ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

CIA's Cold War Magic Manuals by John Mulholland Resurface in Declassified Publication

publication · 2026-09-28

In 1953, John Mulholland, who was both a stage magician and the editor of The Sphinx, transitioned to a role with the CIA, an agency still in the process of establishing its objectives. He authored several guides for the CIA's MKULTRA initiative, such as Some Operational Applications of the Art of Deception and Recognition Signals. Although these documents were thought to have been destroyed in 1973, they reemerged during the declassification process in the 2000s, later published as The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception by H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace. John McLaughlin remarked on the similarities between magicians and intelligence agents, while The Boston Globe showcased Mulholland's methods, emphasizing their cultural relevance amid the Cold War and the nexus of magic and espionage.

Key facts

  • John Mulholland was a professional stage magician and editor of The Sphinx.
  • In 1953, Mulholland left The Sphinx ostensibly for health reasons but actually to work for the CIA.
  • Mulholland wrote Some Operational Applications of the Art of Deception and Recognition Signals for the CIA.
  • The manuals were commissioned during the CIA's MKULTRA program, which ran from 1953 to 1973 and used LSD for mind control.
  • The manuals were assumed destroyed in 1973 but resurfaced during declassification in the 2000s.
  • They were published as The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception by H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace.
  • John McLaughlin, a former CIA deputy director and acting director, is a lifelong amateur magician.
  • The Boston Globe published illustrated explanations of Mulholland's techniques, including a matchbook pill drop and a sawed-in-half stagehand mechanism.

Entities

Artists

  • John Mulholland
  • John McLaughlin
  • H. Keith Melton
  • Robert Wallace
  • Tom Scocca
  • Colin Marshall

Institutions

  • Central Intelligence Agency
  • The Sphinx
  • MKULTRA
  • Boston Globe
  • Internet Archive
  • Open Culture

Locations

  • Seoul
  • South Korea

Sources

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