There has been more and more weight given to the idea that there are other realities and dimensions besides our own, which bump against us and even overlap us. With this idea comes hand in hand the notion that traveling between them could also be possible, and there are accounts that point to the possibility that not only is this possible, but that such portals between these realms have already been opened. Intriguing, often a bit scary, and always weird, these cases of alleged gateways capture the imagination, and make us wonder whether alternate realities not only exist, but have already been visited by us.

Perhaps the most well-known tale of a supposed inter-dimensional portal concerns the town of Ong’s Hat, merely a speck on the map and one of the numerous abandoned old villages scattered throughout the remote Pine Barrens of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Purportedly getting its name from a man named Ong, who once threw up his fancy silk hat in frustration when the jealous lover of a woman he was having an affair with stomped on it, after which it became stuck on a pine branch, the town supposedly started as a single hut. By the 1860s, the village had apparently grown into quite a lively town known for bootlegging and supplying booze to the outlying areas. However, the town declined dramatically in the following years, and by the 1930s was all but abandoned, although it still showed up on maps, and in modern days it is merely feral, weed-choked ruins, crumbling buildings, and empty lots.

The small, rural town would perhaps have forever remained an obscure backwater ghost town if not for a curious book called Ong’s Hat: The Beginning, which was written by Joseph Matheny and published in 2002. The book claims that in 1978 a man by the name of Wali Fard settled in the New Jersey Pine Barrens after purchasing 200 acres there. Fard, who was a member of the secretive cult the Moorish Orthodox Church of America, had allegedly just returned from traveling the world studying various philosophies, magical practices and spiritualist techniques in such exotic locales as India, Perisa, and Afghanistan, and he would then join another cult called the Moorish Science Ashram. He was apparently an eccentric man to say the least, moving onto the property with a ragtag group composed of some runaway boys and two lesbian anarchists.

Once relocating to New Jersey, the book claims that Fard went about spreading the teachings of his sect and managing to draw about him quite a number of followers. Among this motley group of misfits, cultists, and general oddballs were two scientists by the names of Frank and Althea Dobbs, who were brother and sister and had their own bizarre history as they had been apparently raised within a UFO worshipping commune run by their father in Texas. The two had been doing research at Princeton on something they referred to as “cognitive chaos,” which is quite complex but basically entailed utilizing untapped parts of the brain to unlock vast human potential in the form of a wide variety of powers such as ESP, telepathy, curing diseases, conscious control of autonomic functions, and even halting the aging process, but they had earned the ire of their peers for their far-out fringe theories and been kicked out for what the university called “seditious nonsense.” It seems that the two siblings had never really been accepted in the mainstream or in academia, but with Fard they found themselves among outcast kindred spirits willing to listen to them.

As soon as they migrated to the remote Pine Barrens, Frank and Althea supposedly immediately went about creating a makeshift lab in an abandoned barn, from which they could continue their work unfettered by the harsh criticism they had been subjected to before. So intrigued with their work was Fard and his cult that they subsequently established the “Institute of Chaos Studies” based on it, and this enabled the two scientists to have the funding and equipment that they needed to make progress the likes of which they had never seen before, as well as attracting two more local fringe scientists named Harold Acton and Martine Kallikak to help them. Among their many bizarre experiments were using various psychedelic drugs in an attempt to unlock mind powers, monitoring brain activity, and using electrical stimulation to try and manipulate the brain waves to produce the abilities they were convinced were lurking untapped within the mind. These experiments made use of an array of odd machines and devices, all slapped together and unorthodox to say the least.

Among these was a device they called “The Egg,” which was supposedly more or less a modified sensory deprivation chamber hooked up to computers and with various electrodes attached to a human subject to measure physiological responses, as well as a helmet equipped with “brain wave manipulators.” Apparently there were several versions of the machine built, which showed some promise in allegedly providing better control of autonomous body functions and bestowing various other powers such as inner heat, enhanced healing, and remission of sickness. However, it wasn’t until the 4th iteration of the device that things allegedly got truly bizarre.

By the third generation of the egg they had already been experimenting with trying to descend consciousness down to the quantum level, which they believed would enable actual travel to parallel dimensions, but they had not been successful. With the 4th generation machine, they further refined the process and tested it on one of the runaways, who was nicknamed Kit. During the test, the machine purportedly completely vanished before everyone’s eyes, only to reappear 7 minutes later with a startled but excited Kit, who claimed that he had been briefly transported to another dimension. The scientists were astounded by this, and called the portal they had apparently opened “The Gate.” They purportedly made several more successful jumps to this alternate reality, which was described as having an abundance of plant life and water, but no humans.

To add to all of this weirdness, Ong’s Hat was supposedly eventually threatened with a leak of dangerous nuclear material from nearby Fort Dix. In response, the residents began to use The Gate to flee to the parallel dimension, where they intended to stay and reestablish their town. According to the tale, the government found out about the experiments and the capabilities of the machine, which prompted them to storm the compound in a raid that killed several people there who were in the process of jumping over. The writer of the accounts, Joseph Matheny, apparently claimed to have found documents outlining these events and even interviewed one of the scientists involved with the creation of The Gate, which he had then posted online and later made into his book, but there has never been any corroboration that these alleged documents ever existed at all. Making matters further muddied is that Matheny has been rather vague on whether any of it was intended as fact, fiction, or a fusion of both.

Considering its remarkably dramatic nature, a lack of any evidence at all, and the sci-fi feel to the whole story, there are many who believe that this is all just that; science fiction that was picked up by the Internet, elaborated upon, and turned into a big conspiracy hoax. However, there are also those who think that it is in fact a reality, or at least based on reality, that has perhaps been made to merely look like a hoax to protect those behind its release to the public or to keep people from actually believing any of it. Whatever the case may be, it is certainly a weird story, and Ong’s Hat continues to fuel conspiracy theories and is occasionally brought up as a potentially real case of interdimensional travel.

If any of the Ong’s Hat story is true, it wouldn’t be the only time that science has supposedly managed to unlock gateways to other dimensions. Ever since it was put into operation in September of 2008, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), operated by The European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, has been a wellspring of bizarre claims of interdimensional rifts and high strangeness. The largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the LHC is located 300 feet underground directly below the the CERN Control Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, and is comprised of a vast loop stretching 27 kilometers (about 17 miles). This loop is more or less used to hurl subatomic particles at extreme speeds in order to smash them into each other to test what will happen for the purpose of unlocking some of the secrets of our universe, including recreating the conditions of the Big Bang, to find out how our universe was create, and find dark matter, among others. Perhaps one of the most famous discoveries linked to the various experiments at the LHC was the observation of Higgs Boson particles, which give matter mass and up until then had been purely theoretical.

The very presence of such a large scientific facility located deep underground, its innately somewhat scary-sounding premise of smashing particles together at the speed of light, and its being manned by scientists working on strange experiments, have perhaps not surprisingly at all given it a somewhat ominous reputation, causing quite a bit of concern among the public and spawning all sorts of wild theories about what is really going on there. In additions to alarm and fears that the LHC will create miniature black holes or undo reality itself are various ideas and rumors that CERN is up to all kinds of top-secret experiments down there in the bowels of the earth. One of the more popular conspiracy theories is that the facility is actively engaged in opening rifts between dimensions in order to enable teleportation, form doorways to alternate realities, and by some of the more far-out accounts to even open a gate between Earth and Heaven and Hell. There was even one rumor that in 2012 scientists at CERN had let in Biblical giants called the Nephilim through the gateway, which supposedly prompted them to shut the LHC down in order to make it more powerful.

Some researchers into the matter have said that all sorts of strange beings could tumble through such a doorway. One author, researcher, and very vocal conspiracy theorist on the idea of the LHC creating doorways to strange realms is Stephen Quayle, who has claimed that everything from actual demons, to angels, to reptilian beasts and other things we cannot possibly fathom could be let in if such a gate were opened. Quayle does not mince words when giving his opinion on the consequences of experiments at CERN, saying:

The men who would play God, in searching for the God particle, are truly going to find more than they bargained for as they open the gates of hell. They will find inter-dimensional beings who have a taste for human flesh and humanity’s destruction. Most scientists, in lacking an understanding of the ‘supernatural entities’ that are going to confront them, are way beyond their ability to comprehend, let alone control, the forces of Pandora’s box that will be released.

While this may be at the extreme end of the spectrum of talk of the LHC opening up doorways to alternate dimensions, the idea that this is happening to some extent already is persistent. Evidence for this sort of interdimensional activity is often offered in the form of the various strange things that have allegedly been photographed or filmed in the skies over CERN over the years, including UFOS, strange vortices, and other unexplained aerial phenomena. For instance, in December of 2015 footage was taken by some tourists of what seems to be an orb of some sort entering what appears to be some kind of portal or vortex, which vanishes as soon as the unidentified object enters it. Another similar video from May of 2016 supposedly shows some sort of portal in the clouds that appeared right after the power went out at CERN, an incident they claimed was caused by a weasel getting into some of the sensitive machinery.

It is Interesting to note that a lot of the anomalous events that have purportedly occurred at CERN seem to coincide with blackouts, such as an alleged ripple that was sent out from the facility in 2009 that purportedly disrupted the Earth’s magnetic field and distorted space and time, also right at the time of a blackout at the facility. A report from Russia claimed that this very same “time wave” had instantaneously teleported an Airbus on its way to Bolivia thousands of miles away to the Canary Islands, along with its 170 passengers. This time the blackout was blamed on a piece of bread that had fallen into the device after being dropped by a bird. One would hope that such an advanced scientific facility deep underground would be able to keep out all of the weasels, birds and bread that’ve seemingly been jamming their equipment.

One of the more recent such series of photographic oddness came in the wake of another ambitious project undertaken in recent years by CERN, which itself has already drawn a fair amount of conspiracy theories. The project is what CERN calls the Advanced Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment, or AWAKE, which has the aim of accelerating super-charged particles by way of “plasma wakefields driven by a proton beam.” It is not necessary to really understand what all of that means, only that it sounds rather ominous, scary even, and this may be why it has been singled out as one of the experiments focused on opening portals between worlds. On June 24, 2016, photographs of alarming, portal-shaped cloud formations were taken in the skies above CERN not long after the AWAKE project was off the ground and on the same day that an experiment was scheduled.

While photographs and videos such as these could have a rational explanation in known phenomena or even be cleverly crafted CGI hoaxes, there are a fairly large number of people who insist that these are the result of CERN experiments pursuing the opening of interdimensional doorways. Indeed, there have been many claims that these tears in the fabric between dimensions have been altering reality itself, subtly changing our universe to create phenomena like the Mandela Effect, instances of mass misremembered details which I have covered here at Mysterious Universe before on more than one occasion.

Adding fuel to the fire are the conspiracy theories pointing to the potential connection and significance of the erection of a statue of the Hindu god Shiva, with the more sinister moniker “The Destroyer,” as well as the fact that the letters CERN are the first four letters of the name Cernunnos, who happens to be a pagan god of the underworld. It doesn’t stop there with the name game either. CERN is partially located in the French town of Saint-Genus-Poilly, and some have pointed to the fact that the word Poilly comes from Appolliacum, or the Latin word for a temple dedicated to the god Apollo, who was believed by the locals of the area to have created a portal to the underworld right around where CERN is located.

This could all be due to wild conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and panic, and it is unknown if the machine could ever possibly really even open an interdimensional gate anyway, but one thing that is for certain is that it is not only the ignorant public that have been wary of CERN and its particle collider, or who think that experiments with the LHC could have profound unexpected effects. For instance, legendary physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that the machine could create a black hole that ends all life as we know it, and even CERN’s own Director for Research and Scientific Computing, physicist Sergio Bertolucci, has claimed that it is quite possible that a doorway between dimensions could open, and has said that “Out of this door might come something, or we might send something through it.” It is unclear whether the LHC is being used to open these portals, intentionally or otherwise, or not, but it does seem certain that conspiracy theories and fears will continue to swirl around it as long as it is in operation.

If you think so far that alleged doorways to other dimensions or rifts in reality are only the result of mankind tinkering with the laws of nature and the fabric of the very universe itself, then you couldn’t be further from the truth. Indeed there are a few locations in the world that are said to serve as some sort of door to other realms as well. One of these is said to be the Markawasi stone forest, located in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Filled with granite boulders that are carved into various animal and humanoid shapes with unclear origins, the forest is already quite mysterious, and has long been a sacred place for the native peoples of the region. It is also said to harbor a portal to another world, thought to possibly be behind the mysterious vanishings that have long occurred in this mystical place.

One Dr. Raul Rios Centeno provided a report from one of his patients, who seemed to have encountered the supposed doorway, peeked through it, and lived to tell the tale. The patient had come to Centeno to be treated for a disorder called Hemiplegia, which results in weakness or complete paralysis of the entire left or right side of the body. During her examination, the woman told Centeno that she had been camping with friends at the forest and in the evening had gone out on a hike. During this hike she claimed that they had come across an isolated cabin that besides being odd to be there in the first place was very bizarre in other ways as well.

The woman said that the cabin was of an unusual design, and around it were cavorting figures wearing what appeared to be very old fashioned clothes, the whole surreal scene cast in the flickering light of torches that had been set up around them. As they took in this weird sight, the woman said that she had suddenly felt herself being irresistibly drawn towards the cabin by some unseen force. So strong was this force that her friends had to physically pull her away as she was inexorably pulled in. They were finally successful in releasing her from whatever had been gripping her, but from that point on the entire side of her body that had been under the influence of the mysterious force was paralyzed. She would tell the doctor that she believed that what they had seen had been a glimpse through a portal to another dimension, and that if she had not been pulled away in time she would have gone through, never to be seen again. Centeno would conclude that the influences of this vortex to the other dimension had disrupted the woman’s nervous system.

Amazingly, Peru has another place said to be a gateway to another world. Called Puerta De Hayu Marka, or “Gate Of The Gods,” and lying around 800 miles southeast of Lima, it is what appears to be a doorway leading to nowhere that has been carved into a sheer stone wall for mysterious purposes that have been lost to time. More than just an unusual tourist attraction and a source of fascination for archeologists, locals believe that the doorway once served as a portal to other dimensions, and legend agrees. According to the ancient Incas, there was a device said to look like a golden disk that could be used by a priest to activate the doorway. This gateway was believed to be a direct link to the gods, and it was thought that not only could priests go through but whatever lay on the other side could as well.

The legend says that this disk was found after it had fallen from the sky, and that at least one priest upon opening the portal went through it to never return. Interestingly, archeologists studying the gate have indeed found a depression in the solid stone that seems to be for the purpose of inserting a disc-shaped object. Was this ever an actual doorway to another dimension or is it all just an archeological oddity surrounded by myth and lore? It is uncertain what happened to the supposed “key” to the gateway, or what would actually happen if one were to put it in that stone depression. Whatever the Puerta De Hayu Marka is or was, it is an intriguing story, and has earned it the fitting nickname of “The Real Stargate.”

Is it possible that doorways to other realities and dimensions exist, be they manmade or otherwise? Is this even possible? With more and more scientific attention being paid to the possibilities of other parallel dimensions brushing up against our own, it is seeming to be more and more plausible that these realities are out there, although whether we will ever be able to travel between them remains unclear. Yet as long as stories like these keep popping up it is curious to think that not only may such portals be possible, but that they may already exist.