Tag Archives: multiverse

Some links on ARGs: orbific.com

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.

Lifehacker-11 Famous Places That Don’t Really Exist: Ong’s Hat

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

Subliminal Deception: A Conspiracy Theory Podcast- Ep 173: Ong’s Hat and the Birth of Creepy Pasta’s

In this week’s Episode of The Subliminal Deception Podcast, Cody and Phil discuss what has been called the Internets first Viral Creepy Pasta, the legend of Interdimensional Travelers previously based in Ong’s Hat, New Jersey, focusing on the creation of Creepy Pasta’s and what makes them so compelling. https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xj8ji6/SD_Ep_173_Ong_Hats6i4qj.mp3?_=1 Show page: https://subliminaldecpectionpodcast.podbean.com/e/ep-173-ong-s-hat-and-the-birth-of-creepy-pasta-s/

Ong’s Hat: Alternative Reality Games Are Not Games

https://www.ivoox.com/ong-s-hat-alternative-reality-games-are-not-games_md_93239217_wp_1.mp3?_=2 Go to download
We discuss an early example of the Alternative Reality Game genre of multimedia participatory “fiction.” Page for show: https://www.ivoox.com/en/ong-s-hat-alternative-reality-games-are-not-games-audios-mp3_rf_93239217_1.html The Long Seventies Podcast is an in-depth historical exploration of all things 1970’s, including politics, film, television, literature, music, culture, science and artistic/philosophical movements

JOHN TITOR: Soldier from the Future | Can this time traveler save us from destruction? (The Matheny/Ongs Hat Connection)

A rundown of the John Titor legend from one of my favorite Youtube Channels The Why Files. The part about yours truly starts at 23:42 or just watch the entire piece (recommended). As far as the veracity of this claim? I plead the fifth.

By The logo is from the following website: http://www.johntitorfoundation.com/, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1464463

PORTAL EN ONG’S HAT: UN MISTERIOSO SITIO DE “VIAJES INTERDIMENSIONALES”

Muchas teorías sugieren la existencia de realidades alternativas y que, en ocasiones, estas se conectan. En este punto, los viajes interdimensionales también son posibles a través de portales. Una de las historias más conocidas relacionadas con este hecho, es la Ong’s Hat.
PORTAL EN ONG’S HAT: UN MISTERIOSO SITIO DE “VIAJES INTERDIMENSIONALES” Este artículo ha sido copiado del sitio web https://codigooculto.com – Puede leer más en: https://codigooculto.com/enigmas/portal-ongs-hat-misterioso-sitio-viajes-interdimensionales/ – Ningún contenido publicado en CodigoOculto.com puede ser copiado, distribuido, publicado, reescrito o utilizado de ninguna manera, en su totalidad o en parte, sin una autorización previa y por escrito de CodigoOculto.com
Muchas teorías sugieren la existencia de realidades alternativas y que, en ocasiones, estas se conectan. En este punto, los viajes interdimensionales también son posibles a través de portales. Una de las historias más conocidas relacionadas con este hecho, es la Ong’s Hat. Ong’s Hat es una de las muchas ciudades fantasmas que se encuentran en la remota región “The Pines”, New Yersey. Un lugar que alcanzó la prosperidad en 1860, pero que, para mediados de 1930, ya era un pueblo fantasma. Sin embargo, para finales de los 70 y comienzo de los 80, este poblado abandonado se convertiría en la sede principal de un enigmático culto que pretendía incursionar en los viajes interdimensionales… READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://codigooculto.com/enigmas/portal-ongs-hat-misterioso-sitio-viajes-interdimensionales/ Translate into English

ONG’S HAT and the construction of a suspicious model reader Hortus Semioticus 9/2022 – 07

ONG’S HAT and the construction of a suspicious model reader Jorge Flores

[PDF] Abstract. In the late 1980s, an art collective led by writer Joseph Matheny created a multimedia narrative eventually known as Ong’s Hat about a supposed group of scientists who had achieved interdimensional travel and a subsequent persecution and concealment by of a dark conspiracy. Unfolded through printed documents sent by post, BBS (bulletin board systems) and later blogs, videos and radio, the Ong’s Hat textual complex managed to create a community of believers who discussed and amplified the narrative, appropriating it and disavowing its original creators. This article proposes to approach Ong’s Hat through Umberto Eco’s semiotics of interpretation, particularly his ideas on textual cooperation between reader and text and, starting from there, the textual strategies through which Ong’s Hat created its Model Readers. For this, concepts linked to transmedia are used, as well as the methodology developed by Margrit Schreier to evaluate how certain texts manage to confuse their readers about their reality status. Keywords: transmedia, interpretation, textual cooperation, textual strategies, Model Reader, BBS, ARG Entire article: https://www.hortussemioticus.ut.ee/hortus-semioticus-9-2022-07/ [PDF of the whole issue] [PDF of article]

Ong’s Hat: Abandoned Town or Time Portal?

LP is in Aruba…so Joe Conte keeps his chair warm while KP tells Kahuna and Joe about the mysterious abandoned town of Ong’s Hat, NJ….ghost town, time portal…work of fiction…government cover up??? You tell us when you need to hope off the train…we all know it’s coming. ENJOY!

https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/1338328768-americanloserpodcast-ongs-hat-abandoned-town-or-time-portal.mp3?_=3
Ong’s Hat: Abandoned Town or Time Portal?

Page Link: https://player.fm/series/american-loser-podcast/ongs-hat-abandoned-town-or-time-portal