MKUltra blev først bragt til offentlighedens kendskab i 1975, som følge af den såkaldte ''Church Committee'' (en undersøgelseskomité nedsat af det amerikanske [[Senatet (USA)|Senat]]) og [[Gerald Ford]]'s kommission for CIA-aktiviteter i USA (også kendt som ''Rockefeller Commission''). Efterforskningsindsatsen blev vanskeliggjort og hæmmet af den tidligere CIA-direktør Richard Helms' (CIA-direktør fra 1966-1973) ordre om, at alle MKUltra-filer skulle destrueres i 1973; ''Church-''komitéens og Rockefeller-kommissionens undersøgelser var afhængige af de vidneudsagn de havde fået fra direkte deltagere og et lille antal dokumenter, der overlevede Helms' ordre.<ref name="Cia">{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol44no4/html/v44i4a07p_0021.htm|title=An Interview with Richard Helms|date=2007-05-08|access-date=2008-03-16|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|archive-date=19. december 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219184224/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol44no4/html/v44i4a07p_0021.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> I 1977 afslørede en "''Freedom of Information Act''"-anmodning 20.000 dokumenter relateret til MKUltra, hvilket førte til forskellige Senats høringer.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/13inmate_ProjectMKULTRA.pdf|title=Project MKUltra, the Central Intelligence Agency's Program of Research into Behavioral Modification. Joint Hearing before the Select Committee on Intelligence and the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research of the Committee on Human Resources, United States Senate, Ninety-Fifth Congress, First Session|date=8. august 1977|access-date=2010-04-18|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office (copy hosted at the New York Times website)}}</ref><ref name="mk1977">{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902EED9113FE334BC4A53DFBE66838C669EDE|title=Private Institutions Used In C.I.A Effort To Control Behavior. 25-Year, $25 Million Program. New Information About Funding and Operations Disclosed by Documents and Interviews Private Institutions Used in C.I.A. Plan|date=2. august 1977|work=[[New York Times]]|access-date=2014-07-30|quote=Several prominent medical research institutions and Government hospitals in the United States and Canada were involved in a secret, 25-year, $25-million effort by the Central Intelligence Agency to learn how to control the human mind. ... Dr. [[Harris Isbell]], who conducted the research between 1952 and 1963, kept up a secret correspondence with the C.I.A.}}</ref> Nogle overlevende oplysninger om MKUltra blev afklassificeret i juli 2001.
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