The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 514: DEEP DIVE: The Montauk Project | The Truth is Darker Than You Can Possibly Imagine

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

The Montauk Project: The Truth is Darker Than You Think In 1943, the USS Eldridge was made invisible and teleported from Philadelphia to Virginia. This event was known as the Philadelphia Experiment. When the Eldridge reappeared, some crew materialized in walls and bulkheads. They died in agony. But two sailors didn't reappear at all. The two men, who happened to be brothers, were presumed dead or lost. They weren't dead.  They traveled 40 years into the future; in a secret military base on the East end of Long Island. They became unwitting participants of The Montauk Project.

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When the Eldridge reappeared, some crew materialized in walls and bulkheads. They died in agony. But two sailors didn't reappear at all. The two men, who happened to be brothers, were presumed dead or lost. They weren't dead. They traveled 40 years into the future in a secret military base on the east end of Long Island. They became unwitting participants of the Montauk Project. It started with a theory. In 1933, scientists at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University were working on a single set of equations that could describe forces of

electromagnetism and gravity, the Unified Field Theory. And two scientists, Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, believed the theory could be used to harness these forces for incredible things, like making objects invisible. In fact, with Tesla in charge of the project, there was a successful first test of the hardware, achieving partial invisibility,

proving they were on the right track. Now, at the same time, World War II was getting closer to home, and for obvious reasons, invisibility would be a game-changer for the military. In 1940, the Office of Naval Engineering got involved in the project, offering the Brooklyn Naval Yard as a testing ground. They were going to make an entire ship invisible

and maybe find a way to end the war with an unstoppable advantage. Brooklyn Naval Yard as a testing ground. They were going to make an entire ship invisible, and maybe find a way to end the war with an unstoppable advantage. And it worked. Under Tesla's direction, they used a small vessel with no one aboard. Using electromagnetic coils installed on two neighboring ships as power, they made the ship invisible, both to radar and to the naked eye. Now, this was a great start, but the Navy needed this to work with actual people on board the ship invisible, both to radar and to the naked eye. Now, this was a great start, but the Navy needed this to work with actual people on board the ship. Tesla was worried about safety.

He wanted more time to test before bringing in actual crew members. He wanted to take things slowly. Turns out, too slow for the needs of the military. Tesla was replaced by theoretical physicist John von Neumann, and the operation, now called Project Rainbow, was on the fast track. And that's when everything went horribly wrong. In 1939, at the start of World War II, Duncan and Edward Cameron wanted to serve their country. They had no idea they were about to make history. The brothers were highly educated. Duncan had a PhD in physics from the University of Edinburgh.

The older brother, Edward, had a doctorate in physics from Harvard. They followed in their father's footsteps and joined the Navy. But it's no surprise they were quickly snapped up by the Institute for Advanced Study. They were immediately trained and assigned to the now classified Project Rainbow. Fifty years later, a man named Al Bielek would start to have glimpses, then visions, then entire memories of his life as Edward Cameron. And he related the story of their crucial role in what would become known as the Philadelphia Experiment. In July of 1943, the Cameron brothers arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to board their new ship. They were part of a skeleton crew of 15 sailors and six officers on a destroyer called the USS Eldridge. Only this ship had a unique mission, one that would become legend.

The hull of the Eldridge was outfitted with two megawatt power transmitters driving four Tesla coils, all operated from a control room sealed from the rest of the ship. This is where Duncan and Edward were assigned. The brothers had the job of manning the series of switches and monitors that would run this groundbreaking experiment. At 9 a.m. on July 20th,

Duncan and Edward were given orders to activate the switches and launch the first experiment in invisibility with actual crew members aboard. The transmitters came to life, and the Tesla coils generated two fields simultaneously, an electromagnetic field and an electrical field, one rotating around the other. These fields formed an electromagnetic bottle around the ship. And once the fields were up and running, the ship appeared to, well, disappear. For nearly 20 minutes, the ship became invisible to the observers on neighboring ships

until Duncan and Edward were directed to turn off the equipment and bring the experiment to a close. This wasn't a success. When the brothers came out of the control room, they realized there was a serious problem. Anyone who was on deck during the experiment became disoriented, nauseous, even delirious. Von Neumann asked the Navy for time to study the issue. After all, the equipment was no good if it would harm the crew. But the Navy insisted.

The deadline was August 12th, 1943. Get it right. The war would not wait. So von Neumann and the crew prepared a second test, modifying the equipment to better protect the crew. Only they made it worse. Much worse. On August 12th, 1943, Duncan and Edward Cameron were back in their steel control room in the hull of the USS Eldridge. They were asked to switch on the Tesla coils. Merchant Marine Carlos Miguel Allende observed the whole thing from his ship, the SS Andrew Furyseth, docked next to the Eldridge that morning.

According to Allende, a visible field of electromagnetic radiation surrounded the Eldridge, extending 100 yards out from each beam. The ship itself was invisible, but he saw a hull-sized depression in the water where the ship had been. Allende claims to have placed his hand into the field up to his elbow. He described a powerful surging force that flowed counterclockwise around the ship. Then the air around the ship got dark. It was surrounded by a foggy green mist. The field was humming, getting louder as the green mist turned into a green-blue glow followed

by a flash. Then the ship went beyond invisibility. The USS Eldridge physically disappeared for hours. And when it returned, it brought with it unimaginable horror. On board the Eldridge, Duncan and Edward knew things were not right. In their control room, equipment was going haywire. There was strange electrical arcing bouncing off the switches. The hum of the field outside

was growing louder, and they couldn't raise anyone on the radio. They made the decision to shut down the equipment, but the switches wouldn't budge. They couldn't break the power connection, so they decided to get out. They left the control room and opened the heavy steel door. They could see nothing

but gray fog around the ship. Thinking they were still in the naval yard, the brothers jumped off the ship intending to swim to safety. Only they never hit the water. They just kept falling and falling and falling. When they first landed, it was the year 2137. Edward, aka Al Bielek, woke up in a hospital and was being treated for radiation injuries. Duncan was nowhere to be seen. When his health improved, Edward learned more about the world he was now in. In 2137, the geography of the United States is vastly different.

Florida and most of the eastern seaboard is underwater. California is a series of islands, and the Great Lakes have combined into one giant lake. After a devastating nuclear war fought between the West and Russia and China, the world's population had been reduced to 300 million people. The United States, Canada, and most governments were gone. Areas were under local martial law. Just when Edward was becoming overwhelmed, he was transported hundreds of years into the future and arrived in the year 2749.

He would spend two years living in this time. Life in the 28th century was much different than the 22nd. The most obvious change was anti-gravity technology. This allowed people to live in floating cities more than two miles above the earth. These cities were run by an advanced AI, all interconnected with one another. Human life was easy. As long as you contributed to society, all your needs were met. The AI, operating robotic equipment on the ground, handled all farming and food production.

But Edward felt like people lost their identities. Sure, their lives were easy, but they were now mindless drones. Then suddenly, Edward felt the world shifting again. He and his brother were in some kind of tunnel or vortex, lights flashing all around them, until they found themselves on dry land. They realized they were on a military base, and judging by the searchlight trained on them and the helicopter hovering overhead, someone was expecting them. Soldiers took them to a nearby bunker, where they were escorted

onto an elevator and brought several floors underground. And there they were greeted by a familiar face. It was Dr. John von Neumann. Only, he was 40 years older. He looked at the two bewildered brothers and said, Welcome to Montauk. If it's a flat or a squeal, a wobble or peel, your tread's worn down or you need a new wheel, wherever you go, you can get it from our tread experts. Until May 30th, purchase four new Michelin passenger or light truck tires

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wherever you go, you can get a pro at Tread Experts. Toyo's open country family of tires will get you through tough weather in a variety of terrains. Until May 31st, save up to $100 in rebates on select Toyo tires. Find a Toyo Tread Experts dealer near you at treadexperts.ca slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there. TreadExperts.ca The Cameron brothers were told they landed in 1983.

Edward had already traveled across time and accepted it easily. Duncan wasn't so sure, but they were given a tour of the underground base. It was full of modern equipment they couldn't explain. And they were shown computers that didn't exist in their time. And TV news showing what to them were wonders of the future, freeways and jet planes. Then they were given a new mission. Von Neumann told them two experiments in time, one in 1943 and one in 1983, exactly 40 years apart, had coupled together and caused a rift in time. Back in 1943, during the Philadelphia experiment, the USS Eldridge had generated a hyperspace bubble.

The bubble was growing fast. Eventually, it would swallow the entire planet, and the Earth would just be gone. The Cameron brothers were instructed to return to their ship and destroy the equipment. They had to close this rift in hyperspace. By 1983, Von Neumann's team had complete control of space and time. They could easily return Doug and Edward to the Eldridge. Once back in the control room, they smashed the equipment. The Eldridge was brought back to the docks of the naval yard. Only things were far from normal.

When they walked back on deck to check for damage, they found one horror after another. The ship had reappeared, but crew members were now embedded in steel bulkheads. Some had a hand stuck in the wall. Others with half their body now part of the hull itself. Those that escaped this horror were running around acting insane, their minds unhinged. Luckily for Doug and Edward, the steel walls of the control room protected them from danger.

Dr. Von Neumann, the younger version, boarded the ship with emergency crews to do what they could for the survivors. Von Neumann asked Edward where his brother went. That's when Edward realized Doug was gone. He had jumped overboard to return to 1983. Later, Edward, a.k.a. Al Bielek, would learn his brother had special orders. He was going back to join the Montauk Project. Preston Nichols was an electrical engineer. He worked for the defense contractor Airborne Instruments Lab on Long Island. In the 1970s, Nichols had a grant to study mental telepathy,

expecting to prove it didn't exist, but quite the opposite happened. Nichols discovered telepathic communication actually worked like radio waves. He even identified a wave generated from the human mind on a certain frequency. He called it the telepathic wave. When he dug in further, he realized this telepathic wave was not quite a radio wave and not quite an electromagnetic wave, but somewhere in between. He became obsessed with his discovery. This was beyond any textbook he'd ever seen. He assembled a group of psychics to test their responses

and monitor the various waves he could measure from their minds. That's when he noticed something odd. Every day at the same hour, every psychic he worked with had trouble thinking effectively. It was like their minds were jammed. Nichols figured out that while the psychic's minds were jammed,

there was a signal in the 410 to 420 megahertz range being broadcast from somewhere. He decided to track down the source. He rigged a mobile receiver in his car, attached a TV antenna on the roof, and went looking for the origin of the mystery signal. His search brought him right to Montauk Air Force Base. He couldn't gain access to investigate further. Security was tight on the base. But the source was clear.

The base is home to one of the largest air defense radar dishes ever produced, mounted on a 150-foot tower. It's so big that fishermen on the Atlantic Ocean use it as a landmark for navigation. It was easier to spot than a nearby lighthouse. And this wasn't just any radar. This was a World War II-era SAGE radar, which stands for Semi-Automatic Ground Environment.

It was used to defend against Soviet missiles. But that day, Nichols had to drive away without getting a close look at the radar or anything else. The base was off limits. Until it wasn't. In 1984, Nichols heard the Montauk base had been abandoned. He went to check it out for himself, and the stories were true. No one was there. He could walk right in. The buildings were empty.

Even stranger, there was debris everywhere. Papers strewn about, equipment left behind. It was like everyone left in a hurry. Nichols saw high-voltage radio equipment sitting around collecting dust. He contacted the surplus disposal agency to ask if he could add it to his collection. But the agency had no record of any equipment and couldn't say who owned it. Eventually, Nichols was connected with someone at a nearby military installation in Bayonne, New Jersey. They confirmed the equipment was not on their books and he could take whatever he wanted.

But what was all this powerful electrical equipment doing on the Montauk base? And why was the military denying any connection? Nichols decided to collect the equipment. He returned to the base and explored deeper into the maze of hallways. And in one of the abandoned rooms, he found a man who appeared to be homeless. The man said he'd been living in the building ever since the base was abandoned. He also said everything had gone crazy there a year ago when an experiment went very wrong. He even claimed there was a beast that appeared

that attacked everyone. He said he'd been a technician at the base and even knew how the equipment worked. And he said he knew Preston Nichols because Nichols had worked there too. By now, Preston Nichols was obsessed. Why was this strange homeless guy saying he knew him? Nichols devoted more time to uncovering the mysteries of the base.

He started asking locals for stories, and the stories flooded in. Apparently, there were strange activities happening there all the time. Bizarre weather patterns. Animals behaved strangely. There were reports of deer running out from the woods into the town of Montauk and throwing themselves against glass windows of the stores on Main Street. People were driven to crime sprees. But all of this only happened during certain two-hour periods.

In 2008, a strange animal washed up on the beach at Montauk. It's been called the Montauk Monster. It looked kind of like a dog, but had claws and the beak of a bird. Across the Long Island Sound is the Animal Disease Center on Plum Island. Rumors say this island has

been used for animal experiments, biological weapons, and even testing human-animal hybrids. Could the Montauk monster have come from Plum Island? Well, we don't know. But we do know when the base in Montauk was abandoned, the strange events stopped. Wherever Nichols turned, there were more questions.

And by 1984, he was feeling like he was never going to get any answers. Until Duncan Cameron appeared at his door. Now, the Duncan Cameron standing at the door of Nichols' lab didn't seem to know anything about the Philadelphia experiment, let alone the Montauk base. He simply had a piece of audio equipment he wanted to get fixed. But Nichols asked him in and introduced him to the psychics he was working with.

And Duncan quickly showed tremendous aptitude for the work. That's when Nichols had a hunch and told Duncan he'd be taking him somewhere to see if he recognized it. They drove to Montauk Air Force Base and Duncan more than recognized it. He knew the purpose of every building. He knew the details of the interiors,

where a bulletin board was hung in the mess hall, where specific rooms were located. He knew the base like the back of his hand. And Nichols knew at this moment, Duncan Cameron had been there before. So he brought Duncan back to his lab and applied techniques he'd learned working with the psychics and brainwaves to attempt to unblock Duncan's memories. And it worked. Duncan could slowly recall the details of something called the Montauk Project and confirmed it happened on that base. And he realized he was very much at the center

of the experiments. Duncan also revealed he was on the USS Eldridge and took part in the Philadelphia experiment with his brother Edward. But Nichols pushed for more answers. What was he doing showing up at the lab? And who programmed him to forget these experiments? That's when Duncan became aware of a shocking assignment embedded deep in his mind. He blurted out that he'd been programmed to come to Nichols' place. He was then to befriend him and then kill him. From that moment on, Duncan promised he would help Nichols uncover every remaining secret of this thing called the Montauk Project. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map.

You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map.

You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map.

You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from

every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible.

Nichols' own memory was affected by Duncan's presence. He started to notice strange things when he was at work. People he didn't know seemed to recognize him. He was copied on mail and included in meetings that didn't apply to his position in the company. One day, Nichols was sitting

at his desk when he felt an ache in his hand. He looked down and the back of his hand was covered with a band-aid over a fresh wound. A wound he didn't have

15 minutes earlier. And this happened more than a few times. On one occasion, Nichols even confronted the company nurse and asked her if he'd been there for a band-aid. She said he hadn't and had no idea what he was talking about. As time

went on, Preston Nichols began to realize he was living two separate lives. One day he had what he calls an intuitive urge to visit the basement. This was a high security area. Only maybe 10 people in the company had the clearance to be there, and he wasn't one of them. He reluctantly took the elevator down. He gathered himself to try to appear natural and walked right up to the security guard. And even though he'd never been in this area and had no idea what happened there, the guard gave him a badge with his name on it and waved him through. Whether by muscle memory or just by using his gut, Nichols seemed to know where he was going. He finally arrived at a plush office much nicer than his own.

On the large desk was a nameplate, Preston B. Nichols, Assistant Project Director. Preston Nichols now had real physical evidence that he was living two lives, one as an engineer, the other as a senior member of a top-secret government program called the Montauk Project. By early 1990, all of Nichols' memories of the project had come back, and it was worse than he could have possibly imagined. When Duncan Cameron disappeared in 1947, it wasn't the end of Project Rainbow. It was just the beginning.

Dr. John von Neumann's team was tasked with getting humans to withstand powerful electromagnetic fields and to fully explore the power unleashed with the Philadelphia experiment. The project was moved to Brookhaven Labs on Long Island and classified under the new title Project Phoenix. And the focus of the project turned to the effect of electromagnetic and radio waves on the human mind. Von Neumann discovered humans are born with an internal time reference point. His theory was that every person is attached through energy to a timeline at birth. And a whole reference as a physical being comes from that time reference. This is part of the electromagnetic background of the Earth itself.

The forces unleashed in the Philadelphia experiment threw that time reference connection off kilter, causing the crew horrible trauma. Now, the experiment worked. An electromagnetic bottle covered the ship in a field that made it invisible, but it also disconnected the crew from time itself. That was bad. So during the 1950s and 60s, von Neumann and his team went to work using special machines and a new invention called a computer. He was trying to develop artificial time reference connections for human subjects while they were inside the electromagnetic bottle. They achieved this by feeding into the bottle the natural background energy of the Earth to mimic the continuous time stream reference humans needed.

Each subject required personalized programming that synchronized the electromagnetic background with their individual time reference. This was crucial. If the time reference wasn't in sync, the subject would literally go insane. By the late 60s, von Neumann reported the results of the top secret Project Phoenix to Congress. And what he told them was beyond their wildest expectations. Von Neumann not only made the electromagnetic fields safe for humans, he opened up a new possibility, that they could use this technology to change people's thoughts,

even tell an entire army to surrender, winning wars without losing a single life. Brookhaven scientists were beyond excited. They could generate a signal that could bring peace just by changing their thoughts. This crazy idea was actually within their reach. But when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

This new phase of the project required special equipment, including a powerful radar system. That's exactly what was waiting for von Neumann at Montauk Air Force Base. The SAGE radar sitting high atop the main building was perfect for his plans. And in 1970, Project Montauk was officially born. Turns out this was Duncan Cameron's assignment when he jumped back into the time portal from the USS Eldridge. He was to join von Neumann's experiments because of his psychic aptitude.

His role was to provide his own mind for experimentation. The Montauk project team would determine how they could influence his human reactions through waves generated by the radar systems. Later, the tables were turned with horrible results, but at first, these experiments were actually promising. Duncan, who was among many assigned to the project as subjects, was placed in a shielded room below ground.

There he would absorb various degrees of UHF and microwave energy. At the same time, the giant radar dish was powered on. It was programmed to transmit in different directions, at different pulse rates and frequencies. These experiments helped the research team learn to control Duncan's behavior. Duncan would find himself crying uncontrollably. Then he'd suddenly break out laughing. Then he'd become agitated.

He would cycle through these moods quickly, the transmitter controlling it all. The team began experimenting with frequency hopping. So in addition to different power levels, researchers would introduce random shifting in frequencies as well. They discovered fast frequency hops made Duncan more psychoactive. They tracked the times between frequency modulations and the effects it had on their brave subject. Ultimately, the researchers landed on a radio frequency of 425 to 450 megahertz. This opened up a window into Duncan's mind, and their method of transmitting waves was perfected. They could affect human moods,

drive animals to strange behavior, even stop a car in its tracks, all depending on the frequency and level of power used. Now, if they'd stopped there, the story would have a much nicer ending, but not even close. In fact, they ended up creating a monster. Literally. Duncan Cameron, having superior psychic abilities, was key to the project. He was able to withstand a tremendous amount of electromagnetic energy. It was time to

put that to the test. The research team proved they could affect human thought through electromagnetic waves. Now it was time to turn the tables. What if telepathic waves from the human mind could drive effects in the world? The Montauk team modified

a special chair for this purpose, which became known as the Montauk chair. The idea was they would read the electromagnetic functions of the person in the chair and translate those waves into an understandable form. The chair was surrounded by coils and sensors attached to three receivers, all driven by a Cray supercomputer. The chair itself was moved to a secure building to separate it from the enormous power of

the SAGE radar. The radar would then receive transmissions from the chair and output the results. Bottom line, Duncan would help them drive a mind amplifier. As the experiments grew, the researchers tuned the programming to Duncan's mind and increased the fidelity of the output. Soon, Duncan could concentrate on something, and the transmitter at Montauk would generate a very clear representation of what he was thinking. If he thought of an apple or a baseball, the object would appear, first on the computer screen, then holographically, and finally as an actual solid object in the real world.

Excited by the results, researchers continued to improve the chair, adding Helmholtz coils developed by Tesla to increase the variety of fields generated by Duncan. The new coils had the benefit of creating a field around the chair itself, allowing it to be safely placed in the same building as the antenna and transmitter on the Montauk base. The operations center was shielded in cement and steel. Everything was now together on site. The transmitter was reproducing thought forms without glitches and with a high degree of fidelity. The Montauk project was working, and this turned out to be very bad news. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long lost treasure chest.

While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city,

driving closer to the truth while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. With the new coils and the improved Montauk chair in top form, Duncan's abilities flourished. He was able to concentrate on a solid object, and the resulting transmission would create that object out of the ether somewhere on the base.

It got to where Duncan could imagine a specific spot on the base and make an object appear there. Sometimes the object would remain stable for hours. Other times the object would fade away when the transmitter is powered down. Duncan's power grew to the point where he could broadcast objects outside the base. He could even generate entire buildings out of his imagination and they would physically appear on the base. Nichols called this kind of thing routine for Duncan. Researchers kept pushing Duncan's powers. They experimented with what could be done if he focused on a lock of a person's hair. He was able to use personal objects to see through the eyes of other people anywhere on the planet.

They kept expanding Duncan's abilities. He would meet individuals and then later focus on them and actually affect their thoughts. Soon the team noticed Duncan would concentrate on something at a particular time, say 8 p.m., and the resulting object or occurrence would happen hours later. What he thought of would happen outside the time he thought it, suggesting he was able to reach out beyond time itself to affect the world. Duncan had learned to bend space-time.

Nichols and the other engineers on the team made changes to Duncan's equipment to take advantage of this new ability. They changed the antenna structure to what was called an Orion Delta-T configuration. This was a huge octahedral antenna built 300 feet under the base. The Montauk chair was moved directly above the Delta T, and this improved clarity and removed interference, and the resulting transmissions were more powerful than ever. According to Nichols, they essentially duplicated the equipment back on the USS Eldridge that drove the time-bending electromagnetic bottle, except their version was completely controlled.

Except for one thing. Duncan. The time-bending is where things got out of hand. But now the focus of the project turned to exploring time. Nichols and his team calibrated the systems to synchronize with Duncan's thoughts. Duncan would be directed to concentrate on an opening in time, from the current year to back a decade or more.

This would open a time portal in the center of the Delta T antenna, one that anyone could walk through. And as long as Duncan concentrated, the time door would remain open. The crew used Duncan's portals to explore history and even venture into the future. They were able to stay within the vortex field to sample air and terrain without physically entering the time at the other end. According to Nichols, scientists could walk down the spiraling time tunnel but would suddenly be pulled through if they went too far. In that case, you'd be propelled out the other end and end up in some other place, even places beyond Earth. There was always a danger they would lose power during a given operation, or Duncan would lose focus, and you'd be lost in time or abandoned in the vortex itself.

Duncan used to talk about a place two-thirds of the way into the tunnel where your energy would leave your physical body, and the researchers would aggressively push Duncan to test it. Nobody knows how many people were lost in these experiments floating around in time out there, but that didn't stop them from pushing things further. In August of 1983, Nichols was ordered to run the transmitters non-stop in some kind of test to see what a continuous vortex would do. And then unexpectedly, the system linked to 1943 and the USS Eldridge appeared through the portal. Nichols wasn't sure how it happened. The connection may have been generated by 20-year biorhythm cycles in the Earth, or maybe the Montauk scientists intended to make this connection all along. But at this point, the Duncan from 1943 appeared in the time portal with his brother Edward. And no one knew what would happen if the current Duncan met his past self. But everyone

feared it would violate natural laws in ways that could be apocalyptic. The team decided to use a contingency program meant to shut down the entire operation. The program was simple. Someone would approach Duncan in the Montauk chair and whisper, The time is now. Duncan was trained to let go of the time portal when he heard those words and stop the whole experiment. Only by this time, the powers they unleashed would not be stopped so easily. When Duncan heard the words, it caused a rift in his own mind.

His confusion and anger generated a strange animal made from the ether. As programmed, the transmitters read his mind and manifested this creature on the base itself, and the beast was born.

Some say it was 30 feet tall, others claimed it was 10, but everyone ran from it as it ravaged the base and killed anyone it found. Nichols' crew tried to shut down the power generators, but it seemed the electromagnetic power was feeding on itself. It wouldn't shut down. The beast was still wreaking havoc, building after building.

The Montauk transmitter was switched off. That didn't work. The main power coming from the utility company was cut. That didn't work. Power was power coming from the utility company was cut. That didn't work. Power was still on, being generated from somewhere. And worst of all, the creature was still on the loose. Nichols decided to take matters into his own hands. He took an acetylene torch and headed for the transmitter room. He cut the power lines and connections to the radar and destroyed the transmitter. According to Nichols, the burn marks can still be seen to this day.

Finally, the power was cut and the equipment stopped. The beast faded into the ether and the portal disappeared. And the Montauk Project finally saw its last day. The Montauk Project ran from the early 70s until 1983. And the story does sound far-fetched. But there are many people who say Preston Nichols is telling the truth. While the Montauk Project was operating, it needed a constant supply of people for its experiments.

Unfortunately, most of these were children, usually boys between 10 and 15 years old. These children became known as the Montauk Boys. Montauk Boys were usually runaways or taken from troubled homes, like families suffering alcoholism, drug addiction, or abuse. One of these Montauk Boys is named Stuart Swerdlow. As a boy, Swerdlow recalls having dreams of waking up in a dark room strapped to a hospital bed surrounded by strangers.

The room was dark and damp and the walls were made of rock. Preston Nichols did say the experiments took place deep underneath the Montauk Air Force Base. One disturbing goal of the Montauk Project was to create an army of children whose minds could be programmed and controlled. Then they could be activated at any time. They would carry out any mission, no matter how horrible, and not remember any of it. Montauk boys have been linked to disasters like Columbine and the Oklahoma City bombing. In order to prepare the children for

programming, their minds had to be broken down. This included starvation and torture, receiving electric shocks or being submerged in cold water to the point of almost drowning. And this was done day after day until the child's mind was ready to accept new programming. Many other men have come forward claiming to be Montauk boys. One said he was forced to take LSD in what became known as the acid house. Another said his body was used as some sort of generator to feed psychics sitting in the Montauk chair, usually Duncan Cameron. As you would expect, many children did not survive this phase of the experiment, and they're said to be buried somewhere deep underneath the Montauk base, still presumed missing after 40 years. Back to Montauk. Christopher Garitano was eight years old in 1983 and playing on Montauk Beach.

He found strange metal objects in the sand. He dug them out and was walking back to his family to ask what they were. Then out of nowhere, someone in a military uniform appeared and chased them off the beach. This started a lifelong obsession for Garitano, and he would visit the base many times. And during these visits, he would find problems with the government's official story. The Montauk Air Force Base is not supposed to have underground levels. Garitano notes there are manhole covers all over the property. Sure, those could be for drainage, but on one trip, Garitano brought a geophysicist along. Using imaging equipment, they proved that a large concrete building was buried 20 feet down.

Many people have explored the buildings over the years, and a few have video. Video that shows evidence of an underground complex that was buried and filled by concrete. During one visit, urban explorer Brian Minnick found receipts from the late 1980s that showed over $80,000 per week was spent on food. That's a lot of food for a base that was supposedly shut down in 1981. Preston Nichols, Stuart Swerdlow, Al Bielek, Chris Garitano, Brian Minnick, the names go on and on. There are dozens of people, maybe more, all claiming to be part of the same experiment. The U.S. government denies all of it.

Who do you believe? I've been interested in the Montauk Project conspiracy since Preston Nichols' first book came out in 1992. I spent a lot of my life on Long Island, so a conspiracy that takes place in your backyard is hard to resist. I've been to the Montauk Air Force Base, which is now called Camp Hero. The original title of the show Stranger Things was Montauk, and a lot of stories are taken from Nichols' writing. This episode was difficult to research and write, because the more I learned about my favorite conspiracy theory, the less I liked the people involved. First, Al Beelick. He's the man whose city served on the USS Eldridge in 1943 in the body of Edward Cameron. There is no record of any Beelick,

Edward, or Duncan Cameron serving aboard the Eldridge, or brothers with that name serving on any ship in the Navy. Supporters of the theory say their names were erased or changed by the government. That's fair. In Bielek's writings and lectures, he used pictures of his family, Edward and Duncan Cameron, and others, but they were all proved to be fake. Most suspicious of all, Bielek had no memories of the Philadelphia experiment until he saw the movie in 1984. He said the movie brought his memories back. His story was surprisingly similar to the movie. Albelic also struggled with paranoia and other psychological problems.

He made a meager but sufficient living off selling CDs and merchandise and talking at UFO conventions. He died in 2007. Many people still believe his story and they claim that the government has sponsored disinformation to discredit him. Okay, now Stuart's word low.

He's a character. He's still around and still claims to be a Montauk boy. He also claims to speak 10 languages. His DNA has been spliced with aliens. He's been imprisoned by the Illuminati. He can see Oric fields, travel hyperspace. He's a descendant of Atlantis and I can go on. He's basically been at the center of every conspiracy theory that exists. Moon bases, Atlantis, lizard people. And look, if you're worried you're a Montauk boy, you can hire Stewart to deprogram you for a small fee. Now, I'm not saying the guy's a fraud, but I am saying a judge said he was. If you Google him, it's not pretty. Who knows? Maybe all his potions and vitamins and dog treats will help you reach enlightenment,

but I don't recommend buying his products. Now, I've saved Preston Nichols for last. There were rumors circulating around Montauk for a long time before Nichols came along, but Preston Nichols is the man behind the current theory, and he's the only man behind it. He actually opens his first book like this. This work is being presented as nonfiction as it contains no falsehoods to the best knowledge of the authors. However, it can also be read as pure science fiction if that is more suitable to the reader. There are lots of things that don't add up about this.

Nichols says the Montauk experiment took place 10 stories below ground, maybe lower, and that there are tunnels deep underground that connect to other secret locations in the United States. Now, this might work in some parts of the U.S., but it won't work at Montauk. When glaciers move, they pick up all kinds of sand and dirt and debris, kind of like a push broom. When the glaciers recede, the debris remains. This is called a glacial moraine. Long Island is essentially a pile of glacier debris, mostly sand. You just can't dig very deep there. That's why the only skyscrapers in the area are downtown Manhattan. That's where the bedrock is.

Nothing else can support deep digging. But there's one final conspiracy about Preston Nichols we need to discuss. And if you have little ones listening, please send them away for a few minutes. Really. You may remember Preston Nichols used a deprogramming technique on Duncan Cameron. Nichols describes this technique in his books, though it rarely makes its way into the fun YouTube videos about the Montauk Project. To be deprogrammed, Preston Nichols has to touch you while you're in an aroused state.

Now, I won't give the specifics here, but I think you understand what I mean. Nichols deprogrammed young men all the time. Preston Nichols had built a replica of the Montauk chair and research room. Eyewitnesses said Nichols would go into the room with a man, usually in his early 20s. There'd be some noise, and about 20 minutes later, the young man would come out disheveled, often with an uneasy look on his face. Nichols would be covered in sweat. At one point, Nichols was deprogramming as many as 25 Montauk boys,

who he unfortunately called disciples. They shared a house not far from Nichols. Nobody knows how many men or deprogramming sessions were involved, but it was a lot. In the books about the Montauk Project, Preston Nichols is a man caught up in a conspiracy greater than he could imagine. He lives a double life.

He meets famous scientists. He makes breakthroughs in technology that exist only in science fiction. In these stories, he is a hero. But the truth is, Preston Nichols was a villain. Because of the proliferation of the Montauk Project theory, dozens of men, most of whom probably had a mental illness, addiction issues, suffered child abuse, or all of the above, they believed they were part of the conspiracy. This delusion gave their lives meaning. The conspiracy allowed these men to

place blame on someone other than their families or themselves. And the Montauk boys gave them a place to belong, a new family of people who understood the pain of what they were going through. And here was Preston Nichols to the rescue, able to deprogram them of all the negative experiences they suffered from the experiment. Preston Nichols took advantage of vulnerable young men for years, while other liars and frauds helped him weave a rich, complex narrative. A narrative that continues. This conspiracy is believable because the government has done most of the awful things Nichols claims. Drugging people against their will, kidnapping, torture. They've done all of this and worse.

The government has also spent a lot of resources exploring psychic phenomena. The Montauk Project is a conspiracy grounded in a whole lot of facts. But when Preston Nichols, Al Bielek, and Stuart Swerdlow added their own details like time travel, aliens, and conjuring monsters out of thin air, they built a house of cards. None of their stories can exist without the other. If we're able to debunk just one small detail of any one of their stories, the house of cards collapses. And all that's left is a trail of victims of fraud and abuse.

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