“Perhaps the oldest internet myth of all: the mystery of Ong’s Hat”
I had a wonderful conversation with Michael Förtsch, the author of this piece for the German Scifi mag 1E9. Here is a link to the original German, and below is a PDF of a machine translation into English. I hope you enjoy it.
I recently sat down via Zoom with Jean-Baptiste Chiara of the French Art magazine Technikart. Here is a link to the issue that has our conversation within.
Description of Technikart
News, cinema, music, literature, fashion: Technikart takes a different look at contemporary society every month. Having become since its creation in 1991 the essential witness to a world in perpetual change, Technikart deciphers the cultural trends and talents of today and especially of tomorrow. Trendsetter but citizen, impertinent but intelligent, news but offbeat: it is by breaking traditional codes that Technikart , inimitable, has become the cultural reference for those under 35.
Dive into the rabbit hole of unexplained mysteries and conspiracy theories! From Ong’s Hat to Mount Rushmore secrets, Titanic’s sinking to the Black Knight satellite – explore the unknown!
Not much remains of Ong’s Hat (or Ong’s Hut, depending on which legend you believe). Although a ghost town, it’s not forgotten! Ong’s Hat has a long history. Although historians aren’t sure when the village got its name, it’s older than the revolutionary war. This name appears in a 1778 map of Hessian encampments in New Jersey. The town’s peak may have been in the 1860s. However, by the 1930s, while the town’s name remained on maps, there was nothing there but a few brick remains, an open clearing, and an abandoned shed. Some historians aren’t sure if Ong’s Hat was ever a real village. Today, it is a terminus of the Batonia Trail, one of the longest in the state.
If you think Ong’s Hat is strange, you aren’t the only one. According to a conspiracy theory-based story dating back to the 1980s, a group of scientists travels to a creepy parallel universe from Ong’s Hat. One of the core writers/storytellers wrote a book titled, The Incunabula Papers: Ong’s Hat And Other Gateways To New Dimensions. Although he stated that this work was pure fiction, some people believe that Ong’s Hat is part of a bigger conspiracy.
