of the man who fell from that window that night. His shredding of ID was more LSD paranoia (see below)
3 - Some wonder if Olson was really going to break security and reveal the CIA's "chemical experiments"? - Again this would be highly unlikely - I fully believe Olson's widow's claim that her husband told her that "He would never break security" and here is the reason I believe this. While it is believeable that today someone in Olson's shoes would break this news to the general public, in 1953 we were living in a very different time. Although since 9-11-01 the United States is much more aware about the possibility of a terrorist attack then ever before, in 1953 the government itself was a pressure cooker.
Olson having intimate knowledge about the inner workings of this situation and being a "family man" would have not placed himself or his family in the danger they would have been in if he revealed his knowledge. Olson would HAVE NOT been the HERO blowing the whistle on a government cover up in 1953 but a TRAITOR against his country. At that time the United States was still a era of "good old boys" and suburbian bliss where "everybody liked Ike" - Olson would have likely been tried for treason against his country and his family subjected to massive shame and scorn. For this reason alone I think the likelyhood that Olson would have exposed his comrades would have been slim to none.
4 - So what happened to Frank Olson? - Although in 1953, the CIA might have not had the best idea as to what LSD could do to the body besides causing confusion over the next twenty years through the observations of rock stars, actors and hippies the world got a too close view on the powerful drug's effects. Although many people had the "acid experience" and went away unharmed it was shown that several people (with one of the most famous cases being lead Beach Boy: Brian Wilson) lives were irreversibly destroyed/altered due to the "acid experience". It can also be shown that in some cases only one hit of the drug in people who have been termed as "high risk cases" or "Very sensitive" can cause irreperable harm.
I believe Frank Olson in 1953 was one of those cases. He had an immediate negative reaction to the drug which was administered cruely to him without his knowledge. This paranoia persisted in the days after taking the drug when he became convinced someone was following him, was confused, suffering from dillusions, acting very paranoid and exibiting the signs of paranoid schizophrenia which at times mirror the effects of someone who has had a horrible "acid burn out". Unfortunatley in 1953 we dealt with people who would now be termed as suffering from schizophrenia by locking them in institutions and labotomizing them. We knew not what then what we know NOW about mental illness.
I believe on the night of his fatal plunge from the New York hotel room, Frank Olson awoke in a panic suffering from another LSD stupor in which he knew not what was real and what was fiction and trying to escape the madness that was plaguing him at the moment ran towards the window and without intending to, tragically plunged to his death.
5 - But was it a CIA hit? - In my opinion it wasn't, if the CIA truly wanted to kill Frank Olson they could have done it a much more professional manner than this. Yes the idea of faking a suicide or an accident is a plausible theory but Frank's death was too sloppy for it to be planned in advance by a government agency as knowledgable as the CIA and it was an accident on Olson's part plain and simple. As for Richard Lashbrook's (who was in the hotel room with Olson that night) mysterious phone call to a collegue reporting Olson's death which some assume lends credence to the theory of a CIA murder...I believe that Lashbrook as did others knew about the "chemical experiments" that were going on including Olson's "acid trip" and that was the information that he was interested in concealing not the matter of Olson's death.
In my opinion while it is obvious the CIA has to accept the responsibility for it's "chemical experiments" on Olson they did not murder him in New York on that evening because although there is always the possiblity that the CIA killed Frank Olson to keep him quiet - through my research of the effects of drugs such as hash, PCP and especially LSD have on the body and the fact that Olson died while suffering the effects of this drug in 1953 when we had little to no information on how potent this drug was, it is my belief that Olson was one of the first of many "acid casualties".
Later.
In 1990 the rock group, Van Halen had a popular song/music video called "Right Now", in the video there is a little blurb that reads "Right now OUR government is doing things we think only other countries do" - I believe the greatest book that will NEVER BE PUBLISHED is the one containing confirmed detailed accounts of all the murder, lies and deception that the US government has played out for the past century.
Now I am NOT a conspiracy theorist but I do believe chapters would be devoted to Danny Casolaro, Chuck Morgan and Tommy Burkett. Should a chapter be devoted to Frank Olson a government scientist working of biological weapons who plunged to his death from a hotel room in New York in the early 50s?
After watching the UM segment on Olson I would say both YES and NO. In the 50s our country was gripped by what is now regarded by most as an unrealistic fear that the Soviet Union was going to bomb us back into the stone age. This was known as the "Cold War" in which mistrust and fear was bred into the culture of the otherwise "Happy Days" esque era of the 1950s. For those of you too young to remember ask your parents or grandparents to tell you about ridiculous drills they would have to partake in at school in which they would hide under their desks for fear that their school would be bombed and debree would fall on top of them. People were building bomb shelters in their backyard, if you thought that the hoopla surround Y2K was a bit odd - this beats that by a mile. In the end as everyone knows the United State never engaged the Soviets in formal warfare but in Frank Olson's time it was a very real possibility at least in our leader's minds.
Frank Olson DID posess intimate knowledge of chemical experiments using a variety of drugs including LSD done by our government on POWs, suspected spies etc. Olson was apparently disturbed by these experiments and according to some wanted OUT of these situations. According to the UM segment, certain members of the government feared that Olson would reveal intimate details about these experiments to the general American public something that would be a scandal unheard of in the fifties. In November of 1953, Olson attended a meeting in Deer Creek in which he was offered a drink spiked with LSD to which he had an instantaneous psychological reaction. During this "acid trip" Olson was apparently pressed for knowledge of what he knew about the chemical experiments being done by our government. A week later Olson died after falling to his death from a New York hotel room window while he was undergoing treatment for what the CIA termed as "an impending nervous breakdown". For years Olson's family was unsure if Olson jumped out of the window or fell out of the window to his death.
In 1975 it was revealed that Frank Olson had died shortly after being given LSD in a CIA experiment with this information coming about as a consequence of President Ford's Rockefeller Commission investigation into the CIA's domestic activities. Soon Olson's family began to wonder if the CIA murdered him?
My conclusion is they DID NOT and I base my analysis on the following points
1 - While it is definatley immoral and contemptable that the CIA gave LSD to Olson and several other men without their knowledge when they a) were obviously not aware of the the harmful effects the drugs could have - not being scientists and b) not inform Olson's family of the experiments until decades after his death, the fact that the people who spiked the drinks were acting in an OFFICIAL capacity probably makes them immune for criminal prosecution. It is also important to note that when the government admitted to doing this they paid the Olson family $750,000 to settle their claims against the government.
2 - Some wonder if Olson took his own life? - This is unlikely as Olson was not depressed or acting in the manner that one usually acts when they are about to take their own life despite what UM claims. The fact that Olson's window shade was still in place also shows there was little pre meditation on the part of the man who fell from that window that night. His shredding of ID was more LSD paranoia (see below)
3 - Some wonder if Olson was really going to break security and reveal the CIA's "chemical experiments"? - Again this would be highly unlikely - I fully believe Olson's widow's claim that her husband told her that "He would never break security" and here is the reason I believe this. While it is believeable that today someone in Olson's shoes would break this news to the general public, in 1953 we were living in a very different time. Although since 9-11-01 the United States is much more aware about the possibility of a terrorist attack then ever before, in 1953 the government itself was a pressure cooker.
Olson having intimate knowledge about the inner workings of this situation and being a "family man" would have not placed himself or his family in the danger they would have been in if he revealed his knowledge. Olson would HAVE NOT been the HERO blowing the whistle on a government cover up in 1953 but a TRAITOR against his country. At that time the United States was still a era of "good old boys" and suburbian bliss where "everybody liked Ike" - Olson would have likely been tried for treason against his country and his family subjected to massive shame and scorn. For this reason alone I think the likelyhood that Olson would have exposed his comrades would have been slim to none.
4 - So what happened to Frank Olson? - Although in 1953, the CIA might have not had the best idea as to what LSD could do to the body besides causing confusion over the next twenty years through the observations of rock stars, actors and hippies the world got a too close view on the powerful drug's effects. Although many people had the "acid experience" and went away unharmed it was shown that several people (with one of the most famous cases being lead Beach Boy: Brian Wilson) lives were irreversibly destroyed/altered due to the "acid experience". It can also be shown that in some cases only one hit of the drug in people who have been termed as "high risk cases" or "Very sensitive" can cause irreperable harm.
I believe Frank Olson in 1953 was one of those cases. He had an immediate negative reaction to the drug which was administered cruely to him without his knowledge. This paranoia persisted in the days after taking the drug when he became convinced someone was following him, was confused, suffering from dillusions, acting very paranoid and exibiting the signs of paranoid schizophrenia which at times mirror the effects of someone who has had a horrible "acid burn out". Unfortunatley in 1953 we dealt with people who would now be termed as suffering from schizophrenia by locking them in institutions and labotomizing them. We knew not what then what we know NOW about mental illness.
I believe on the night of his fatal plunge from the New York hotel room, Frank Olson awoke in a panic suffering from another LSD stupor in which he knew not what was real and what was fiction and trying to escape the madness that was plaguing him at the moment ran towards the window and without intending to, tragically plunged to his death.
5 - But was it a CIA hit? - In my opinion it wasn't, if the CIA truly wanted to kill Frank Olson they could have done it a much more professional manner than this. Yes the idea of faking a suicide or an accident is a plausible theory but Frank's death was too sloppy for it to be planned in advance by a government agency as knowledgable as the CIA and it was an accident on Olson's part plain and simple. As for Richard Lashbrook's (who was in the hotel room with Olson that night) mysterious phone call to a collegue reporting Olson's death which some assume lends credence to the theory of a CIA murder...I believe that Lashbrook as did others knew about the "chemical experiments" that were going on including Olson's "acid trip" and that was the information that he was interested in concealing not the matter of Olson's death.
In my opinion while it is obvious the CIA has to accept the responsibility for it's "chemical experiments" on Olson they did not murder him in New York on that evening because although there is always the possiblity that the CIA killed Frank Olson to keep him quiet - through my research of the effects of drugs such as hash, PCP and especially LSD have on the body and the fact that Olson died while suffering the effects of this drug in 1953 when we had little to no information on how potent this drug was, it is my belief that Olson was one of the first of many "acid casualties".
Later.