Frank Olson was a U.S. Army scientist who participated in some of the first LSD experiments. He was dosed with LSD, without his knowledge, and suffered a nervous breakdown. The CIA sent him to New York to see one of their psychiatrists, who recommended that Olson be put into a mental institution for recovery.

On his last night in Manhattan, Olson threw himself (or was thrown by others) out his hotel room window. He fell to the pavement ten stories below and died.

His family had no idea of the details of the accident until the Rockefeller Commission started uncovering some of the CIA's MKULTRA hijinks. The government offered them an out of court settlement.

In 1994, Frank Olson's son had his father's body exhumed. The forensic scientist in charge of the examination determined that Olson had been hit on the head with a blunt object before he fell out of the window.