Trance Formation of America

Trance Formation of America is a 1995 autobiographical account by Cathy O'Brien, co-authored with former Department of Defence subcontractor and intelligence insider Mark Phillips. The book documents O'Brien's claimed experiences as a survivor of CIA MK-Ultra Project Monarch mind control programming, spanning from early childhood through to her rescue by Phillips in 1988. It is widely regarded as one of the most extensively cited primary sources in targeted individual and mind control research communities worldwide, offering first-person testimony about the alleged operational use of trauma-based dissociation as a tool of state-sponsored control.

Cover from Trance Formation of America

CIA Headquarters, Langley — primary institution alleged to sponsor MK-Ultra and Project Monarch

Overview

Trance Formation of America is structured in two distinct parts. Part I is written by Mark Phillips and covers his background in defence contracting, his exposure to classified mind control research programmes, and the events that led him to identify, and ultimately rescue, Cathy O'Brien and her daughter Kelly from their handlers in 1988.

Part II constitutes O'Brien's autobiography, presenting her account of decades of trauma-based programming, deployment as a so-called "Presidential Model" mind control slave, and the named political and entertainment figures she alleges were directly involved in her exploitation.

The book was self-published through Reality Marketing Inc. and has remained continuously in print since 1995. Despite naming numerous high-profile political figures and making detailed criminal allegations, the book has never been legally challenged by any of the individuals named within it. This absence of legal action is frequently cited by researchers as significant.

Mark Phillips: Background and Rescue

Mark Phillips described himself as a former Department of Defence subcontractor with professional exposure to behavioural research programmes at facilities including the Yerkes Primate Research Center, various teaching hospitals, NASA facilities, and military installations. Through this work, he states he developed a working knowledge of mind control techniques used on both animals and human subjects.

Phillips' business dealings in the late 1980s brought him into contact with Alex Houston, a country music entertainer and alleged CIA asset who served as O'Brien's primary handler. Through Houston, Phillips became aware of O'Brien and her daughter Kelly and recognised the behavioural hallmarks of trauma-based mind control programming. Phillips describes an increasingly urgent effort to extract O'Brien and Kelly from their situation.

In February 1988, Phillips effected what he describes as a covert rescue of O'Brien and Kelly, relocating them to Alaska and beginning the long process of psychological deprogramming. Phillips worked alongside mental health professionals familiar with dissociative identity disorder (DID) to help O'Brien access and integrate suppressed memories.

Mark Phillips died in 2017, but the book and his testimony remain active reference points in mind control research literature.

Cathy O'Brien: Core Allegations

According to O'Brien, her entry into CIA Project Monarch programming was facilitated in early childhood by her father, who she alleges traded her into a government programme in exchange for immunity from prosecution on child pornography charges. She describes a system of extreme and deliberate trauma — physical, sexual, and psychological — designed to fracture her developing psyche and create distinct dissociative identity disorder alter personalities, each independently programmable and triggerable by handlers using specific cues, codes, and scripts.

O'Brien alleges she was designated a "Presidential Model" — a category of mind-controlled asset used for sexual services and as a human courier for sensitive information, exploiting the fact that programmed messages could not be extracted under torture or through conventional intelligence methods, as the carrier herself had no conscious awareness of the information she carried.

She further alleges that her daughter Kelly was subjected to similar programming from birth, and that attempts to have Kelly treated through legal channels were blocked by authorities citing national security grounds.

Project Monarch

As described in the book, Project Monarch is alleged to be a sub-programme operating beneath the broader umbrella of MK-Ultra, taking its methods from the documented trauma-based dissociation research pioneered by, among others, Josef Mengele during post-war Operation Paperclip transfers. The core principle, as O'Brien describes it, is that extreme and repeated childhood trauma — particularly sexual trauma before the age of five — causes the mind to fragment into discrete personality states that operate independently of one another.

Each alter personality, according to the book, can be independently programmed to carry out specific tasks — courier duties, sexual servicing, intelligence gathering — and triggered by handlers using pre-implanted cues. The subject retains no conscious memory of these activities in their baseline personality state, making them an ideal covert asset.

The Monarch model, as described, draws directly on the documented findings of CIA-sponsored psychiatrists and the absorbed methods of Nazi-era researchers imported via Project Paperclip.

Congressional hearings into MK-Ultra abuses were held in 1977

People Mentioned and Implicated

O'Brien and Phillips name a significant number of individuals throughout the book. All allegations below are drawn directly from their stated testimony:

• Cathy O'Brien — author, self-described MK-Ultra Project Monarch survivor and Presidential Model asset
• Mark Phillips — co-author, rescuer, former DOD subcontractor with knowledge of classified mind control programmes
• Alex Houston — named as O'Brien's primary handler; described as a country music entertainer and CIA asset
• Robert C. Byrd — US Senator from West Virginia; named as O'Brien's primary political handler over an extended period
• George H.W. Bush — named as a senior handler, participant, and figure with direct knowledge of Monarch operations; former CIA Director
• George W. Bush — referenced in survivor accounts in supporting context
• Bill Clinton — named as a political figure encountered during O'Brien's deployment as a programmed asset
• Hillary Clinton — named alongside Bill Clinton as a knowing participant in events described
• Gerald Ford — named as one of O'Brien's abusers during Presidential Model programming
• Dick Cheney — named as a senior figure with direct managerial involvement in the use of mind-controlled assets
• Ronald Reagan — referenced as a president whose administration was described as complicit in ongoing Monarch programmes
• Henry Kissinger — named in connection with Illuminati-aligned foreign policy operations
• Pierre Trudeau — named as a foreign political figure encountered during courier duties, consistent with accounts in Brice Taylor's Thanks for the Memories
• Brian Mulroney — named in a Canadian political context during O'Brien's alleged deployment
• Bob Hope — named as a significant handler figure who managed mind-controlled entertainment industry assets; USO tours described as providing logistical cover
• Walt Disney / Disney Corporation — referenced in connection with Luciferian Brotherhood symbolism and use of Disney environments as programming locations; Neuschwanstein Castle identified as a Brotherhood symbol embedded in the Disney logo
• Sammy Davis Jr. — referenced as a Hollywood figure with alleged connections to the Church of Satan
• Frank Sinatra — named with alleged ties to organised crime and intelligence-adjacent networks
• Elvis Presley — referenced in the context of entertainment industry programming environments
• Josef Mengele — named as the foundational programmer whose documented methods were absorbed into American programmes via Project Paperclip

Organisations Accused or Implicated

The book names or implicates the following institutions:

• CIA — identified as the primary institutional sponsor of MK-Ultra and Project Monarch
• NSA — described as the principal agency stonewalling justice for survivors under the banner of national security
• US Department of Defence — Phillips' professional context; described as acknowledging elements of trauma-based research in declassified records
• NASA — referenced as a facility at which mind control-adjacent behavioural research was conducted
• FBI — referenced as part of the institutional apparatus suppressing survivor testimony
• Bohemian Grove — named as a location to which O'Brien and Kelly were taken by Houston, associated with elite gatherings and alleged criminal activity
• Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) — referenced in Phillips' account as a financial institution connected to Houston's network
• Boys Town, Nebraska — referenced as a location visited by Houston in the context of alleged child prostitution networks
• The Catholic Church — referenced as a religious framework incorporated into Christian-based programming
• Random House / Dictionary Publishers — cited in the book for the conspicuous omission of the term 'mind control' from major dictionaries, presented as evidence of coordinated information suppression

Congressional Context

The book situates itself explicitly within the historical record of the August 3, 1977 US Senate hearings into MK-Ultra abuses, in which the CIA was compelled to acknowledge the existence of human experimentation programmes. O'Brien and Phillips argue that while the hearings exposed the existence of these programmes, justice was effectively blocked by invocations of national security privilege. The authors contend that the 1947 National Security Act has been systematically interpreted to shield criminal activity from prosecution and public accountability, functioning as an institutional mechanism of impunity rather than legitimate protection of military secrets.

Legacy and Significance

Trance Formation of America has remained in continuous circulation for three decades and is regarded within mind control research communities as a foundational primary source. It is frequently cross-referenced with the testimony of other self-described survivors, including Brice Taylor (Thanks for the Memories), Fiona Barnett (Eyes Wide Open), Jessie Czebotar, and accounts documented by researchers including Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler in The Illuminati Formula to Create an Undetectable Total Mind Control Slave.

The book's longevity is often cited alongside the absence of any legal challenge from named individuals as a notable feature of its existence. Researchers including those associated with An Illuminati Primer and related literature frequently cite it as corroborating a broader pattern of testimony across independent survivor accounts.

Survivor testimony literature remains a primary source in mind control research

Availability

Trance Formation of America remains in print and is available through independent publishers. A PDF edition is available on this wiki: File:Trance formation of America - Cathy O'Brien (1995).pdf

See Also

• Cathy O'Brien
• MK-Ultra
• Trauma Based Programming
• Project Paperclip
• Project Monarch
• Brice Taylor
• Thanks for the Memories
• CIA
• Fiona Barnett
• An Illuminati Primer
• Jessie Czebotar
• Fritz Springmeier
• Cisco Wheeler
• Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Brainwashing
• Secret Societies
• Luciferianism
• Satanism
• Josef Mengele
• Project Paperclip
• Bohemian Grove