[Sample B: Approval/Signature Sheet] - George Mason University

description of a hypno-programmed spy, declassified descriptions of proposed CIA mind-
control experiments and the details surrounding the assassination of JFK lend credibility
to this thesis.” 541 Leonard expressed the hopes his theory would lead to further research
into the subject or even a “truly independent congressional investigation.” 542 Certainly,
Leonard’s theory is more solidly based on historical fact than Lawrence’s, but there is no
proven connection between any CIA mind control research and Oswald.
The theories of the double Oswald and the Manchurian Candidate Oswald reflect
the Cold War espionage milieu and are related to the suspicion that Oswald was an
intelligence agent, as discussed in the following chapter. While some of these ideas
strain one’s credulity, they have influenced American culture. Many of these authors
took some facts and built elaborate fantasies about Oswald doubles and brainwashing. In
fact, the double Oswald as outlined by Lane is a mainstay of the assassination literature,
and overlaps with the portrait of Oswald as Secret Agent. These theories have found a
receptive audience in the American people, many of whom are deeply suspicious of their
government in the wake of the revelations of official misdeeds from the 1960’s to the
present day. While many decry the gullibility of people who believe that alien bodies
were recovered at Roswell, New Mexico or that the U.S. government carried out the
September 11, 2001 terror attacks, these theories grew out of an environment in which
revelations about the Vietnam War, Watergate, and CIA dirty tricks made the
unbelievable seem believable. Unanswered questions about the Kennedy assassination,
541 Leonard, 43.
542 Leonard, 79.
237