FRENCH INSANITY BLAMED ON LSD

A MYSTERY illness that caused an entire French village to go
temporarily mad 50-years ago has been blamed on secret CIA mind
control experiments with LSD.

Hundreds of residents in picturesque Pont-Saint-Esprit were suddenly
struck down with mass insanity and hallucinations on August 16, 1951.

At least five people in the southern French village died and dozens
were locked up in asylums after witnessing terrifying hallucinations
of dragons and fire.

Poisoned

In the horror scenes an 11-year-old tried to strangle his grandmother.
Another man shouted: "I am a plane", before jumping out of a
second-floor window, breaking his legs.

For decades the bizarre "Cursed Bread" incident was blamed on a local
baker whose baguettes had been poisoned with either a psychedelic
mould or mercury.

But new evidence points the finger at the American Central
Intelligence Agency who are accused of spiking bread with LSD in a
mind control experiment.

The incident -- which took place at the height of the Cold War -- was
investigated by a Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz who have been
revealed as the same people who secretly supplied the CIA with LSD.

Journalist H P Albarelli Jr came across CIA documents while
investigating the suspicious suicide of a biochemist who fell from a
13th floor window two years after the "Cursed Bread" incident.

One note transcribes a conversation between a CIA agent and a Sandoz
official who mentions the "secret of Pont-Saint-Esprit" and explains
that it was not "at all" caused by mould but by diethylamide -- the D
in LSD.

After the Korean War the Americans launched huge research programs
into the mind control of prisoners and enemy troops.

According to US news reports, French intelligence chiefs have demanded
the CIA explain itself. French intelligence officially denies this.

Angry locals in Pont-Saint-Esprit continue to be haunted by the
apocalyptic scenes and still want answers.

Charles Granjoh, 71, said: "I almost kicked the bucket, I'd like to
know why."