Fascinating footage which shows Royal Marine commandos being dosed with LSD has emerged online – and the psychedelic drug leaves the troops in laughter and chaos.
Drug-induced commandos climb trees to feed the birds and attempt to chop trees with a garden spade in the incredible clip.
The British Army conducted experiments using LSD in December 1964 – in the hope of using the hallucinogenic substance as a weapon of war.
The rare video shows a large-scale field test on 17 participants from 41 Royal Marine Commandos in Porton Down, Wiltshire.
The test aimed to find chemical agents able to incapacitate enemy forces but with negligible causalities.
In the video entitled ‘A Trial of an Incapacitating Drug’, the narrator describes the experiment in which seventeen Royal Marine volunteers were given a three-day exercise.
It was meant to resemble a real-life military operation in which they were ordered to ‘capture as many terrorists as possible’.
On the first day, the troops are given a morning drink of water and they perform their task well.
But on the second day, without their knowledge, the soldiers’ water is spiked with LSD.
As the drug takes effect researchers filmed as their discipline quickly deteriorated.
Within thirty minutes, the men start wandering around aimlessly and they ‘begin to giggle’.
The commander starts to lose control over his soldiers and we see the men unable to hide their amusement.
‘The troops have lost their sense of urgency and many men are laughing,’ the narrator says.
A British Royal Marine smiles and laughs after taking LSD during a test of the hallucinogenic drug on the soldiers in Porton Down, WIltshire in December 1964
Soldiers of mirth: Although many of the Royal Marines were smiling and laughing happily in this video, they had been given the drug without their consent by authorities they trusted
The many dangers of drug use: A British Royal Marine holds a rocket launcher after taking LSD
The rare video shows a large-scale field test on seventeen participants from 41 Royal Marine Commandos in Porton Down, Wiltshire
Ten minutes later, the troops’ commander is also losing control under the psychedelic drug’s influence.
Communication becomes impossible and the soldiers are seen grinning helplessly as they’re unable to take aim with their rifles.
Fifty minutes after the LSD has been administered, the narrator tells us how ‘men with no specific tasks to perform have relapsed into laughter and inconsequential behaviour’.
We are shown a clip of a tree which has been almost chopped in half by a soldier during his trip – using just a garden spade.
Then seventy minutes into the experiment, soldiers start ‘climbing a tree to feed the birds’ and the troop commander gives up, saying he is unable to control himself or his men.
As the troops wait for transport to take them back to the station hospital for observation, the troop commander collapses onto the floor and falls into a fit of hysterics on the floor.
The drugged soldiers are initially ‘unwilling and afraid’ to enter the ambulance back but are later seen chuckling as they reminisce about their experience.
A British Royal Marine laughs while attempting to chop down a tree with a spade after taking LSD during a British Army trial in which they tested how the drug could be used as a weapon
And he was rather successful in his seemingly impossible tree cutting mission as this photo proves – the tree was almost entirely hacked through with only a spade
Here you can see a British Royal Marine back at base smiling and laughing after taking LSD
The narrator ends the video by describing how all the troops are able to perform the task on the third day when their water isn’t laced with the drug.
Lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD is known for altering a person’s consciousness – resulting in hallucinations and ‘ego-dissolution,’ or a loss of the sense of self.
One person can spend several hours in a very happy place – while other individuals can spend many hours lost in their own fears and paranoia.
As such, the experience in the film is not humorous for all the volunteers in the group.
The narrator tells us how one of the soldiers is so severely affected by the hallucinogenic substance that he drops his rifle and is unable to take part in the operation. We see him being withdrawn from the task at the start of the video.
In 2006, the MI6 paid out compensation to ex-servicemen for tests conducted in the 1950’s and 60’s in which they were given LSD without their consent.