[ned]

Ahh, people love their compiracy theories, don't they…

I lived for years in village just next to Pont Saint Esprit, and my step-dad investigated this story in the mid-80's, interviewing directly the director of the local asylum, a first hand witness of the events, etc.

It's pretty well established that the cause of the event is the "ergot de seigle" (rye ergot fungus). The baking flour contained it, and it was spread to the population through bread. No conspiracy here.

That officials were interested in the incident doesn't mean they were responsible. The CIA was doing extensive research on LSD at that time (and LSD was first synthesized from the ergot fungus in the 1930's), so the fact that they investigated the effets of it spread to the population at wide seems plausible.