MKUltra Experiments on Children: The True Story Behind Stranger Things
How the CIA's real mind control program connects to the fictional Hawkins Lab
The Duffer Brothers didn't invent the idea of government experiments on children. They researched it.
"We considered bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War, right when rumored projects like MKUltra were ramping down."
- MATT DUFFER, ROLLING STONE, 2016
What Was Project MKUltra?
Project MKUltra was a covert CIA operation from 1953 to 1973. Its goal: develop mind control techniques through drugs, psychological torture, sensory deprivation, and other methods. Subjects included prisoners, psychiatric patients-and children.
📋 MKULTRA FACTS
Duration: 1953 - 1973
Subprojects: 149+ documented
Institutions: 80+ universities, hospitals, prisons
Documents Destroyed: Most records ordered destroyed in 1973
The Emory University Connection
Dr. Carl Pfeiffer was Chair of Pharmacology at Emory University. Declassified documents reveal he conducted at least four MKUltra subprojects, including experiments on minors at Bordentown Reformatory.
🔬 DR. CARL PFEIFFER'S MKULTRA SUBPROJECTS
• Subproject 9: Drug testing program
• Subproject 26: Continued drug research
• Subproject 28: Experiments at Bordentown Reformatory (MINORS)
• Subproject 47: Pharmacological research
Dr. Pfeiffer's experiments ended in 1964. The Georgia Mental Health Institute opened in 1965.
Fiction vs. Reality
| STRANGER THINGS | REAL HISTORY |
|---|---|
| Dr. Brenner conducts experiments | Dr. Pfeiffer conducted MKUltra experiments |
| Experiments on children | Experiments on minors at Bordentown |
| Sensory deprivation tanks | Documented in MKUltra |
| LSD given to Terry Ives | LSD given to thousands of subjects |
| Children held against will | 46 children institutionalized (J.L. v. Parham) |
| Cover-up of evidence | CIA destroyed documents in 1973 |
Every source cited.
Every document verified.