ARCHIVE HOUR: Follow-Up
Arigo' the Psychic Surgeon + MKUltra Connection?
Last Friday’s ARCHIVE HOUR episode on our YouTube Channel dug deep into the files we have on Arigo’ - the alleged Brazilian psychic healer. I’m going to start doing Archive Hour Follow-Ups the week after these episodes drop, which will contain more info as well as the images, documents, videos, etc that we include in the episode.
As discussed in the episode, when Andrija Puharich traveled to Brazil in the early 1960s to investigate Arigo’ - he went with a group of scientists and doctors called ESSENTIA RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, of which he was the President.
Essentia was an interesting and mysterious entity. It started in the early 1960s and apparently Puharich kept it going well into the 1980s. There is little about it online, and records are near impossible to come across. I think the archives we have on it are potentially the only ones that exist. It’s interesting to note that address on this business card was one of a few addresses Essentia used in the NYC area. Each address seems to be a non-descript building in the city. The other address often used for it was Puharich’s Ossining, NY home.
In a nutshell, it seems to have a been a group of scientists, doctors, and other renowned researchers interested in the paranormal who traveled around the world to investigate certain strange cases. For instance, George Reed, a pioneering heart surgeon (as seen in this NY Times Article) was a part of Essentia. The other members are listed in the beginning of this video which was made during their 1968 trip to investigate Arigo’. Most of them were connected to NYU Medical Center, Cornell, or Johns Hopkins University at the time.
It seems as though the mission behind this trip was to bring back real evidence that proved Arigo’s psychic surgery feats were genuine. However, questions arise once you take a look at some of the Government agencies that were backing Essentia’s Research at the time…
Most interesting is the involvement of the Human Ecology Fund , which, according to Wikipedia, “This organization served as a front for CIA-funded research under Project MK-ULTRA, funneling grant money to behavioral scientists to finance research into interrogation, coercion, and torture methods.The Human Ecology Fund closed in 1965, after the CIA transferred funds and research projects to other outlets.”
Remember above where I mentioned that all of the members of Essentia listed in the Arigo’ trip video were connected, or worked at, NYU Medical Center, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins? We’ll, also according to Wikipedia, “Neurologist Harold Wolff of Cornell University Medical College was president of the organization, with Lawrence Hinkle, a Cardiologist, serving as its vice president. Other board members included Adolf Berle, JD of Columbia University, Dr. Joseph Hinsey of NY Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Dr. Carl Rogers of University of Wisconsin, and Dr. John Whitehorn of Johns Hopkins.”
And perhaps most interesting of all, according to Wikipedia again, “It is believed that the academic researchers involved in research funded by the Human Ecology Fund were generally unaware or deceived about the funding source.”
This goes right back to the main point I’ve made over and over again about Puharich and others like him. I do not believe he, or other researchers at the time, we’re evil genius types who sought out or got satisfaction from doing CIA, or specifically MKUltra mind control type research. He had niche, esoteric interests that were fascinating to the CIA at that time, and likely took funding from organizations like The Human Ecology Fund without knowing who was behind it. To him, it was likely just a funding source to pursue his strange research interests. They didn’t ask questions.
With so much coming out lately on MKUltra - it seems timely and important to reexamine this connection. If the Arigo’ research was somehow connected to the MKUltra program, what would be the purpose / goals?
Greg