# Ong's Hat **Domain:** Transmedia and Internet mysteries **Doc Type:** Developed Work Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **Ong's Hat** is a transmedia legend associated principally with Joseph Matheny and distributed through print, bulletin-board systems, websites, audio, email, and other channels from the late twentieth century onward. It presented a fictionalized New Jersey setting, secret experiments, and interdimensional travel while allowing the story to circulate through ordinary media. ## Significance Ong's Hat is frequently described as a proto-ARG because its story was not confined to one declared game object. It is a precursor for studying distributed authorship, legend tripping, ambiguous provenance, and the way participants can extend a world beyond the original maker's control. ## Evidence boundary Its importance here is historical and formal. Similarities to later mysteries, including [[wiki/Cicada 3301|Cicada 3301]], do not establish organizational continuity. ## Sources - Joseph Matheny, [Ong's Hat archive and project materials](https://josephmatheny.com/some-ongs-hat-audio-and-video-pieces/) ## Routes [[wiki/Alternate Reality Game|Alternate Reality Game]] · [[wiki/Hyperstition|Hyperstition]] · [[wiki/TINAG|TINAG]] · [[wiki/Cicada 3301|Cicada 3301]]