Spoiler alert: this article discusses the plot of season one of Stranger Things. With its blend of 1980s nostalgia, pesky kids on BMXs, Stephen King-style small town horror and pulsing synth soundtrack, Stranger Things has been one of the TV hits of the summer. Project MKUltra has gone down in the annals of conspiracy theory as one of the most bizarre footnotes in the clandestine history of the US secret services. A covert CIA programme started in the early 1950s, it expanded its remit to research everything from mind control to telepathy, ESP, psychic warfare and “remote viewing”. As we see in Stranger Things’ flashback scenes with Eleven submerged in a sensory-deprivation tank, this was the belief that it is possible to use the power of your mind to “see” events happening thousands of miles away – such as in the Soviet Union.

Source: The Guardian August 15, 2016 09:00 UTC