Secondo i racconti, la vicenda dell’autostoppista si sarebbe verificata negli anni ’70 o ’80, quando Ong’s Hat era già un luogo disabitato. Inoltre, parlava un inglese perfetto ma con un’inflessione inusuale, che non sembrava appartenere a nessun accento typical of the States. “What is America?” “Where are the other nations?” “What year is it?” According to the story, the hitchhiker’s story took place in the 70s or 80s, when On’s Hut was already a no man’s land. A group of travelers traveling at night on Route 72 reported meeting a man who looked normal but had a confused and frightened expression. The man was dressed in simple clothes, but with a slightly unusual cut, as if he was slightly different from the general fashion. In addition, he spoke perfect English, but with a peculiar intonation and did not seem to belong to a typical American accent. “Is this still America?” “What happened to the other two countries?” “What year is it now?
I have decided to dig through the old archives and periodically present some media from the past here on Substack.
Today’s radio interview is from 2003 in LA. Yeah, I was thinking about AI even then. If you read COMPLEAT, you know my interest dates back to the late 1980s. Have a great weekend.
An interview with Joseph Matheny, recorded 08-07-03 from Radio Alchymy- KPFK – Los Angeles. Radio Alchymy
What if I told you there’s a lost town in New Jersey that might have vanished… not just from history, but from reality itself? This is the legend of Ong’s Hat—a place some claim was the site of a top-secret interdimensional experiment. But is this a bizarre urban legend, a forgotten ghost town, or something even stranger?
Ong’s Hat was a real settlement in the Pine Barrens, dating back to the 1700s. It was little more than a pit stop—a few houses, a tavern, and a reputation for outlaws and drifters. According to local folklore, the town got its name from a man named Jacob Ong, who supposedly threw his hat into the air in a drunken rage, and it got stuck on a tree branch. That’s all that remains in historical records… until things start to get weird.
In the 1970s, strange rumors began to circulate about a hidden research facility in the abandoned town of Ong’s Hat. A group of rogue scientists, including an ex-Princeton professor named Dr. Wali Fard, allegedly set up a secret lab known as The Institute of Chaotic Research.
These scientists weren’t just playing with atoms and equations—they were obsessed with the idea of parallel dimensions. They reportedly developed a device called The Egg, a small pod-like structure that, when activated, could transport people into alternate realities.
And according to the legend… it worked.
One night, the entire research team and their followers vanished without a trace. The buildings were left intact, their notes scattered, but not a single person remained. Some believe they used The Egg to escape to another world. Others claim the government shut the project down and erased all evidence.
So, what’s the truth behind Ong’s Hat? Many researchers claim this entire story was an elaborate Alternate Reality Game created by Joseph Matheny in the 1980s. He published a book called Ong’s Hat: The Beginning, which detailed the experiments and interdimensional travel. But Matheny later admitted he mixed truth with fiction to spread the story online.
Yet… some still believe something real happened in Ong’s Hat. The Pine Barrens have long been a hotspot for paranormal activity, from the Jersey Devil to secret military experiments. Was this just a hoax? Or was Matheny covering up something much bigger?
So what do you think? Is Ong’s Hat just an elaborate internet myth, or did something truly bizarre happen in the New Jersey Pine Barrens? Let me know in the comments. And if you want more dark government conspiracies and lost history, make sure to follow for more. Until next time, stay curious—and watch where you step in the woods.
Ong’s Hat is a real place. But the stories about it aren’t. That didn’t stop tales about a dimension hopping, scientific, transcendentalist, sadomasochistic cult from spreading across the early internet. This is credited as the first ever ARG and boy, is it weird
Episode: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-saspu-1831e0e
What if I told you there was a town that existed… and then it didn’t?
No records, no ruins—just eerie stories of impossible experiments and vanished realities.
🎥 Visual: Old, yellowed maps showing Ong’s Hat, New Jersey, with a hand flipping through mysteriously blacked-out documents.
📍 A Secret in the Pine Barrens
Ong’s Hat was a tiny settlement in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, but by the 1970s, bizarre rumors surfaced—claims that the town hid secret government experiments on interdimensional travel.
🎥 Visual: A rusted sign reading “Ong’s Hat – Population: Unknown” stands in a forest clearing. The camera lingers on a bunker hidden under vines.
📍 The Egg – A Portal to Other Realities
Legend says rogue scientists created a device called “The Egg”—a machine capable of opening portals to parallel worlds. Then, the town simply… disappeared. No buildings. No people. Just whispers of travelers who entered another reality—and never returned.
🎥 Visual: A flickering image of a metallic pod, cutting to an empty forest where a town should be, with a faint, unsettling hum in the background.
📍 Hoax, Cover-Up, or Something Else?
Was it a prank, a government cover-up, or evidence of something far stranger? One thing’s for sure—if you ever find a road sign for Ong’s Hat… you might want to turn back.
