CIA Reading Room cia-rdp75-00149r000200590012-6: CIA IN MARKET FOR 'WIGGLE SEAT' CHAIRS

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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