John C. Lilly

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John C. Lilly

Illustration of an open book about flying saucers — Illustration: an open book about flying saucers. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Type	Person
Also known as	John Lilly, Lilly
On the Timeline	2 events, 1952–1958

John C. Lilly (1915–2001) was an American physician, neuroscientist and psychoanalyst. He invented the isolation (sensory deprivation) tank in 1954 and became famous for research on dolphin communication.

Unconventional work

Polaroid photograph taken Easter Sunday 1991, at the home of Dr. Oscar Janiger. From left to Allen Ginsberg , Timothy Leary , and John C. Lilly , M.D. — Polaroid photograph taken Easter Sunday 1991, at the home of Dr. Oscar Janiger. From left to Allen Ginsberg , Timothy Leary , and John C. Lilly , M.D. Photo: Philip H. Bailey (E-mail) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · via Wikimedia Commons

In the 1950s Lilly studied brain stimulation with electrodes at the National Institutes of Mental Health and was approached by intelligence agencies interested in his work, which he said he refused to continue. In the 1960s and 1970s he combined isolation tanks with LSD and ketamine, and wrote that he made contact with cosmic intelligences, describing a "Earth Coincidence Control Office". His books, such as The Center of the Cyclone (1972), influenced the counterculture. The Timeline links him to alleged mind and brain research programs.

On the UAP Timeline

This is a page from the declassified documents of MKULTRA . The documents were "provided by the Central Intelligence Agency under a subsequent… — This is a page from the declassified documents of MKULTRA . The documents were "provided by the Central Intelligence Agency under a subsequent… Photo: Central Intelligence Agency · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Project Moonstruck brain-stimulation claim (1952) — An alleged CIA project is said to study long-range brain stimulation by radio frequencies.
John Lilly and the alleged hypnosis project (1958) — An alleged Air Force project used drugs and hypnosis; one participant believed he contacted aliens.

Connected articles

References

John C. Lilly — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy

Categories: Central intelligence agency | Mkultra | Person | Us air force

This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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