According to a new report released this week by the Pentagon, Navy sailors were intentionally exposed to several nerve agents in an operation known as Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD) during the 1960s. Six tests carried out in the Pacific Ocean from 1964 to 1968 exposed thousands of men to sarin gas, a biological toxin known as staphylococcal enterotoxin, and a poisonous simulant. A medical official with the Defense Department admitted that the government was unsure whether the sailors were given proper protective gear. To make matters worse, a spokesperson for the office of the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs revealed that the department was uncertain whether all of the sailors had given their permission to be tested.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is currently attempting to contact the more than 4,000 military personnel who may have participated in the experiments.