Nuclear conspiracy
officials in the uk have been illegally smuggling bodies of children to help researchers from the us conduct nuclear experiments, according to the us department of energy ( doe) . Documents released by the department state that "researchers employed deception in the solicitation of bones of babies from intermediaries.'
The bodies were obtained from the Middlesex Hospital of London. Doctors at the hospital's department of morbid anatomy and histology have been a part of this conspiracy, alleges the doe . The documents include letters exchanged between the us and the uk government scientists in which they discussed levels of radiation in the ribs of stillborn (born dead) babies and lists of bodies.
The documents state that Willard Libby, a renowned scientist who has won the Nobel Prize for his research about carbon dating techniques, instructed colleagues to sidestep laws to illegally obtain bodies for research. "Human samples are of prime importance and if anybody knows how to do a good job of body-snatching they will really be serving their country,' stated Libby.
"We hired an expensive law firm to look up the regulations on body-snatching. It is not very encouraging. It is difficult to do it legally,' Libby was quoted in the documents.
The documents say that body parts of British babies and children up to the age of 10 years were "readily available.' Along with supplying the bodies to the researchers in the us , British scientists also used them for conducting their own research. Between 1955 and 1970, they collected around 6,000 bodies.
Jean Prichard, whose baby died in 1957, said doctors removed her child's legs without her permission. To prevent her from finding out what had happened, she says she was forbidden to dress her daughter for the funeral. "I asked if I could put her christening robe on her, but I was not allowed to,' rues Prichard.
Former us president Bill Clinton has called for an investigation into the smuggling, which was codenamed Project Sunshine. Though the us government has released hundreds of documents about the operation, it has retained even more sensitive papers thought to detail some of the most embarrassing aspects of the conspiracy.