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You're listening to episode 71 of Jimmy Aiken's Mysterious World?

Where we look at mysteries from the twin perspectives of faith and reason.

In this episode, we're talking about the mysterious death of CIA scientist, Frank Olson.

I'm Dom Bettenelli, and joining me today is Jimmy Aiken. Hi Jimmy.

Howdy, Dom.

Shortly after midnight on November 28, 1953, 65 years ago this week,

and two days after the Thanksgiving holiday, a man in New York City plummeted to his death

out of his hotel room window. That man was a scientist named Dr. Frank Olson.

His family was told it was an accident, and for decades they accepted this story,

but in the 1970s the story began to deepen. What emerged involved the CIA,

BioWare Fair, LSD, and maybe murder. And that's what we'll be talking about on this episode of

Jimmy Aiken's mysterious world. So Jimmy, what happened on November 28, 1953?

Well, that's the big question, isn't it? We'll start with what no one disputes.

This happened in 1953, which was during the McCarthy era when Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin

was whipping people up into a frenzy of fear about claimed Soviet infiltration of the US government.

That doesn't play a direct role in the story, but it's important to understand the climate of fear.

That was around at the time because the climate of fear does play a role in the story.

Earlier in that evening, Dr. Frank Olson and a colleague named Dr. Robert Lashbrook had gone to

their room in the hotel statler. Today it's called the hotel Pennsylvania. On 7th Avenue in Manhattan

...