At a decommissioned Air Force base on Long Island's eastern tip, the U.S. government allegedly conducted experiments in time travel, mind control, and interdimensional portals. It inspired Netflix's Stranger Things.
Montauk, New York. Roughly 190 kilometers east of Manhattan, at the very tip of Long Island, this small town was once a quiet seaside resort.
But the abandoned facility on its outskirts -- Camp Hero Air Force Station -- tells a very different story. According to conspiracy lore, the U.S. government conducted unimaginable secret experiments at this base during the Cold War. Time travel. Mind control. Portals to other dimensions. And children used as test subjects.
This is the legend of the Montauk Project.
The Montauk narrative begins with the Philadelphia Experiment of World War II. In 1943, the U.S. Navy allegedly attempted to render the destroyer USS Eldridge invisible to radar, only to accidentally teleport the ship from Philadelphia to Norfolk in an instant.
According to Preston Nichols, who published the foundational book on the subject in 1992, the technology discovered during the Philadelphia Experiment was transferred to the Montauk base and developed further. By manipulating electromagnetic fields, researchers allegedly gained the ability to control the flow of time itself.
The most disturbing claim involves children. Kidnapped boys, referred to as the "Montauk Boys," were allegedly placed in a device called the "Montauk Chair." This chair supposedly amplified their psychic energy, which was then used in experiments to alter reality.
Several self-described witnesses claim memories of sitting in the Montauk Chair, traveling back to the age of dinosaurs, or opening portals to other dimensions.
Note: Claims about the Montauk Project lack physical evidence or credible corroboration. The following presents the topic as a cultural phenomenon.
Historical records show that Camp Hero housed a SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) air defense radar system and operated as part of the Cold War defense network. The base was decommissioned in 1981 due to the obsolescence of its radar equipment.
The Montauk Project narrative relies almost entirely on the testimony of two individuals: Preston Nichols and Al Bielek. Their accounts contain numerous internal contradictions and have never been independently verified.
Regardless of its truth value, the Montauk legend has exerted a powerful influence on popular culture. Netflix's hit series Stranger Things draws directly from the Montauk mythology: secret government experiments, children with psychic powers, and a gateway to another dimension. The show's first season was originally developed under the working title "Montauk."
Today, the Camp Hero site is a New York State Park open to the public. Walk through its quiet grounds, past the rusting radar tower, and you will find no trace of secret experiments. But for conspiracy theorists, that absence is itself the evidence: proof that the cover-up was thorough.
