Cathy O'Brien (born December 4, 1957) is an American

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

and author who claims to have been a victim of a government

mind control Mind control may refer to: Psychology and neurology * Brainwashing, the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques * Brain–computer interface * Hypnosis * Neuroprosthetics, the technology of cont ...

program called "Project Monarch", which she alleges was part of the CIA's

Project MKUltra MKUltra was an illegal human experimentation program designed and undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to develop procedures and identify drugs that could be used during interrogations to weaken individuals and force confes ...

. O'Brien made these assertions in ''Trance Formation of America'' (1995) and ''Access Denied: For Reasons of National Security'' (2004), both of which she co-authored and self-published with her husband, Mark Phillips. According to scholars, there is no credible evidence for O'Brien's claims and there are numerous inconsistencies in her story.

Conspiracy theories

In ''Trance Formation of America'', O'Brien claims that, as a child, she was sexually abused first by her father and then by a network of child pornographers. Supposedly, she was then forced by the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

to participate in ''Project Monarch'', which she claims is a subsection of

and Project ARTICHOKE. According to O'Brien, under

hypnosis Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychological ...

she was able to recall memories of sexual abuse—of both herself and her daughter—by international pedophile rings, drug barons, and

satanists Satanism refers to a group of Religion, religious, Ideology, ideological, or Philosophy, philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic reli ...

, who allegedly used a form of "trauma based mind control programming" to make her a

sex slave Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual ...

. O'Brien accuses a wide range of prominent people—from American, Canadian, Mexican, and Saudi Arabian government officials to stars of the country music scene—of being part of a Project Monarch conspiracy to operate sex slave rings and commit child abuse. For example, O'Brien claims that

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and

Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...

used

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

s to appear to her in altered forms, saying, "Bush apparently activated a hologram of the lizard-like 'alien,' which provided the illusion of Bush transforming like a chameleon before my eyes. In retrospect, I understand that Bush had been painstakingly careful in positioning our seats in order that the hologram's effectiveness be maximized." O'Brien has claimed that Project Monarch caused her to develop dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder) but during alternate personality episodes, she has photographic recall. O'Brien's ''Trance Formation of America'' has been credited as originating "one of the most significant" and "extreme"

conspiracy theories, and her claim of links between

satanic ritual abuse The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in North America in the 19 ...

and MKUltra have influenced popular conspiracy culture. Religious and political scholars have criticized O'Brien's claims for lacking any supporting evidence. David G. Robertson characterized them as symptomatic of "baseless"

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

and wrote that "no-one has ever been prosecuted of such crimes nor has any corroborating material evidence ever been produced". According to scholar

Michael Barkun __NOTOC__ Michael Barkun (born April 8, 1938) is an American academic who serves as Professor Emeritus of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, specializing in political and religious ex ...

, "scholarly and journalistic treatments of MKUltra make no mention of a Project Monarch". Barkun describes O'Brien's account as "sensational even by the standards of conspiracy literature" and notes that even

black helicopter The black helicopter is a symbol of an alleged conspiratorial military takeover of the United States in the American militia movement. Black helicopters have also been associated with UFOs, especially in the UK, men in black, and similar co ...

conspiracy theorist

Jim Keith James Patrick Keith (September 21, 1949 – September 7, 1999) was an American author and conspiracy theorist, best known for the books ''Black Helicopters Over America'' and ''The Octopus'', co-written with Kenn Thomas, detailing theories aroun ...

considered it "fraudulent or delusional".

Jodi Dean Jodi Dean (born 1962) is an American political theorist and professor in the Political Science department at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York state. She held the Donald R. Harter ’39 Professorship of the Humanities and Social Scie ...

cited O'Brien's claims as an example of conspiracy theorists' "leaps in imagination and willingness to deviate from common sense".

Bibliography

O'Brien self-publishes her books. * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Cathy 1957 births Living people American conspiracy theorists American women writers Mind control People from Muskegon, Michigan Project MKUltra Satanic ritual abuse hysteria in the United States Writers from Michigan