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

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:

weird@hysteria51.com

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.