Frank Olson died after a nervous breakdown
| Frank Olson died after a nervous breakdown | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "Army scientist Frank Olson's fatal fall from a New York hotel window in 1953 followed a nervous breakdown with no outside cause." | |
| Domain | Government, Law & Courts |
| Tactic | Fabrication |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1953 |
| Origin | What the US government told Olson's family in 1953 |
| Last reviewed | 2026-11-01 |
| Further reading: books on Government, Law & Courts | |
Frank Olson, a biological warfare scientist at Fort Detrick, Maryland, fell to his death from the 13th floor of the Statler Hotel in New York on November 28, 1953. His family was told he had suffered a nervous breakdown and jumped.
In 1975, the Rockefeller Commission revealed that nine days before his death, CIA officials had secretly given him LSD.
What the evidence shows
- Secret dosing. At a retreat in Maryland on November 19, 1953, CIA officials put LSD into the drinks of Olson and colleagues without their knowledge. Olson became severely disturbed in the days that followed.
- Apology. In July 1975, President Gerald Ford met Olson's family and apologized. Congress approved a $750,000 settlement in 1976.
- Unresolved questions. Olson's family has argued he was murdered. A 1994 exhumation and a Manhattan district attorney's review found evidence they considered consistent with a blow to the head, but no charges were brought, and how he died remains disputed.
Why it matters
For 22 years a family was told a false account of a death caused in part by a secret government experiment.
Sources
- Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States (Rockefeller Commission), Report to the President, June 1975.
- Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, records of the Olson family meeting, July 1975.
- H. P. Albarelli Jr., A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA's Secret Cold War Experiments, Trine Day, 2009.