Sunday, April 15, 2012

The October Country: Project Sleeping Village

In 1972, the Central Intelligence Agency, working under the auspices of Project MKULTRA, erected a facility fifteen miles outside of Gilead, Maine. This facility consisted of six Quonset hut-style dormitories and five auxiliary buildings. Surrounded by razor wire and guard towers, the purpose of the facility was ostensibly to house an overflow of non-violent criminals incarcerated in the Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport. In truth, the site was the home of an illegal C.I.A. human research program designed to stimulate and test psychic phenomenon. This program was dubbed Project Sleeping Village.

When the facility, known as “Town Hall” in declassified records, began operations, one hundred human guinea pigs were transported to the site and installed in the prefab dormitories. These one hundred test subjects came from various sources: federal prisons, college campuses, military bases, and as a result of classified intelligence operations around the globe.

Once inside Town Hall, the subjects were treated with a synthetic chemical known as Chimera, a drug that purportedly caused laboratory animals to exhibit spontaneous psychic talent. Testing of Chimera on the human subjects in Town Hall continued for six months, during which time 17% of the subjects experienced psychotic episodes, 5% lapsed into catatonia, and 1% displayed what was referred to as “anomalous sensory phenomenon.” The cost of these results: $2 million USD or approximately one-fifth of MKULTRA’s operating budget at the time.

Lack of statistically significant results combined with high operating costs doomed Project Sleeping Village and Town Hall was closed down the following year. The site was abandoned for almost a decade before the land and remaining buildings were allotted to the state of Maine and eventually became a summer camp for special needs children. Most of the classified records pertaining to Project Sleeping Village were destroyed in 1973 when CIA Director Richard Helms ordered a purge of all materials pertaining to MKULTRA. A few documents survived destruction, and an even smaller percentage has come into the possession of “interested parties” outside the U.S. Federal Government.

Considered a failure at the time, Project Sleeping Village and Chimera have displayed an unexpected longevity. Although the drug had little effect on developing psychic talents in the initial test subjects, the offspring of the original one hundred have demonstrated an abnormally high predilection for psychic ability. Three in five children with a parent who participated in Project Sleeping Village displayed some sign of extra-sensory talent before the age of ten, with the strength of this ability increasing significantly during puberty. Although no official tally exists, children of “Sleepers” reportedly displayed talents ranging from psychometry, telepathy, cryokinesis, telekinesis, precognition, and biokinesis.

These children are now in their mid to late 30s and can be found scattered around the country and overseas. Because of the broad spectrum of the original test subjects and the destruction of the records relating to Project Sleeping Village, it is virtually impossible to determine who bears the legacy of the that research. One common trait is prevalent, however: anti-social and even sociopathic tendencies brought about by constant abuse and ostracism during adolescence. Anyone dealing with a suspected Village Legacy should exercise extreme caution.

As a related note, recent intelligence reports have determined that a drug based on the original Chimera agent is being developed in nations unfriendly to the West. In twenty years, a new generation of psychically gifted adults could pose a threat to national security; operations to curtail the development of this chemical are currently underway. Those aware of the October Country worry that the drug could cross the barrier, with the results of a psychic stimulator in the Autumnal Lands causing widespread havoc in that magic-rich environment.

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