An entire mythology has arisen around one author's creation, a gigantic secret underground

military research facility on Long Island, New York.

The story has grown to the point that many people believe it's real, and new chapters

are being added all the time by other authors.

This is the story of how one relatively obscure creation can grow into one of our richest

fictional universes, and yet still be taken seriously.

The Montauk Project is up next on Skeptoid.

You're listening to Skeptoid.

I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com.

The Montauk Project

Every so often there's a conspiracy theory or alternative history invented by a lone person

that although it has zero plausibility or evidence, manages to stick.

We've talked about many of these on Skeptoid, and today's example, the Montauk Project

is a prime one.

The story goes that the military secretly conducted a program involving time travel, interdimensional

portals, 10 meter tall alien monsters, and anything else you can imagine, for decades

in a gigantic underground facility on Long Island, New York.

The story exists only because of the writings of one man, Preston Nichols, the lone author

who invented it.

Today's discussion of the Montauk Project is less an exploration of whether the urban legend

is true or not, it's obviously not, and more a look at how and why such stories manage

to take root.

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