Official Website of
Author of
BEHIND THE FOG
How the U.S. Cold War Radiological Weapons Program Exposed Innocent Americans
"The mystery might have stayed buried if not for Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor.
The sociologist, researcher and retired faculty member from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville spent decades of her career trying to piece together what happened, combing through thousands of declassified files, pushing for the release of the ones that remain secret."
Natasha Zouves News Nation 8/28/25
Trailer for Target St. Louis Vol 1: a Damien Smith Film Based on Dr. Martino-Taylor's Research
.jpg)
Dr. Martino-Taylor at Tower overlooking Former Pruitt-Igoe Site.
Photo: William Greenblatt/UPI/Alamy
About
Lisa Martino -Taylor
Dr. Lisa Martino-Taylor is a public sociologist and has worked on issues related to heavy metals poisoning in Herculaneum, Missouri, testified before Congress in Lima, Peru about the lead poisoning of children by the Doe Run Mining Company in La Oroya, worked with residents near Times Beach and Ellisville, Missouri regarding dioxin and PCB contamination related to Agent Orange production, and organized and engaged in ethnographic research in Ferguson, Missouri. Martino-Taylor earned her Ph.D in Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has researched issues related to social and environmental justice, inequality, social movements, elite deviance, and U.S. military development and testing of chemical, biological and radiological weapons. Martino-Taylor taught at University of Missouri Columbia, St. Louis Community College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Radiation and Public Health Project in New York.
Guest Lecture at St. Louis Science Center
About
Behind the Fog
Published by Routledge, Behind the Fog is the first in-depth, comprehensive examination of the United States' Cold War radiological weapons program. The book examines controversial military-sponsored studies and open-air field trials using radioactive "simulants" that exposed American civilians to radiation and other hazardous substances without their knowledge or consent during the Cold War in violation of their civil and human rights. The book documents the coordinated efforts of a tight-knit group of military scientists who advanced a four-pronged secret program of human-subject radiation studies that targeted unsuspecting Americans for Cold War military purposes.
BEHIND THE FOG
How The US Cold War Radiological Weapons Program Exposed Innocent Americans
​
In September of 2012 I presented a colloquium on the preliminary research findings from my University of Missouri- Columbia doctoral dissertation, The Manhattan-Rochester Coalition, Research on the Health Effects of Radioactive Materials and Tests on Vulnerable Populations without Consent in St. Louis. The media attention resulting from the presentation was far beyond anything I expected, and the story was reported nationally and internationally. Many people from St. Louis and around the world were interested and concerned about the covert military studies that were the subject of my research. Now five years later I continue to receive inquiries. Behind the Fog is the result of five years of additional research that presents new findings, greater context, and additional evidence as to how the US military exposed vulnerable populations to radiation and other harmful chemicals during covert testing to develop radiological weapons.
​
I am grateful that Routledge has provided a platform to present the results in a research monograph, which will answer at least some of the questions presented to me over the years, as well as generate new inquiries that will lead to further investigation by myself and others. As a public sociologist I strive to make my research publicly-available at no cost wherever possible. My original dissertation was and continues to be an open-access document. In the spirit of public and community sociology it is my hope that this book will be made available in as many public libraries as possible in order to allow greater access to the information regardless of income. If you have an opportunity to do so please request that your local library add Behind the Fog to its collection.
​
Lisa Martino-Taylor
"Dr. Martino-Taylor has reopened a dark chapter of recent history in which the most vulnerable people were put in harms way without their knowledge. "
​
Robert Alvarez
Former Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary for the National Security and the Environment, and former Senior Investigator for the US Senate Committee on Government Affairs, chaired by Senator John Glenn
