High Strangeness in Montauk, NY

[Clammy]

Hello to all the paracasters out there! I'm new to the forum, or at least to posting, so I'm breaking my cherry with an experience I had back in 1998. My wife and I were living in Maryland at the time and had gone to Long Island to spend a long weekend with my Aunt in Sound Beach. The morning after arriving, we decided to take a day trip to Mountauk to visit the state park and tour the Montauk Point lighthouse. We were able to climb to the top of the lighthouse and get out onto the viewing ledge. We saw what I still say is the biggest radar dish I've ever seen out in the distance to the south and just west of the beach. Any native Long Islander knows this is part of an abandoned military installation, I think called Camp Hero, but at the time neither my wife nor myself were aware that the place existed. So when we finished the tour of the lighthouse, I asked one of the museum attendants what the radar was for and she informed me it's part of an old, derelict military base that the government had donated to the state of New York as part of the grounds for Montauk State Park. I asked my wife if she felt like exploring to see if we could go in for a closer look at the base and she agreed. We found a dirt road leading into the base with no fences or gates blocking the way. So naturally we had to keep going. It wasn't long, probably a quarter to a half mile, when we saw 2 black SUV's with black tinted windows just sitting on the side of the road. My wife became apprehensive and said we should probably turn back, but I told her we weren't breaking any laws, there were no signs saying to turn away and we didn't break through any barriers. Just as we walked up to where the SUV's were, one of them turned on it's headlights[it was a dark overcast day] and it's engine started up. My wife got spooked at this point and started running back the other way, so I went after her. The SUV gave us chase all the way back to our car, then turned around back to it's spot up the road leading to the base. I must admit that the experience was a little unsettling and very odd. Why would a public park have black SUV's chasing patrons around? There were no "no trespassing" signs posted anywhere, we weren't breaking any laws that I know of. If the base is abandoned, why are there active power lines leading into the place and why are there what appears to be MIB guarding it? I admit I don't believe all the BS that's been written about it, as I read and researched everything I could possibly find on the subject after the incident and was amazed at some of the hokey books out there. Sorry for the length of this post if anyone's got this far, but I've always been looking for real answers that make sense. See everyone out there on the boards!!

 

[Gareth]

I admit I don't believe all the BS that's been written about it, as I read and researched everything I could possibly find on the subject after the incident and was amazed at some of the hokey books out there. Sorry for the length of this post if anyone's got this far, but I've always been looking for real answers that make sense. See everyone out there on the boards!!

Are you saying you dont believe all that youve read about the UFO phenomenon (MiBs etc), or you dont believe everything youve read about this abandoned base? Because if you discovered more stories about the base Id love to hear them! Especially considering your own story would lend some credibilty to other episodes at the base.

Did you ask the park staff what the deal was?

Very interesting story thanks for sharing.

 

[cpepinc]

As a life long Long Islander (lawng Ilander) Acutualy there were No Tresspassing signs, but at the time montauk was a much more wild place than it is now. I know the place, went down that same road. Usually if you meet anyone they were State of NY employees, who drove around in 10 year old pickups, and left at 3-3:30 in the afternoon.
So black, Tinted Window SUVs are strange, I've seen them once or twice on the roads here, never at Montauk though.
Montauk is a strange place though, My former girlfriend and I came upon a freshly dug pit, filled with 55 gallon drums, don't know what that was about.
The locals are a little strange too! Well, ALL long islanders are strange, but these were stranger than most.

 

[Bixyboo]

Wow, interesting experience, so a-la-x-files! Hope you find out more info about the place you were at!

Weird!

Bixyboo

 

[Koji K.]

I've been to Montauk many times, and have visited the Camp Hero site on a couple of occasions (once I just walked past it on the beach, once I went down the road.) Didn't see anything *too* unusual, although the old radar dish is sort of spooky. The one weird thing I remember was there was a kind of a humming, machinery like sound in the air which I could not place. It's not an industrial area, so that was odd.

I made a FOIA request once regarding Camp Hero, specifically for anything that had been going on since 1980. I got a document back which basically said that the base was closed down in the early 90's (I think) as the more powerful radars at Riverhead and JFK could take over the role of the cold war-era early warning radar at Camp Hero.

Having gone to school near the area I have heard stories from fellow students about people getting arrested for loitering in the park. One person said there were tunnels underground, but this was very likely the product of an overactive imagination (and references to tunnels- some going all the way to NYC!- are found in the conspiracy literature.)

There are some VERY outlandish stories (think Dulce base meets Philadelphia experiment) about Camp Hero which seem to originate from a series of books written by one Preston Nichols and one Peter Moon. I've flipped through them in bookstores and was not motivated to purchase them.

 

[cpepinc]

Yes! I heard that machinery hum too, could never quite place it. There are tunnels there too most have caved in, or were filled in. The place was "odd" I've done some expolring of abandoned sites and this place still felt "off" I found it odd to believe that the Government or the Air Force, would just leave that place as unattended and as intact as that place was. There was still (very old of course) computer type machinery there. I mean, I understand "abandon in place" but this seemed in my totally unexpert opinion, more that that.
I read those books, call me crazy(and some people do!) but I think there is a kernel of truth to those stories, I think the guy who wrote them is one fry short of a happy meal, shall we say, but I think he was/is on to something.