Ong's Hat

If you look at any map of New Jersey, a little south of center is a dot labeled Ong's Hat. It been on maps of New Jersey since 1828, but if you went there today you'd find little reason for its fame. Now all that's left is an old drive-in movie theater called Ong's Hat and the remains of an even older tavern(or inn) bearing the same name. So what was this particular chunk of the Pine Barrens at one time and where did it get that outrageous name?

The legends of Ong's Hat are varied:

Some say that Ong was a Chinese cook who was riding along with a merchant in a stagecoach one day. Ong's hat flew off and when they stopped to retrieve it, the merchant decided that the spot was the perfect place for a new inn, which after he built it he named Ong's hat.

Others say that, no, Ong was in fact Indian who had disapeared in the area soon to bear his name. All that was found of him was his bloody hat discarded in the bushes. From that day on the place was known as Ong's Hat.

Still others make no claims as to Ong's racial identity, but do have a different version of the tale. Some say he was a popular gentleman of the Pine's who loved the ladies. One woman became so fed up with his racy comments that she pulled off his hat and threw it in a tree. He was unable to retrieve the hat and so there it remained, giving the area its name. Others disagree and say that Ong was smashed one night and threw that hat up in the tree himself.

Although there is evidence that one Jacob Ong, a caucasian Quaker, lived in the area, there is no proof that he ever had a hat.

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The conspiracy stories surrounding Ongs Hat are bizarre and twisted but I have done my best to condense them below. The information has been gathered from various sources so Please bear with me.

Ongs Hat is located somewhere in New Jersey's Pinelands and its true location can only be found on old survey maps of the area. In 1978 a radical by the name of Wali Fard purchased 200 acres in the Pinelands and established the Moorish Science Ashram. This Ashram (or travel cult) would find itself home to a brother and sister,Frank and Althea Dobbs. Two undergraduates at the University of Texas who had come up with a new science called "cognitive chaos" which attempts to map the brains thought processes based on "The Fractal Universe". At any rate this radical concept ended up confusing and pissing off the administration at Princeton and saw the brother and sister ejected from the faculty. Having had a history of being involved with travel cults the siblings found comfort in the Ashram which lead them to set up shop and continue their research at Ongs Hat. As the Dobbs twins proliferated their research so did the community at Ongs Hat grow. The Ashram became home to an assortment of people ranging from scientists to families and general drop-outs. As the Dobbs twins continued there research they were soon joined by two scientists (already a part of the community) Harold Acton with experience in various computer sciences (hacking, programming, networking ect.) and Martine Kallikak a machinist and handy man. From this new union of concept and technology emerged some major breakthroughs and life altering events.

The research at Ong's Hat involved a strange mixture of philosophy, quantum mechanics and technology that is very difficult to explain in simple terms. What was the goal of this research and what is the makeup of the technology? The basic premises of these technologies are:

1. Mind machines: Seen advertised in magazines such as Popular Mechanics or Popular Science. They are used as meditation tools and cognitive learning devices. By projecting random, abstract light patterns onto the eyelid and stimulating the optic nerve thereby effecting different regions of the brain and increasing brain activity. Sound is often combined with this visual martix which stimulates the auditory centers of the brain. It has been found that Mind Machines can actually reduce learning time and help to achieve higher states of meditation, perception and concentration. The twins used modified Mind machines from the early 80's to help visualize abstract concepts and "tune" the mind to alternate states of perception. The Mind Machine was connected directly to the "Mainframe".

2. Mainframe: A series of computers networked together to form a mainframe. This mainframe would preform the immense task of crunching chaos math formulas. These special Dobbs twins formulas would help to visualize the fractal universe and guide the user through a preprogrammed directed experience stimulating various levels of perception.

3.Drugs: It is vaguely mentioned but no less a part of this recipe. To properly focus and achieve even higher forms of abstract perception hallucinogens were often used in tandem with technology. Drug use was often a double edge sword as the user would either benefit from the effects or "freak out". More often than not the use of hallucinogens would actually calm the user and help him to better digest and process the overwhelming experience.

4. Sex: Alot of argument relates to this ingredient but I'll attempt to explain it. By reaching a higher state of primal function you are getting in touch with a sort of base reality and grounding yourself in the quantum universe. By the act of lovemaking and the above technologies a couple can guide or alter there reality while in this state of bliss. When you are in touch with this great void you can change its very state by "will" alone and "ride the wave" to other realities or alternate places.

Supposedly all of these technologies came together and helped the residents of the community to open up a portal that led to either another world entirely or a second, alternate earth. The information and websites that exist and attempt to document what is occuring with Ongs Hat are always vague and lead me to believe that the whole thing is more hoax than anything else.