Ong's Hat
Encyclopedia
Ong's Hat was one of the earliest internet-based secret history
conspiracy theories
created as a piece of collaborative fiction
(aka Incunabula) by four core individuals, although the membership propagating the tale changed over time.
mail art
networks and early zines. The aim was to create a fictional story line, and embed it in various media cultures to establish backstory. It may have started as an in-joke
, or the first alternate reality game
, a work of transmedia storytelling
or as a memetic
experiment, to see how far the meme
could spread or a combination of all of the above. The story eventually used print, radio, television and digital mediums (CD ROM, DVD
, Internet, BBS) in its dissemination.
The initial ground rules acknowledged the possibility that such an experiment could end up going down darker paths, and they specifically ruled out Ong's Hat being used for cult-like activity. Even though it is a fiction, the tale may be based on earlier works.
Joseph Matheny
was intimately involved and eventually concluded the project.
(or alternate history
) states that a facility manned by renegade Princeton professors conducted quantum physics and chaos theory
experiments, and according to conspiracy theories, discovered a new theory for dimensional travel using a device called The EGG. This device was to later inspire a children's TV series called Galidor
to use an interdimensional travel device of the same name.
They were largely based in the ghost town
of Ong's Hat, New Jersey
, hence the name of the project.
Secret history
A secret history is a revisionist interpretation of either fictional or real history which is claimed to have been deliberately suppressed, forgotten, or ignored by established scholars.-Secret histories of the real world:...
conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
created as a piece of collaborative fiction
Collaborative fiction
Collaborative fiction is a form of writing by a group of authors who share creative control of a story.Collaborative fiction can occur for commercial gain, as part of education, or recreationally - many collaboratively written works have been the subject of a large degree of academic research.-...
(aka Incunabula) by four core individuals, although the membership propagating the tale changed over time.
History
The threads of the story can be traced back as far as the 1980s on bulletin board systems, old xeroxXerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
mail art
Mail art
Mail art is a worldwide cultural movement that began in the early 1960s and involves sending visual art through the international postal system. Mail Art is also known as Postal Art or Correspondence Art...
networks and early zines. The aim was to create a fictional story line, and embed it in various media cultures to establish backstory. It may have started as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
, or the first alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
, a work of transmedia storytelling
Transmedia storytelling
Transmedia storytelling, also known as multi-platform storytelling, cross-platform storytelling, or transmedia narrative, is the technique of telling stories across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies...
or as a memetic
Memetics
Memetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. A meme, analogous to a gene, is essentially a "unit of...
experiment, to see how far the meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
could spread or a combination of all of the above. The story eventually used print, radio, television and digital mediums (CD ROM, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, Internet, BBS) in its dissemination.
The initial ground rules acknowledged the possibility that such an experiment could end up going down darker paths, and they specifically ruled out Ong's Hat being used for cult-like activity. Even though it is a fiction, the tale may be based on earlier works.
Joseph Matheny
Joseph Matheny
Joseph Wayne Matheny is a writer and transmedia artist who has created works using alternate reality gaming and transmedia storytelling methods. He holds patents for prediction, recommendation and behavioral analysis algorithms and software design...
was intimately involved and eventually concluded the project.
Plot
The urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
(or alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
) states that a facility manned by renegade Princeton professors conducted quantum physics and chaos theory
Chaos theory
Chaos theory is a field of study in mathematics, with applications in several disciplines including physics, economics, biology, and philosophy. Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the...
experiments, and according to conspiracy theories, discovered a new theory for dimensional travel using a device called The EGG. This device was to later inspire a children's TV series called Galidor
Galidor
Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension, also known simply as Galidor, is a show that ran on Fox Kids in 2002 with a total of 26 half-hour episodes. The series was created by Thomas W. Lynch, the creator of The Secret World of Alex Mack and The Journey of Allen Strange...
to use an interdimensional travel device of the same name.
They were largely based in the ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
of Ong's Hat, New Jersey
Ong's Hat, New Jersey
Ong's Hat, New Jersey, is a location of what has been called a ghost town in Southampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey. It is located on New Jersey Route 72 west of its intersection with New Jersey Route 70....
, hence the name of the project.
External links
- The Surprising Online Life of Legends
- Excerpts from This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming describes the Ong's Hat literary experiment
- El Centro includes the Incunabula Links
- Ong's Hat: The Beginning, a range of materials to download including the original book as well as graphic novels and CDs.
- The Incunabula Research Center
- Weird N.J. Volume 2: Ong's Hat
- The Ong's Hat Mystery Revealed: An Interview with Joseph Matheny
- Ong's Hat at DisInfo
- Early 90's Well Gopher Postings
- 1993- from TotseTOTSETOTSE was a San Francisco Bay Area website and former BBS dedicated to storing text files on a variety of subjects and viewpoints, many of which were unusual or controversial. The name is an acronym for Temple of the Screaming Electron...
- An interview with John Tukey at Princeton University on 11 April 1984 Includes references to a earlier Ong's Hat story