Project Monarch
A Paranoid's History of the United States #7
In 1995, a woman named Cathy O'Brien published a book containing some of the most shocking allegations ever made against the American government. She claimed to be a survivor of Project Monarch, a classified CIA mind control program where she was programmed through systematic trauma to serve as a sex slave to presidents, politicians, and global elites. Her accusations included being hunted for sport by Dick Cheney and having occult symbols carved into her body by Hillary Clinton.
This episode explores how Project Monarch emerged at the intersection of documented history and outlandish theory. While the CIA's MK-ULTRA mind control experiments were real and declassified in the 1970s, Project Monarch has never been substantiated by credible evidence. Yet this urban legend has evolved into one of the most persistent conspiracy theories of our time, now encompassing claims about celebrity programming, the Illuminati's control of the entertainment industry, and the use of butterfly imagery as secret signals.
Interviews by Tyler Rabbit.
GUESTS
David McGowan (1960-2015) was an independent researcher and author known for exploring the darker corners of American political conspiracies. His work included investigations into government mind control programs, the 1960s counterculture, and political assassinations. McGowan's book Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon examined alleged connections between the CIA and the Laurel Canyon music scene. Though skeptical of supernatural elements in conspiracy theories, McGowan maintained that government agencies had invested significant resources in developing mind control techniques.
Tracy Twyman (1978-2019) was an author, researcher, and occult historian whose work explored alternative history, secret societies, and conspiracy theories. Her book Mind-Controlled Sex Slaves and the CIA investigated claims of government mind control experimentation.
FURTHER INFORMATION
MK-Ultra: The shocking Cold War experiments hidden by the CIA:
SOCIAL MEDIA
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TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER “This podcast contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. Please check the show notes for more information.”
INTRODUCTION
I’m Joseph L. Flatley. And from Amphibian Media, this is A PARANOID’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Each week, I explore America’s obsession with conspiracy theories, bringing untold stories to light and challenging what we think we know about our nation’s history.
ARCHIVAL — “TRANCE-FORMATION OF AMERICA
CATHY O’BRIEN: “In the summer of 1975, my family drove all the way from Michigan to the Teton Mountains of Wyoming. I was ordered to ride in the back storage area of the family Chevy Suburban since I was forbidden to associate or communicate with my brothers and sister. So I dissociated into books, or into the metaphorical, hypnotic suggestions from my father and tranced deeper as I watched the prairies seemingly endless sea of “amber waves of grain” streak past my window. [...]
“Dick Cheney was the reason my family had traveled to Wyoming where I endured yet another form of brutality—his version of ‘A Most Dangerous Game,’ or human hunting. [...]
“Dick Cheney had an apparent addiction to the thrill of the sport. He appeared obsessed with playing ‘A Most Dangerous Game’ as a means of traumatizing mind-control victims, as well as to satisfy his own perverse sexual kinks.”
In 1995, a woman named Cathy O’Brien published TRANCE FORMATION OF AMERICA. Co-authored with her husband Mark Phillips, the book detailed a classified CIA mind control program called Project Monarch. She described being subjected to something called trauma-based mind control from childhood, forced to participate in occult rituals, and sexually abused by multiple U.S. presidents and high-ranking officials. These accusations included claims that Hillary Clinton carved occult symbols into her body and that Dick Cheney hunted her for sport in the wilderness.
We’re going to try to keep things PG-13 here, but this is going to be a weird one. You might not want to play this episode in the car on the way to soccer practice.
O’Brien’s allegations would help spawn one of the most persistent conspiracy theories of the modern era. Her story merged existing fears about government mind control programs with elements of ritual abuse, presidential scandal, and occult practices.
The narrative took root during a particular moment in American history — the aftermath of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and the gradual public revelation of actual CIA mind control experiments under MK-ULTRA.
As you might have guessed, there is no evidence proving the existence of Project Monarch.
This urban legend grew from claims about government mind control programs, gaining significant traction in the 1990s and 2000s. Building on documented historical events, it expanded to encompass an elaborate web of claims about celebrity control, the Illuminati, and satanic influence in entertainment.
Today’s episode of PARANOID’S HISTORY features interviews with two notable conspiracy researchers: DavidMcGowan and Tracy Twyman. Both McGowan, who passed away in 2015 after battling lung cancer, and Twyman, who died by suicide in 2019, spent years investigating the intersection of documented government misconduct and more extreme conspiracy claims. Their work demonstrates how real programs like MK-ULTRA created fertile ground for broader conspiracy narratives, with the monarch butterfly emerging as a supposed symbol of mind control victims.
The interviews were conducted by Tyler Rabbit.
PART 1
ARCHIVAL: ”MK-Ultra: The shocking Cold War experiments”
“In the early days of the Cold War, the CIA ordered the creation of a secret programme intended to find ways of mind control. They funded an army of psychiatric institutions across the United States and Canada to perform experiments on unsuspecting patients using psychedelic drugs, sensory deprivation, electroshock treatment and more. The programme was known by its code name: MK-Ultra.”
To understand how Project Monarch took root in conspiracy culture, we need to examine the documented history of MK-ULTRA. In 1953, CIA Director Allen Dulles approved a secret program to fund the study of mind control techniques, motivated by fears that the Soviets and Chinese had already mastered such methods. The program would continue for two decades, conducting hundreds of experiments that often violated basic human rights and medical ethics.
MK-ULTRA involved the experimentation of mind control techniques on U.S. citizens, often without their knowledge or consent. These experiments sometimes led to lasting trauma and at least one documented death. Many experiments were performed without the knowledge or consent of the subjects, who ranged from CIA employees to prostitutes and ordinary citizens. Some were coerced into “volunteering.” The program explored the use of electroshock, sensory deprivation, hypnotism, radiation, and drugs such as LSD to affect behavioral changes in the test subjects. Some subjects were given LSD without their knowledge. In one instance, members of the public were tested in apartments in New York and San Francisco, and their responses were filmed. A scientist named Frank Olson was secretly given a drink laced with LSD by CIA agents. He suffered psychotic episodes and plummeted from his room.
The program was exposed in the 1970s. While many records were destroyed on orders from CIA director Richard Helms in 1973, enough documentation survived to prove the program’s existence and its unethical nature. The revelations shocked the American public and demonstrated that seemingly outlandish conspiracy theories about government mind control experiments were based in reality.
ORIGINS OF MONARCH
It’s important to understand the distinction between MK-ULTRA and Project Monarch. MK-ULTRA was a real, documented CIA program that ran from 1953 to 1973. The program’s existence is confirmed by declassified government documents. Project Monarch, on the other hand, has never been substantiated by credible evidence. It emerged decades later as an urban legend built upon the foundation of MK-ULTRA's confirmed abuses. Many conspiracy theorists use these terms interchangeably, blurring the line between documented history and unproven claims. When someone today references “MK-ULTRA mind control,” they're often invoking an urban legend that extend far beyond the historical reality of MK-ULTRA.
Before her death in 2019, Tracy Twyman was a non-fiction author whose work covered alternative history, conspiracy theories, and the occult. Her book on Project Monarch is titled MIND-CONTROLLED SEX SLAVES AND THE CIA.
TRACY TWYMAN: “Project Monarch is a rumored mind control project of the CIA’s. Allegedly, it’s part of a known mind control project from the 1960s - 70s, mainly called MK-Ultra, which has been largely declassified. [...] And they victimized mental patients, put them under drugs and did things to them to see what would happen. Basically, they did this to people in the military, all sorts of people [...] And I’m not even sure if that much useful information came out of it.”
The thing about conspiracy theories is, they come into existence to fill a void. In this case, the void of knowledge about U.S. government mind control programs was filled by a mix of declassified documents, speculation, and sensationalized narratives — blurring the line between legitimate concerns about programs like MK-Ultra and more fantastical claims about mass manipulation and psychic warfare.
TRACY TWYMAN: “The thing is about Project Monarch [...]. As far as I can tell, the whole story came out of the claims of this man named Mark Phillips, who used to do some contract work, basically with some companies that used to do business with the CIA and the military. That, as far as I can tell, is his only real connection to the CIA. He ended up marrying a woman named Cathy O’Brien, and they came out with a book together about how she supposedly was a victim of this thing called Project Monarch [...] and she was turned into a sex slave - prostitute, and supposedly had sex with several different presidents and other prominent people. And this all came out when he was able to deprogram her and put her under hypnosis. And all these memories came flooding out. They still go around doing workshops and seminars and things, telling people about how this project is supposedly still going on, telling people how to deprogram themselves or their loved ones if they think that they were victims.”
“I found Cathy O’Brien and Mark Phillips to be kind of shady people.”
The core Monarch narrative emerged through Mark Philips and Cathy O’Brien’s book TRANCE FORMATION OF AMERICA: THE TRUE LIFE STORY OF A CIA MIND CONTROL SLAVE. O’Brien claimed she was part of a “presidential model” program, forced to serve as a sex slave and courier for high-ranking government officials. She alleged that her programming incorporated elements from THE WIZARD OF OZ, and that multiple personalities were created through systematic trauma and abuse starting in her childhood.
O’Brien alleged sexual abuse by multiple U.S. presidents, including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, She described elaborate scenarios involving Dick Cheney hunting her for sport in Wyoming, and Hillary Clinton allegedly carving occult symbols into her body.
The story gained traction through several amplifying factors. First, it emerged during a particular cultural moment — the aftermath of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, when claims of ritual abuse and mind control were widely circulated in mainstream media. Second, it coincided with growing public awareness of MK-ULTRA through declassified documents and congressional investigations. Third, it tapped into increasing distrust of government institutions and fears about deep state operations.
O’Brien’s claims about the program’s methodology were elaborate and specific. She claimed NASA was involved in developing the technology, and that Disney films were used as programming tools.
ARCHIVAL — “MONARCH MIND CONTROL”
“Imagine creating a soldier that could stay up for days on end, possess superhuman strength, stamina and fighting abilities, or a spy whose front alter was just a mild-mannered archaeologist. If ever captured and pressed for information. These super soldiers spies could never access any sensitive information within their system and would likely switch into alters who would not only enjoy the torture but taunt their abuser.”
“Monarch slaves are frequently used in snuff films and other sick porn distributed through the black market or dark web. Known as beta alters, these personalities are void of any inhibitions. Hypersexualized personalities, oftentimes in the form of a cat are used for porn prostitution and even as party favors. This is what Stanley Kubrick portrayed in his controversial film EYES WIDE SHUT, which featured an elite occult sex party that eerily mirrored that of an actual private event held by the Rothschilds in the 70s.”
According to Cathy O’Brien, the programming process involved severe trauma from childhood, including sexual abuse, torture, and exposure to satanic rituals. This trauma allegedly caused the victim’s psyche to fracture into different personalities as a survival mechanism. These alternate personalities could then be separately programmed and controlled through specific triggers, with the core personality remaining unaware of their existence.
Phillips claimed to have “rescued” O’Brien in 1988 and helped her recover these memories through hypnosis. The pair began giving workshops and seminars about mind control and deprogramming, teaching others how to recognize signs of Monarch programming and helping alleged victims recover their memories. They positioned themselves as experts in exposing government mind control programs, though neither had verifiable credentials in psychology or trauma therapy.
The narrative quickly spread beyond O’Brien’s personal story. Other alleged survivors began coming forward with similar claims, often after attending O’Brien and Phillips’ workshops or reading their book. The theory expanded to encompass the entertainment industry, with claims that many celebrities are actually mind-controlled slaves being used by the Bavarian Illuminati.
THE ILLUMINATI
The Illuminati was a secret society founded in Bavaria in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a professor of religious law who championed Enlightenment ideals of rationalism and liberalism. Working toward the goal of freeing humanity from religious and political constraints, the group adopted a strategy of infiltrating influential Masonic lodges. Though the government officially suppressed the Illuminati after a few years, persistent conspiracy theories suggest the organization survived underground — claims that have taken on a life of their own in popular culture despite lacking historical evidence.
According to many conspiracy theorists, any unusual behavior by pop stars or actresses could be interpreted as evidence of Monarch programming breaking down. And the Illuminati are the ones doing the programming
IS IT SATAN? OR KATY PERRY?
The incorporation of Satanic elements and ritual abuse mirrors discredited claims from the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. These elements seem designed to add sensational detail rather than describe plausible intelligence operations. Twyman says that the Satanic aspects appear to be “dressing,” added to make the stories more shocking and memorable rather than reflecting any real operational purpose.
When specific claims are examined closely, they often contain details that strain credibility. O’Brien’s account of being hunted by Dick Cheney in Wyoming, or having Hillary Clinton carve occult symbols into her body, read more like sensationalized fiction than plausible testimony. The lack of physical evidence for such extreme claims of torture and abuse is notable, especially given O’Brien’s public profile and willingness to discuss other aspects of her alleged abuse.
ARCHIVAL — KATY PERRY
“I want to talk about Katy Perry and explain to you guys a little bit as to what it really means when people say Katy Perry is an Illuminati puppet. Okay, we’re not actually talking about Katy Perry being in the Illuminati. That’s not what we’re talking about. We are saying that Katy Perry is controlled by the Illuminati to push certain agendas. She has sold her soul to the devil in exchange for fame and Fortune. Literally.”
Over the years, the Monarch conspiracy theory has expanded far beyond its original scope to explain virtually any controversial event or unusual behavior. Celebrity mental health struggles are reinterpreted as programming breakdowns. Butterfly imagery in fashion or advertising is seen as proof of mind control. This pattern of finding “evidence” everywhere while producing no concrete proof is characteristic of unfalsifiable conspiracy theories.
MUSIC CUE — ”Butterfly” by Crazy Town
TRACY TWYMAN: “Well, this whole thing has become very popular now, because people believe that the music industry is run by the Illuminati, and that rappers and pop stars have all made a Faustian pact with the Illuminati, and they have sold their souls and become mind controlled slaves themselves. And that not only has all this happened, but they are actually putting messages in the music, confessing this, and messages in the videos. And so one of the things that they always mention whenever they find it on an album cover, in a video or something, is a butterfly, any kind of butterfly, of course, is a monarch butterfly, and that is a reference to Project Monarch.”
PART 2
DAVE McGOWAN
DAVID McGOWAN: “I am Dave McGowan. I have been doing research into various political conspiracies. And I have done a lot of work on my website, also over the years, series on just a whole wide range of topics, 9/11, Peak Oil, the Boston Marathon, the Apollo moon landings, Mind Control, pedophilia, just everything imaginable were all rolled into one big ball, pretty much.”
McGowan is probably best known for his book WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE CANYON, which tells the story of the 1960s music scene through its alleged ties to the CIA and mind control.
DAVID McGOWAN: “You know, mind control, a lot of people have a very hard time believing that such a thing is even possible, although it’s known that the CIA did invest just untold money and time and brain power into researching precisely that. The conventional wisdom is that they did not succeed, and in most people’s minds, it’s a very kind of out there concept to think that somebody could actually control the mind, you know, basically create a sort of a, what’s the word I’m looking for, sort of, yeah, Manchurian Candidate.”
TYLER RABBIT: “So, I’m curious — I get the idea of making the Manchurian Candidate you’re talking about, the talking about the trauma used to, like, induce that is this [...] How does this whole satanic thing play into that? Is that just dressing for the trauma, or is that part of the actual motivation?”
DAVID McGOWAN: “I think a lot of it is dressing, you know? I mean, personally, I’m, I consider myself an atheist. I don’t believe that there is a God or a devil. You know, I don’t believe that people actually obtain some kind of special powers from performing rituals. I think some of them probably believe it, although I don’t know that the people at the top of the heap really do. I think it’s a belief system that’s used to exploit the beliefs of others, basically, and [...] it’s kind of the trappings of the, you know, the trauma is frequently sort of wrapped In these sort of satanic rituals with, you know, animal and, by some reports, human sacrifice and necrophilia and just, you know, all sorts of, just, just all sorts of, just just just horrific behaviors, you know, actions that that fit, that provide the necessary trauma, you know?”
TRACY TWYMAN AND TED GUNDERSON
As regular listeners of this show know, Ted Gunderson cut an imposing figure in conspiracy research circles. A former FBI Special Agent who had headed the Los Angeles bureau, Gunderson’s law enforcement credentials lent weight to his increasingly sensational claims. After retiring from the FBI, he opened a private investigation firm and became deeply involved in cases involving alleged Satanic ritual abuse, mind control, and child trafficking. He was a guest on GERALDO where he spoke with authority about vast criminal conspiracies. By the time Twyman interviewed him, Gunderson claimed to possess over 200,000 pages of documentation about government mind control programs and said he received multiple calls each week from MK-ULTRA victims.
TRACY TWYMAN: “He was telling me about a case, a murder case that he said was perpetrated by Satanists. And one of his pieces of evidence for that was a satanic crime... he said that the killers left the water running. And I said, you know, what does that have to do with anything? He said, the water is one of the four elements, and Satanists use references to the four elements in their rituals. And so that was a telltale sign of Satanism.”
While Tracy Twyman she found Gunderson “affable” and sincere in his beliefs, she was struck by his tendency to see Satanic conspiracy in mundane details. This kind of pattern-recognition characterizes much of the Project Monarch research community.
Particularly significant was Twyman’s observation about how real crimes can become obscured by sensational conspiracy claims. While investigating human trafficking networks, she found that actual criminal enterprises often use trauma and psychological manipulation to control victims. However, these real tactics get overshadowed by more extreme claims about government mind control and Satanic programming.
TRACY TWYMAN: “And here’s the other thing, is that in the actual underworld of pedophilia and child trafficking, human trafficking for prostitution, they do use Mind Control. Of course, they and they do this, this thing that that the conspiracy theorists are describing, of traumatizing someone till they get basically Stockholm syndrome, and you do program them. This is known. I think this has probably been known for centuries, that this is what you do to people, to make them sex slaves. And so it’s not, it’s not hard to see how someone could construct a scenario that involves all of these elements, Satanism, mind control and and sex slaves, basically, you know, I can see how it could all go together in someone’s mind. The weird element really, is the Satanism. It that’s the part where you got to wonder how much of that is really going on, but at the same time, you know, pedophiles are creeps, you know. So maybe they, maybe some of them are satanists. I don’t know.”
The tension between documented abuses and extraordinary claims remains at the heart of the Project Monarch narrative. Even researchers like McGowan and Twyman, who spent years investigating these topics and believed in the reality of government mind control programs, drew lines between what they saw as plausible operations and more extreme allegations. Yet the theory itself has evolved far beyond its origins. What began as claims about CIA mind control experiments has transformed into an all-encompassing explanation for celebrity behavior, political scandals, and institutional corruption. Like many conspiracy theories, it grew from a seed of documented government abuse into something far more elaborate.
CONCLUSION
ARCHIVAL — Roseanne on RT
ROSEANNE BARR: “What MK-Ultra mind control does is train people never to blame the guilty, instead to point the finger downward at the helpless and never upward at the guilty.”
This is comedian, actor, and one-time presidential candidate Roseanne Barr in 2013.
Roseanne has spoken out about MK-ULTRA and mind control on several occasions. In a 2001 interview with Larry King, she discussed trauma-based mind control and her belief that she was manipulated by CIA-led psychiatric experiments due to childhood trauma. And in 2009, she blogged about MK-ULTRA in Hollywood, alleging Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson's father, was a CIA operative who abused his children as part of mind control experimentation.
ROSEANNE BARR: “But you know, and people in America are just under that kind of mind control, and it originates from Congress and from our government. You know, they don’t want to get caught as their pocket, and all the peoples don’t, and this is just more of it. I mean, these people, what gets me about the rule by psychopaths is that they’re not ever satisfied.”
Mind control — whether referred to as Project Monarch or MK-ULTRA — has become a cornerstone of modern conspiracy culture, used to explain everything from celebrity breakdowns to political scandals. When a pop star exhibits erratic behavior, believers see evidence of programming. When a child star transitions to adult roles, their image changes are interpreted as signs of Monarch control.
This adaptability has helped the Project Monarch urban legend survive decades without evidence. It can expand to incorporate new events while remaining fundamentally unprovable. Its core claims — about government mind control programs using trauma-based programming — are broad enough to explain almost any suspicious behavior or event.
The theory has also merged with other conspiracy narratives. It connects with Illuminati theories through claims about elite control systems. It also ties into human trafficking conspiracies and UFO theories through claims about advanced technology and government secrecy.
Perhaps most significantly, Project Monarch has become a lens through which believers interpret trauma and abuse. Real victims of trafficking or institutional abuse may find their experiences reframed through the Monarch narrative, potentially hampering their ability to seek justice or healing through legitimate channels.
FINAL THOUGHTS
When abuse allegations become entangled with claims about presidential sex slavery and CIA Manchurian candidates, legitimate abuse cases face increased skepticism. Resources and attention get diverted from addressing real systemic issues — poverty, inequality, lack of social services — that enable abuse and trafficking. The focus shifts to unprovable conspiracies rather than achievable solutions.
Perhaps the greatest irony of Project Monarch is how it ultimately serves the very systems of power it claims to expose. By wrapping real government abuses in layers of increasingly fantastic claims, it makes the documented history of programs like MK-ULTRA easier to dismiss. The butterfly becomes a smoke screen, obscuring rather than revealing the truth about institutional exploitation and control. The story of Project Monarch shows us how conspiracy theories can grow from legitimate suspicions into self-perpetuating myths that capture the imagination while leading us further from understanding what really happened.