MKUltra Subproject 86

Subproject 86 paid for the design and building of portable polygraph-style recording machines between 1957 and 1959. The contractor's name is redacted. A proposal in the file describes three "biological response recorders." Each unit had three pens that traced pressure changes from an air cuff on the upper arm, chest movements from a transducer strapped around the chest, and changes in skin resistance from a hand electrode. The machine was to weigh about 30 pounds, fit in an unbreakable fiberglass carrying case, and run on standard 115 volt power.

A price quote in the file lists the three recorders at $19,940 total, with a working single-channel demonstration unit due first and the full order delivered within about 90 days. A separate financial statement covering June 1958 to July 1959 shows $43,052 received and slightly more spent, leaving a deficit of about $58.

A draft memo ties the work to the neurology division of a medical school department of medicine (the institution's name is redacted). It says the program aimed to find more reliable indices of the stress reaction in human beings, if any such parameters could be found, using miniature recording and sensing units.