Perhaps since the creation of governments, there have been conspiracies about governments plotting against its people. In fact, it’s an all too common problem that governments face in their pursuit to solve social and political issues. While some conspiracies warrant at least some validity, the majority are just hurdles that people throw at government officials to stop or change whatever issue they are dealing with. Needless to say, those conspiracy theories should be overlooked. In addition to this, we have the problem of people creating conspiracy theories for the fun of it. In many ways, people find a thrill out of potentially knowing something that the masses does not know. That being said, there are some occasions were governments were indeed up to something in secrecy. Although few and far between, these conspiracies had the power and, perhaps did, change the course of history. Here are some CIA conspiracy theories that turned out to be true.
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#3: The CIA Spied On The American Masses
Today, it’s quite obvious that we are being listened to or looked out. With the amount of technology we use today, with cameras and recording capabilities, its almost as if we expect to have that happen. Well, in the early 1960s, people had no idea that this was going on. Whatever the reason was for the CIA to listen in, it was a breach of privacy that had no consent. At least they tell us they’re doing in today’s world.
#2: Project MK-Ultra
When we think of Conspiracy in the CIA, MK-Ultra is a theory that always comes up. It’s perhaps the most popular of all conspiracies. However, it turns out that it’s not a conspiracy at all. During the early 1950s and into the 1960s, the CIA developed and implemented a plan to experiment on modification of behavior. Known to people as simply a vaccination program, volunteers had no idea what they were signing up for. Eventually, the CIA ditched asking for consent and started testing people without their knowledge. This is what led to the vast usage if drugs and other psychedelics in the Woodstock era of the 1960s. This is the reason it is widely believed the CIA single-handedly releases these drugs during that time.
#1: Operation Northwood
Operation Northwood is perhaps the most embarrassing conspiracy theory for the United States Government and the CIA. To give some context, Operation Northwood was developed and nearly implemented during the hostile times of the cold war. During that time, all parties involved were looking for any excuse to go to war. So, as a plot to launch a war against communist Cuba, the CIA developed a plan to attack their own people and blame in on Cuba. In what was supposed to be some sort of airplane attack of innocent people, the CIA believed blaming Cuba would be believable enough to start a potential world war 3 type war. Although this conspiracy theory is true, thank goodness it was not acted upon.
Conspiracies As A Whole
To begin with, most conspiracy theories are just that, theories created by people for fun or to stop any actions taken by the government. However, when we talk about true theories such as Operation Northwood, the best conclusion we can assume is that the CIA and American Government learn from these mistakes. It’s mistakes like Operation Northwood that leads to distrust of the government by the American people in the first place.