Ong's Hat: Eggheads, Gov't Shills, & The Internet's First Hoax | 323

What this episode covers

Ever start telling a story as a joke and it gets out of hand? People believe it no matter how much you swear you made it up and try to destroy your life? No, just Joseph Matheny? This week we tackle Ong’s Hat, the internets first honest to goodness hoax that took on a life of its own and to this day has people believing it is all true. They also believe the man claiming responsibility is just a government shill planted to throw us off the truth. And the story has everything: Weird religious cults, quantum physics, dimensional travel, hidden laboratories, luxurious silk top hats, carpet salesmen... We are banging on all cylinders! All that and more this week on the podcast that knows a thing or two about other dimensions... at least the Lower 4th Dimension... Hysteria 51! Special thanks to this week’s research sources: Books and Papers -Matheny, J. (2002). Ong’s Hat: The Beginning. Sky Books (NY). -Ong, Albert R. The Ong Family of America. (Martins Ferry, OH: privately printed, 1919) PDF: (http://archive.org/download/ongfamilyofameri00onga/ongfamilyofameri00onga.pdf) Videos The Mystery of Ong's Hat - https://youtu.be/o5GtwKrL2XA Ong's Hat: The Original ARG - Sex, Drugs & Quantum Physics - https://youtu.be/siF75w1gJrA Legend of the Pines: Ong’s Hat, New Jersey - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2iODYDz9E4&t=40s Ong's Hat: The Dimensional City - https://youtu.be/SXUpIC0j954 Why Did the Scientists in This Remote Cabin Disappear? - https://youtu.be/NIG3x3kVtos The First Internet Hoax - Inside A Mind - https://youtu.be/uHkn0CWWfBk Websites NJ Pine Barrens - https://www.njpinebarrens.com/a-hat-a-hut-or-a-tavern-the-tale-of-ongs-hat/ Ong’s Hat Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ong%27s_Hat Ong's Hat, New Jersey Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ong%27s_Hat,_New_Jersey Joseph Matheny Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Matheny Weird NJ - https://weirdnj.com/stories/ongs-hat/ BBC Limelight - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001hg08 Joseph Matheny - https://josephmatheny.com/2019/05/30/the-mystery-of-ongs-hat/ Joseph Matheny - https://josephmatheny.com/2012/09/29/the-hat-the-egg-the-chaos-ongs-hat-hidden-history-or-piney-mythology/ Slate - https://slate.com/culture/2018/10/ongs-hat-conspiracy-theories-decoder-ring.html Miriadic - https://miriadic.fandom.com/wiki/Ong%27s_Hat AV Club - https://www.avclub.com/the-internets-first-conspiracy-theory-involved-a-ghost-1831031313 Gizmodo - https://gizmodo.com/ongs-hat-the-early-internet-conspiracy-game-that-got-t-1832229488 Medium - https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/early-internet-conspiracies-centered-on-a-creepy-ghost-town-1263bffaad44 Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories: [email protected] Support the Show Get exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1 Shop Be the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting! https://hysteria-51.creator-spring.com/Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.