Jonestown conspiracy theories

In 1979, Joseph Hollinger, a former aide to Congressman Leo Ryan who was killed at Jonestown, claimed that Jonestown was a "mass mind control experiment" conducted by the CIA. A 1980 newspaper column by Jack Anderson also claimed that the CIA was involved in the Jonestown Massacre, and speculated that Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy to Guyana Richard Dwyer had ties to the CIA.[1] In 1980, an investigation by the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence found no evidence of CIA activity in Jonestown.[2]

In 1987, The Jonestown Carnage: A CIA Crime (1978) (Russian: Гибель Джонстауна - преступление ЦРУ) was published in the Soviet Union, claiming that group members were assassinated by CIA agents and mercenaries to prevent further political emigration from the U.S. as well as suppress opposition to the U.S. regime. Political scientist Janos Radvanyi cites the book as an example of Soviet active measures during the 1980s that "spread both disinformation stories and enemy propaganda against the United States", adding, "It's hard to imagine that anyone could believe so ridiculous a story".[3]

According to Religious Studies scholar Rebecca Moore, "In the twenty-three years since the deaths in Jonestown, conspiracy theories have blossomed in number and sophistication."[4]