Long before “non-lethal weapons” became a buzzword, the CIA was already deep into designing them-not just for war, but for complete behavioral control.
Their target wasn’t destruction.
It was obedience.
Across multiple reports spanning 1970 to 1972, the Behavioral Control Support Project reveals a sprawling effort to catalog, invent, and test every possible way to disable, subdue, or manipulate human beings-from lone attackers to entire mobs.
The methods were chemical, electrical, psychological, and in many cases, disturbingly creative.
⚡ Electrified Nets, Paralysis Darts, and Confusion Foam
In testing scenarios, agents were placed in simulated attacks: surrounded cars, lone ambushes, chaotic riots. The solutions?
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Electrified nets designed to immobilize limbs
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Paint grenades and tacky foam to obscure windshields or trap shoes
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Tear gas grenades mounted on rooftops
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Portable strobe units to induce confusion and panic
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Even “marshmallow barrages”-soft, disabling projectiles intended to slow or unbalance
Each system was rated for covertness, risk, required antidote, and operator safety. If it could shut someone down without killing them, it was fair game.
💉 Skin-Penetrant Chemicals and Delivery by Spray, Dart, or Touch
One of the most quietly terrifying areas of study involved chemicals that rapidly penetrate the skin. These would act as carriers for:
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Sedatives
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Irritants
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Synaptic blockers
The idea: spray a crowd, or hit a target with a dart, and let the compound take over-no needles, no visible wounds, no immediate trace.
🧠 Science Fiction Was a Blueprint, Not a Joke
The CIA’s team wasn’t just reviewing military documents. They combed through:
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Medical journals
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Police academy libraries
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Classified research from Washington
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Comic books and science fiction for inspiration
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International publications, including Soviet riot manuals
Anything that might offer a new tactic was evaluated-no matter the source.
"We are inclined to pursue an innovative or creative approach… rather than yet another systematic review."
- Behavioral Control Support Project proposal
📊 Everything Was Indexed, Categorized, and Weaponized
Incapacitation wasn’t a guess. It was a matrix:
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Chemical, psychological, sensory, electrical, or mechanical
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Graded by lethality, duration, speed, concealment, delivery system, shelf life
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Targeted by situation: lone agent, riot, snatch operation, public figure under attack
Some devices were lethal if misused. Some were too unreliable. But many were refined, approved, and added to the operational toolbox.
🕳️ Behavior as a Battlefield
The end goal wasn’t just to stop people from moving. It was to stop them from thinking clearly, confuse them, or make them obey under engineered pressure. The tools were crude, sometimes ridiculous-but always tailored toward control without bloodshed.
What the CIA built in these reports wasn’t a weapon system. It was a philosophy:
Win the war by disabling the will.
