Another conspiracy theory “joke” that got out of hand was that of Ong’s Hat, New Jersey. Ong’s Hat was one of the earliest online conspiracy theories, based on a few run-down, abandoned buildings located deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
The story goes that science and the paranormal blended together to open doors to other worlds and dimensions. A man by the name of Matheny fueled interest in the area by posing as an investigator and reporting strange occurrences. Soon, though, his “research” started encouraging people to get a little out of hand.
Despite pulling the plug on it, believers refused to think it was all a game. Even in recent years, Matheny has had several people harass him for more information or try to break into his property.
Tonight we just have some things to discuss about upcoming investigations, and look back on what we are truly grateful for. Especially ‘You’ our viewers.
Added to this is some audio recorded on a night hike in the Pine Barrens with the UK BBC who came over the pond to investigate the mystery surrounding Ong’s Hat.
“Through parody and satire we’ve shaped this into something solid and genuine,” wrote one Tumblr user, who alluded to other examples of fictional conspiracy theories and fandoms, like Ong’s Hat and Polybius. It is the Tumblr version of “Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical,”
Alternate Reality Games have existed for far longer than most people realize, I just wanted to talk about some of the first ones. (the outro has all the music used in order)
Si hoy es miércoles, hay nuevo episodio de #333podcast, el programa que Perra de Satán y yo hacemos con
@PodiumPodcast
. Hoy exploramos las relaciones entre una revista contracultural de los sesenta, el misterio de Ong’s Hat, 4chan y QAnon.
At the start of November, I ran a seminar for a university transmedia course on ARGs, Alternate Reality Games. I was looking specifically at examples of three ARG-like projects had been taken as real, with disturbing effects. This post lists some of the links that I referred to. Another will follow with some thoughts on ARGs.
Slide 8
Located in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, Ong’s Hat was listed as a town on early maps of the area. It may have been the site of a small village, but it was probably just the site of a Ong’s hut, a place a farmer named Ong stopped on his way to market. But even by the 1930s, Ong’s Hat still appeared on maps of the area, although there was nothing there but the remains of an old shack in the middle of New Jersey’s ancient forest.
Fast-forward to the 1980s, when strange stories started appearing seemingly at random on bulletin board services and ‘zines detailing an elaborate conspiracy concerning a group of mystics and scientists who opened a door between dimensions at Ong’s Hat.
The story, created by Joseph Matheny and detailed in his book The Incunabula Papers: Ong’s Hat And Other Gateways To New Dimensions, is a work of fiction, but many of the weirdos and cranks who followed the elaborate breadcrumb trail of clues Matheny and others left were convinced it was real. As late as the 2000s, truth-seekers were showing up at Matheny’s door looking for the true story of Ong’s Hat.
LINK: https://lifehacker.com/11-famous-places-that-dont-really-exist-1849754301/slides/8
The Prop Anon Podcast explores the life and work of American novelist, Robert Anton Wilson through interviews and discussions with some of the most cutting-edge artists and thinkers around today. The Prop Anon Podcast presents interviews with Artists, Journalists, Comedians Comic Book Writers, Scientists, Community Activists, and Musicians as we think of ways to make existence, in the words of Bill Hicks, “a better ride” for everyone on Spaceship Planet Earth!
Joseph Matheny, transmedia Artist and creator of Ong’s Hat, the first Alternative Reality Game speaks about ‘weaponized’ ARGs, propaganda, how to free oneself from mental slavery, and works of Robert Anton Wilson
