Catcher In The Rye as a Manchurian Trigger

In the 1950s and 1960s, the CIA conducted a series of experiments in extreme psychological techniques, under the banner "MK Ultra". These experiments explored mind control through drugs, hypnosis and other conditioning techniques, tested on human subjects.

The project was officially shut down in 1973, when the then director of the CIA Richard Helms destroyed almost all records pertaining to the controversial and often illegal activities carried out in its name.

In its 20 year history, MK Ultra had seen the surreptitious administration of drugs and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture used on US and Canadian citizens. It is widely believed that the project lives on to this day through Psi-Ops schemes with deceptively banal codenames such as 'Bluebird', 'Artichoke' and 'Paperclip'.

One of the stated aims of 'MK Ultra' was the creation of unwitting assassins - 'Manchurian Candidates' - who would be conditioned to kill targets without knowing why, using trigger words, sights or situations.

Many believe that J. D. Salinger's seminal novel 'The Catcher in the Rye' was used as such a trigger in order to arrange the assassination of John Lennon by Mark David Chapman, the attempted shooting of Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. and a host of other, lower profile events - including a high-school shooting and the murder of minor film star Rebecca Schaefer.

'The Catcher in the Rye' was found in the possession of both Hinkley and Chapman after their respective rampages. In fact, when the New York City police apprehended Chapman in the aftermath of Lennon's assassination, he was sitting glassy-eyed and zombified, calmly reading Salinger's book. It was later revealed that Chapman had attempted to legally change his name to Holden Caulfield in the days before the event.

Was the book used to trigger post-hypnotic control, as the Queen of Hearts did in Richard Condon's novel 'The Manchurian Candidate'? Its popularity would make it easily available at short notice in almost any location. Its tale of a disaffected teenage boy may tap into the male psyche, creating a feeling of familiarity that leaves subjects open to manipulation.

Although there is little evidence to prove this theory, there are strong suggestions that mind-controlled killers could be a reality. Robert Kennedy's assassin Sirhan Sirhan has long maintained his innocence, claiming to be an involuntary participant in the crime as he had been subjected to "sophisticated hypno-programing and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed".

Men in Black... in Scarborough?

This incredible account comes courtesy of Mark Ball at WeirdWorm.

Another MIB encounter - perhaps the strangest of all – took place in the seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire in 1968. Adele (a pseudonym), who was sixteen at the time, answered the door to what appeared to be a very strange insurance salesman. He was tall, wore a black suit and tie, and had a ‘florid’ complexion. After staring at the sixteen year old and smiling for an unnerving length of time he ‘jerked’ into action and asked Adele “do you have insurance? Is it now?” Adele later remarked that his voice seemed to be computerised.

She suggested that the insurance salesman come back later when her parents were home. At that moment, the man suddenly began to sweat profusely. He removed his hat to reveal a bald and extremely pale head. Adele could now see that he was wearing makeup to darken his face. “Can I see a glass of water?” the MIB asked. Inviting the man in because this was before “Stranger Danger”, Adele fetched him a glass of water and he did just that – he looked at the glass of water and set it aside.

Next, he turned his attention to a clock on the mantelpiece. Adele told the MIB that the clock was her father’s retirement present, at which he seemed baffled. “Is it your father’s time?” he asked, “Is it here and now?” Then the MIB seemed to freak out like a malfunctioning robot. He began repeating “your father - his time” over and over and became stiff and immobile. Turning to the door he had to use his hands to move one of his legs. He told Adele to “watch the lights” before leaving in a hurry, disappearing down the street impossibly quickly.

What did he mean when he said ‘watch the lights?’ – Adele would soon find out. Shortly after the MIB left, Adele’s living room filled with small bright lights, which danced around before exiting through the window. Was this a robotic MIB agent, built by aliens and sent to add a little magic to the sleepy Yorkshire town? Or was it just a sweaty creeper with alopecia and a laser pen?