Is Stranger Things Real? The Conspiracy Theory That Inspired the Phenomenon

As Stranger Things Day neared this year, I kept noticing questions that asked, “Is Stranger Things real?”

What? How could anyone think Stranger Things was real? Of course it’s not.

However, is it based on real-life events?

Maybe.

Bear with me for a sec. It’s going to seem like I’m going off on a tangent, and for a moment I will be, but I promise it will tie into the question of whether Stranger Things is real or not.

Montauk: Stranger Things’ First Name

Did you know that Millie Bobby Brown, who plays El (short for “Eleven”) on Stranger Things, almost gave up acting when she didn’t land a role on Game of Thrones?

She had auditioned for the part of Lyanna Mormont, which ultimately went to Bella Ramsey.

Luckily, Millie Bobby Brown decided to keep at it and auditioned for a Netflix show that at that time was called Montauk. The title was later changed to Stranger Things, which, while the show is fiction, is based on the real-life Montauk Project.

Or alleged Montauk Project. It’s classified as a conspiracy theory because it’s never been proven to have ever really happened.

However, learning the series had first been called Montauk triggered a memory that made me think back to the release of Travel Channel’s Strange World a year or so ago. It followed independent filmmaker Christopher Garetano whose award-winning film Montauk Chronicles inspired Stranger Things…according to the press release at any rate.

But did it?

Not according to a story in Dan’s Papers where Garetano discounted a lawsuit against Stranger Things creators, the Duffer Brothers, by another filmmaker, Charlie Kessler, who claimed they stole the idea from him. It seems Garetano’s work benefited from curiosity after the series came out, but didn’t necessarily inspire it.

We’ll look at the Montauk Chronicles, the Montauk Project, and beyond that what else might have inspired the hit Netflix series. However, let’s first look at the Montauk Project because that is the catalyst for everything.

What is the Montauk Project?

Allegedly the U.S. government conducted a series of secret projects involving psychological warfare at Camp Hero, which is now a state park on Montauk Point in Montauk, New York. However, at one time the area was part of the Montauk Air Force Station.

Stories about the Montauk Project started circling at the beginning of the 1980s. According to Wikipedia, Preston Nichols and Stewart Swerdlow seem to have originated the stories about the government allegedly experimenting with time travel, teleportation, mind control, contact with alien life, and even staging faked Apollo Moon landings. Both alleged to have recovered repressed memories of participating in experiments, but Nichols also claims he continued to be abducted and illegally forced to participate in the experiments.

Nichols also wrote the Montauk Project series of books, which begins with The Montauk Project: Experiment in Time.

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But Nichols and Swerdlow’s claims have never been verified. Believers and conspiracy theorists argue, “Of course they haven’t. It’s a cover-up!” But there’s really no evidence that’s true. Worse, Swerdlow seems to contradict his own story and many believe he was just in it for the notoriety.

The Montauk Chronicles

IMDB describes The Montauk Chronicles as “a study of the dark legends that surround the Camp Hero Air Force Base in Montauk, Long Island.”

As mentioned before, the documentary was written and directed by Christopher Garetano. Preston Nichols and Stewart Swerdlow appear in the film, along with Alfred Bielek, who claims to be a survivor of not only the Montauk Project but also the Philadelphia Experiment, another government experiment that allegedly made a U.S. Navy ship briefly disappear.

Some contend The Montauk Chronicles is what inspired Stranger Things, which is partly true but not entirely. It’s more a matter that the idea of the Montauk Project overall helped spark the storyline, which can clearly be seen in the experiments at Hawkins National Laboratory that open the Upside Down. Lots of similarities there with mind control, interdimensional beings, etc.

However, while that’s a very obvious correlation to the plot, it’s not the only thing it draws inspiration from. There were a lot of influences that shaped the creation of Stranger Things.

Stranger Things Influences

In addition to the Montauk Project, the Duffer Brothers drew inspiration from all facets of 1980s pop culture, which they incorporated into the series.

The Stranger Things Wiki includes a ton of popular 80s movies, books, TV shows and even video games whose influences and references can be seen and felt, such as how Eleven is a nod to Stephen King’s Firestarter, it imbues the same feeling of great 80s kids adventure movies like The Goonies and Stand By Me, and there are sci-fi references galore to other big 80s blockbusters like Alien, Aliens, E.T., and Poltergeist.

But that’s only scratching the surface. I remember when Stranger Things very first came out. I was confused. It felt so 80s. Had I missed something back then?

No, it had to be something new because Winona Ryder was present-day age, but…holy cow the 80s! The nostalgia they conjured up with the mashup of all the references to that decade…. Whoa! Talk about a blast from the past.

So back to the question, “Is Stranger Things real?”

Well, it is a real series, but the premise for what it is partially based on is as fictional as the Upside Down, Demogorgons, and the Mind Flayer.

At least, let’s hope that’s the case.