Jake Chaconas
1301 Composition
October 10, 2019
Final Research Essay
On the afternoon of May 6th, 2018, retired NBA superstar, Shaquille O’neal was on air for the show “Inside the NBA” where he was seen experiencing a mental glitch. O’neal was visibly stuck in place almost frozen in time for around a minute (Quaid, 1). Was O’neal simply being the outgoing and bodacious character we all know him to be or was this something more? One viable solution seems to be the secret, experimental CIA mind-control program known as MK-ULTRA. These experiments were said to be done on famous celebrities and regular individuals in attempt to find the limits of the human mind and capitalize on them. Let’s take a look at some of the theories that have been developed:
Are the MK Ultra Projects real and are they still going on?
Are celebrities and athletes being abused by the psychological effects of the experiments?
Was Shaquille O’Neal one of the celebrity influencers who underwent forceful testing from the project?
Shaquille O’Neal is a positively domineering person on and off the court that heavily contributed to his NBA, acting, and economic success. He used his size and strength to physically beat everyone in his basketball career as well as using it as an expressed trait of his when acting.
O’Neal was often positively described by his peers, (Reyes 1) but he was also habitually looked down upon by stars because they believed he didn’t live up to his full potential. Fellow Los Angeles Lakers teammate, Kobe Bryant, described O’Neal in an interview after being asked what would happen if O’Neal worked harder:
He’d be the greatest of all-time…He’d be the first to tell you that. For sure. This guy was a force like I have never seen. It was crazy, a guy at that size. Generally, guys at that size are a little timid and don’t want to be tall. They don’t want to be big. This dude did not care. He was mean. He was nasty. He was competitive. He was vindictive. I wish he was in the gym. I would’ve had (expletive) 12 rings. (Reyes 1)
Bryant considered O’Neil to be one of the best players of all time and he described him as being unstoppable. Bryant thought O’Neil was a genetic anomaly and had unmatched intensity, but he believed that O’Neil did not work hard enough thus not living up to his full potential. O’Neal dominated the National Basketball Association in sheer size alone and his unmatched physical skill equally backed up the supremacy of his size. Standing at 7 foot 1 and 335 pounds (Encyclopedia 1), it can easily be seen why he was so physically overpowering to the other players. Even stars like Kobe Bryant acknowledge the overall dominant player O’Neil was on the court. He was a physical anomaly combined with an inhumane control of that size. In other words, his agility and speed at that size matched the athleticism of a smaller athlete which is unseen in athletics. That natural size and strength overall led to his success in other industries as well. Shaquille is a successful actor and businessman who relies on his commanding actions and personality. His size led to a natural trait of confidence and commanding leadership that helped him succeed a lot in his life. Often times his roles were fundamentally anchored by his dominant size through a character who embodied being large and officiating and people really listened to him, viewing him as a leader. Shaquille is the type of person to get an idea in mind and forcibly stick to it regardless of what stands in his way. His persistence and dominance across all fields on life allowed him to not only exponentially rise in popularity, but also succeed and be the best at almost everything he did.
Shaquille O’Neal was and still is a bodacious character throughout his life who increased his popularity among individuals and made the likeable character we all know today. He has an unmatched level of humor with everything he does and the confidence to follow through with all of his actions.
Shaquille was often described as portraying this pronounced character everywhere he went, “Off the court he is known to flash an ear-to-ear grin and to emote the unflappable personality of a 12-year-old boy” (Shaquille O’Neal Biography 1).
O’Neil had bountiful energy and excitement for everything he did. Shaquille O’Neil has one of the most likeable and alluring personalities of any human and some compared this personality to that of a twelve-year-old’s. His confidence and appeal make him an extremely charming person and someone who you just want to be around. Everywhere O’Neil goes he is the life of the party and the center of attention. O’Neil glorifies the spotlight, and he revels in the attention allowing him to express his true personality at all times. This personality of O’Neil’s is so unique and refreshing that it has allowed him to create a character among people. When most people think of “Shaq”, they do not envision the dominant NBA player and successful center throughout his basketball career, but actually the outgoing and confident character we all know today. His natural comedic nature and likeable traits in everything he does has successfully created himself a platform for acting, talk-shows, news casts, and more. O’Neil has the “it” factor that many actors and athletes just don’t have. He has this impalpable level of likeableness that is truly the source of his success. O’Neil always carries himself in the most cheerful way possible, bringing up the positive energy in the room at all times.
In the incident with Shaquille O’neil undergoing a sort of “glitch”, three conspiracy theories are highlighted. The first two are about the nature behind the glitch involving the MK ultra-Projects and the last one questions if O’neil was involved.
The very first theory proposes that the MK Ultra projects are real and are currently being underwent. The MK Ultra projects were/are government controlled psychological experiments intended to keep up with Soviet mind-control technology (Eschner 1). They wanted to alter the mind and understand how to control it so that biological/psychological weapons may be made. The CIA has officially confirmed that the Mk Ultra projects were real, admitting in 1975 that, “The Senate established a Select Committee to conduct an investigation and study of the intelligence activities of the United States.” (Archive Report 2). It was an extremely sheltered and secret institutionalized organization, but it has almost 100% been confirmed that they were real. The controversy arises when trying to determine if they are still being underwent today. Interestingly enough, when conducting a survey on the students of Clear Spring high school, over 78% of individuals believed the projects are still going on. However, considering how open the CIA was about the existence of the projects, and ultimately the termination of the projects, it is implausible to assume the projects are still being underwent.
The second conspiracy theory argues that the primary subjects involved with the psychological effects are high-ranking celebrities and professional athletes. Many theorists and researchers believe that the primary patients in the projects were celebrities and athletes. As well as 55% of students at Clear Springs who were tested, believed the MK Ultra projects were done on celebrities. This is mainly because many celebrities undergo a phenomenon coined under the term as a “glitch” where they freeze up and have a blank expression on their face (MK-Ultra 2). The media hyperinflates these events and spreads that this is due to mind-control from the projects. Whether this be from nerves, exhaustion, MK Ultra mind-control, or other factors, most contribute these “glitches” to be clear evidence of involvement with the projects. This is not plausible however because of the nature of patients involved in the experiments. One CIA officer explained the patients as “people who could not fight back” (Weiner 2), meaning prisoners, mentally ill patients, prostitutes, or drug-addicts. More importantly, they are all clearly low socioeconomic ranking members of society with little power or popularity. Clearly, the projects were more focused on staying secretive and efficient, than they were testing on celebrities. So, the theory on celebrities being involved in the experiments is unlikely and very far-fetched.
The final conspiracy theory claims that Shaquille O’Neal was involved in the projects and was one of the celebrity influencers who underwent forceful testing. Shaquille O’Neal was one of the figures of fame who underwent a “glitch” and it became the most popular evidences of celebrity MK Ultra involvement (Quaid 1). He ended up seemingly “frozen” on live television for over a minute (1) making many people point to the MK projects for causation. More likely however, was that O’Neil simply was zoned-out or daydreaming, and happened to have a silly look on his face while doing it. Shaquille is also highly known to be a person of comedic character (Shaquille O’Neil biography 1), meaning this easily could’ve been one of his stunts that was misinterpreted. The theory that his “glitch” was caused by mind-controlling technology associated with the Mk Ultra experiments is extremely incredible.
In the incident with Shaquille O’neil undergoing a sort of “glitch”, three conspiracy theories are highlighted. The first two are about the nature behind the glitch involving the MK ultra-Projects and the last one questions if O’neil was involved.
The very first theory proposes that the MK Ultra projects are real and are currently being underwent. The MK Ultra projects were/are government controlled psychological experiments intended to keep up with Soviet mind-control technology (Eschner 1). They wanted to alter the mind and understand how to control it so that biological/psychological weapons may be made. The CIA has officially confirmed that the Mk Ultra projects were real, admitting in 1975 that, “The Senate established a Select Committee to conduct an investigation and study of the intelligence activities of the United States.” (Archive Report 2). It was an extremely sheltered and secret institutionalized organization, but it has almost 100% been confirmed that they were real. The controversy arises when trying to determine if they are still being underwent today. Interestingly enough, when conducting a survey on the students of Clear Spring high school, over 78% of individuals believed the projects are still going on. However, considering how open the CIA was about the existence of the projects, and ultimately the termination of the projects, it is implausible to assume the projects are still being underwent.
The second conspiracy theory argues that the primary subjects involved with the psychological effects are high-ranking celebrities and professional athletes. Many theorists and researchers believe that the primary patients in the projects were celebrities and athletes. As well as 55% of students at Clear Springs who were tested, believed the MK Ultra projects were done on celebrities. This is mainly because many celebrities undergo a phenomenon coined under the term as a “glitch” where they freeze up and have a blank expression on their face (MK-Ultra 2). The media hyperinflates these events and spreads that this is due to mind-control from the projects. Whether this be from nerves, exhaustion, MK Ultra mind-control, or other factors, most contribute these “glitches” to be clear evidence of involvement with the projects. This is not plausible however because of the nature of patients involved in the experiments. One CIA officer explained the patients as “people who could not fight back” (Weiner 2), meaning prisoners, mentally ill patients, prostitutes, or drug-addicts. More importantly, they are all clearly low socioeconomic ranking members of society with little power or popularity. Clearly, the projects were more focused on staying secretive and efficient, than they were testing on celebrities. So, the theory on celebrities being involved in the experiments is unlikely and very far-fetched.
The final conspiracy theory claims that Shaquille O’Neal was involved in the projects and was one of the celebrity influencers who underwent forceful testing. Shaquille O’Neal was one of the figures of fame who underwent a “glitch” and it became the most popular evidences of celebrity MK Ultra involvement (Quaid 1). He ended up seemingly “frozen” on live television for over a minute (1) making many people point to the MK projects for causation. More likely however, was that O’Neil simply was zoned-out or daydreaming, and happened to have a silly look on his face while doing it. Shaquille is also highly known to be a person of comedic character (Shaquille O’Neil biography 1), meaning this easily could’ve been one of his stunts that was misinterpreted. The theory that his “glitch” was caused by mind-controlling technology associated with the Mk Ultra experiments is extremely incredible.
The MK Ultra experiments are pronounced as real and were confirmed experiments involving the human brain. However, the celebrity involvement theory, specifically the incident with O’Neal, is an exaggerated account of human fatigue mixed with illogical thinking.
The incident with Shaquille O’Neal freezing on air remains one of the most controversial issues and has had multiple conspiracies developed from it:
1. Are the MK Ultra Projects real and are they still going on?
2. Are celebrities and athletes being abused by the psychological effects of the experiments?
3. Was Shaquille O’Neal one of the celebrity influencers who underwent forceful testing from the project?
In 2019, the issue remains unsolved and surrounded by controversy. However, after examining the facts and research behind these conspiracies, the odds that MK Ultra mind-controlling programs “glitched” making O’Neil frozen, are very low and was more than likely something else.
Works Cited
(S) Eschner, Kat. “What We Know About the CIA's Midcentury Mind-Control Project.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 13 Apr. 2017, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-we-know-about-cias-midcentury-mind-control-project-180962836/.
(P) Full Text of "Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, United States Senate : Together with Additional, Supplemental, and Separate Views", https://archive.org/stream/finalreportofsel01unit/finalreportofsel01unit_djvu.txt.
(T) History.com Editors. “MK-Ultra.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 June 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/history-of-mk-ultra.
(T) Quaid, Rollie, and Joe Badoglio. “Shaq Froze on Air For a Minute – Is He a Product of Mind Control?” Renegade Tribune, 1 July 2018, http://www.renegadetribune.com/shaq-froze-on-air-for-a-minute-is-he-a-product-of-mind-control/.
(T) “Shaquille O'Neal Biography - Can't Stop Growing, Chronology, Nba Bound, Athletes And Music, Awards And Accomplishments - CONTACT INFORMATION, SELECTED WRITINGS BY O'NEAL.” Can't Stop Growing, Chronology, Nba Bound, Athletes And Music, Awards And Accomplishments - CONTACT INFORMATION, SELECTED WRITINGS BY O'NEAL: - JRank Articles, https://sports.jrank.org/pages/3543/O-Neal-Shaquille.html.
(S) Weiner, Tim. “Sidney Gottlieb, 80, Dies; Took LSD to C.I.A.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Mar. 1999, https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/10/us/sidney-gottlieb-80-dies-took-lsd-to-cia.html.
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