Camp Hero and the Montauk Air Force Station have been featured in numerous books and articles which seek to associate the base with UFOs, space aliens, a secret world government, time travel, mind control, global weather manipulation, and even a ferocious Montauk "beast".

Although this Web site will remain focused on the history of the base, a few of the most common myths and misconceptions mentioned in these books and articles are addressed below.

Montauk and the Forbidden Planet

Did the 1950s Sci-Fi film classic Forbidden Planet inspire the Montauk conspiracy stories? Click here to read more!

MYTH: Montauk Air Force Station closed during 1969 yet remained open through the early 1980s to conduct a variety of so-called "black" or "top secret" projects.

REALITY: The base did not close in 1969. It remained an active air defense radar site through the early 1980s. It was made redundant by the activation of a new radar site located farther west on Long Island.

MYTH: The Montauk base was located far from New York City and heavily populated areas so that secret experiments and activities could be performed there with relatively little chance of observation.

REALITY: The location of the base at the easternmost extremity of Long Island enabled the Air Force to extend its radar coverage as far as possible in a seaward direction. By doing so, aircraft approaching the continental United States could be detected at the earliest possible moment while they were still many miles offshore. This provided time to mount an effective defense had that been necessary. Many air defense radar sites were located along the east and west coasts of the United States.

MYTH: The Montauk base featured extensive underground facilities. Some of these may still be in use today for top secret projects.

REALITY: The only "underground" facilities at Montauk are the WW2 era Coast Artillery gun batteries and related facilities. These are not truly underground structures but were covered over with earth in order to hide them and to provide added protection against incoming shells fired from ships at sea. The base was abandoned by the Air Force in the early 1980s and it remains abandoned today.

MYTH: The "SAGE Radar" at the Montauk base was involved in secret experiments to perfect "mind control" technology.

REALITY: Various SAGE-compatible radars at Montauk were involved in experiments to perfect the SAGE air defense system concept. The Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system was a nationwide air defense network consisting of remote radar sites linked to control centers which in turn were linked to air defense weapons systems (defensive aircraft and missiles).

MYTH: The big AN/FPS-35 radar is still in use today. Photos prove that its position has changed and also prove that the base is being used for secret activities.

REALITY: The radar antenna was abandoned in place atop its tower and left in "safe mode" allowing it to freewheel with poweful gusts of wind. It has simply moved in response to natural forces. The antenna drive motors were removed many years ago. The base was closed during the early Eighties and remains abandoned today.

Additional myths and misconceptions involving the Montauk base may be addressed here in the future. Contact the author via e-mail (below) if you have additional questions or comments involving the mythology of the Montauk site.