By That PAO Guy

In the series finale of Stranger Things, we hear Hopper talk about starting a new life with Joyce and taking a new job as the chief of police in Montauk. Now, to the average viewer, this line may seem like a simple symbolic gesture to show the characters moving on from the events of Hawkins. But what if I told you Montauk was a real place and its story is deeply rooted in conspiracy theories and military history? Sounds like the perfect spot for a spin off series, right? Let’s get into it.

Montauk is a small town in New York, located on the southern fork of Long Island. The area itself has a rich history dating back to before the United States was a country, but things began to get really interesting in 1942 when the U.S. Army established Camp Hero, a coastal defense station featuring several observation posts and 16-inch artillery cannons, all disguised to look like a quaint little fishing village. 

The reason Camp Hero was created, at least publicly, was to help protect New York shipping lanes during the war. It was part of a network of coastal defense bases that also included Fort H.G. Wright, Fort Michie, and Fort Terry. 

Now, I say “publicly” because Camp Hero has been the center of a conspiracy theory suggesting the U.S. government was conducting secret experiments there that focused on psychological warfare techniques and exotic research such as time travel. 

The allegations of these experiments date back to the 1980s when two men by the names of Preston Nichols and Al Bielek claimed to have repressed memories from their involvement in the experiments. Nichols, who was born in Long Island, also claimed that he was periodically abducted by government officials and forced to take part in these experiments against his will. 

Although most people have brushed off the allegations, Nichols doubled down on his story and published a book in 1992 called The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time. In the book, Nichols talks about the so-called Montauk Project, which he claims is an extension or a continuation of the Philadelphia Experiment, or Project Rainbow. I’ll make a whole other video going into details about what this was, but in short, it’s an alleged government experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in which the Navy did their best Harry Houdini impersonation and attempted to make the U.S.S. Eldridge disappear.

But back to Montauk. In Nichols’ book, he makes several incredible claims about the happenings in Montauk. For example, he said homeless people were abducted and subjected to electromagnetic radiation tests in which very few survived. 

The government also allegedly created a “porthole in time” which allowed researchers to travel anywhere in time and space. Through this porthole, scientists were able to make contact with extraterrestrials and exchange technology with them. That’s all really cool, if it’s real, but then why aren’t we all buzzing around in flying cars or traveling to other planets by now? Well, according to Nichols, the porthole was shut down after an alien monster, destroyed equipment, and ate the researchers. So, yeah, I guess that’s a good enough reason to shut it down.

Nichols and his co-author, Peter Moon, would go on to publish three more books about the Montauk Project. In rapid fire, here are some of Camp Hero’s more infamous experiments. Scientists allegedly created metahumans. Wait, does that mean Captain America is real? Military cultists built a 50-foot ziggurat made out of titanium for … reasons. Experimental flying saucers were created here before being shipped off to other bases for testing. The Jersey Devil is allegedly just one of the many bioengineering monstrosities scientists cooked up, there. Black helicopters, a symbol of military takeover in the American militia movement are believed to have constructed there. Famed inventor Nikola Tesla allegedly faked his own death in order to become Camp Hero’s chief director of operations. And lastly, apparently, they created the AIDS virus here.

Now, generally speaking, the majority of people believe these stories are nothing more than science fiction and fantasy. Even Nichols and Moon knew their story was incredible and said as much in the first chapter of their book. But like all good conspiracy theories, these stories straddle the line between reality and fiction, creating intrigue that can help inspire some of pop culture’s most memorable pieces of work. Like Stranger Things.

But I would love to know your thoughts on the Montauk project. Do you think it was real? If so, why? Or do you know of a different military conspiracy theory you think I should explore next? Let me know in the comments.