CIA IN MARKET FOR 'WIGGLE SEAT' CHAIRS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000200590012-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 1, 1999
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: September 24, 1967
• Content Type: NSPR

September 21i, 1967
,Apprcived- For Release 2000/05/05 :,CIA-RDP75-Q01
Silent Lie Detector
CIIA in Market, For
the polygraph machine and the
CPYRGHT
0
of the most unusual and expen-
sive chairs in the history of
-furniture, is being developed un-
der the direction of the, Central
Intelligence Agency.
This electronic device looks
'like an ordinary office chair.
But the unwary person who in-
nocently takes a seat and be-
gins to answer questions may
then be subjected, without his
knowledge, to a lie-detector ex-
amination.
The project, in which both
L the CIA and the equally sensi-
tive National Security, Agency
:have shown intense intcrest, is
officially secret, A CIA spokes.
man, when asked about it,. de-
clined to comment.
Pushing for Device
But several sources have con-
`wiggle seat'."
=QhWaftemb
goes back at least five years,
according to reliable sources.
It could not be learned wheth-
er the "wiggle seat" has been
put to work by the nation's in-
telligence agencies.
Philco Product
But a number of private com-
panies, who hold research and
development contracts f r o
the Defense Department, are
known to be working on aspects
of the problem. "It Grieves Me . - - "
The Philco-Ford Corp. baste
just. put on the market a de-
vice called MediScreen w h i c h
comes close to fitting Ervin's
definition of a "wiggle seat."
The new Philco product, de-
veloped under contracts with
the National Aeronautics an d
Space Administration (NASA)
and the Air Force, looks like an
ordinary cushioned office chair
with one exception. An instru-
ment box protrudes., from the
chair's back.
And the person being tested
must keep his hands in don-
tact with metal plates on the
arms of the chair.".
This device, which costs
$5250, is offered by Philco for
a variety of medical diagnostic
tests that might be performed
in a hospital, clinic or private
doctor's office.
n what Sen. Ervin calle
he "wiggle seat" Is Space/De-
"ense Corp. of Bingham I. .
Malcolm Ross, the. firm'
resident, said the compa
ad developed a'worlcable po
A.- :,.
firmed that the CIA; through
contracts channeled to private
industry through the; Defense
Department, is pushing develop-
ment of the device.
The mdtter squirmed into pub-
lic view as the Senate was de-
bating Sen. Sam J. Ervin's "bill
of rights" for government em-
ployes. The bill, which passed
the Senate 79 to 4, sharply lim-
its the use of lie-detector, or
polygraph, tests by government
agencies,. including CIA and
NSA.
Ervin, D-N.C., who is scorn-
ful of polygraph tests and re-
fers to them a 20th century
witchcraft," told the Senate
that the CIA was developing "a
lie-detecting machine by means
of which a person can be tested
without his knowledge."
in an exchange with Sen.
Ralph Yarborough, D: Texas,
Ervin quipped, "If the senator
has any contact with the CIA,
he had , bettor. be careful of
where he sits.' It grieves me
to think that the security of the
United States, is in the hands
of men who, place their, faith in
No Straps
But a Philco brochure, which
mentions the lie-detector appli
cation only in passing, does em-
phasize: "Nothing intrudes on
the serenity of the setting. The
patient does not see, much less
`wear,' an electrode straps
and wires are prominent only by
their absence."
D. Scott Hindley, Philco's di-
rector of market planning In
Washington, confirmed that the
company is: exploring ways to
adapt the MediScreen device so
the unknowing subject of a poly-
graph. test -would think he was
sitting in an ordinary chair...
Approved For Release 2000/05%05 : CIA-RDP75-00149R000200590012-6