Academic papers from the 1960s reveal how a CIA-funded 'mind control' program came to Australia

In the winter of 1960, Martin Orne, remembered as one of the 20th century's greatest psychologists, touched down in Sydney. "The environment at Sydney was electrically alive with intellectual stimulation," says psychologist Dr Peter Sheehan, who was completing his honours in psychology at the faculty during Professor Orne's visit. Alternative explanations The aim of Professor Orne's experiments in Sydney was to see if it was possible to get hypnotised people to engage in "anti-social behaviour". "No conclusions can be drawn from the present investigation about the potential use of hypnosis to induce antisocial behaviour," Professor Orne wrote in the journal article. "I learnt an awful lot from him," says Dr Sheehan, Professor Orne's student and collaborator.