Montauk the Shocking True Story that Inspired Stranger Things (Video)

Stranger Things was originally pitched under the title Montauk, revealing another less obvious (but extremely important) influence: The urban legends associated with the abandoned Camp Hero Air Force Base in Montauk, Long Island. Sometimes referred to as “Area 51 East”,  stories of Camp Hero are almost indistinguishable from those of MKUltra and the Air Force base at Groom Lake, Nevada. For example, there are claims that the US Government conducted unethical mind control experiments, with alien technology, on kidnapped children.

The history of Camp Hero was recently explored in The Montauk Chronicles, a nonfiction docudrama helmed by filmmaker Christopher Garetano.

The Montauk Chronicles is, to date, the only feature film ever to explore the Camp Hero legends, and Garetano put over a decade’s worth or research into the final product. It’s been available since before it premiered at the Phillip K. Dick Film Festival in January of 2015. I’d bet a dollar The Duffer Brothers saw Garetano’s film during the inception phases of Stranger Things. The huge radar dish atop the lab is very reminiscent of the abandoned dish at Camp Hero; many of the “experimentation” scenes in Stranger Things are also very similar to those portrayed in The Montauk Chronicles.

Not only is The Montauk Chronicles an engrossing study of a relatively unknown mystery, the story behind the film is equally fascinating. On the eve of completion, Garetano was approached by an anonymous figure (“Jack Bruce”) claiming to have integral knowledge, and proof, of the experiments that took place at Camp Hero. Knowing that, if true, this information would be crucial, the filmmaker delayed releasing The Montauk Chronicles for over a year to investigate the masked-man’s claims. Having seen the film, I can attest that the delay was absolutely necessary.

Bottom Line: Fans of Stranger Things should consider The Montauk Chronicles a must-see.

The Montauk Chronicles in available from the film’s Official Website: HERE.