archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/documents/montauk_trip_09.pdf more related documents at http://www.stealthskater.com/px.htm note: because important websites are frequently "here today but gone tomorrow", the following was archived from http://www.valentinesdesigns.com/themontaukproject/report9.htm on May 17, 2002. This is NOT an attempt to divert readers from the aforementioned website. Indeed, the reader should only read this back-up copy if it cannot be found at the original author's site. Investigative Report #9 Abandoned Submarine Base Excursion Date: April 8, 2000 - Report Written: April 28, 2000 Well, first of all I must apologize for the length of time since the last report. Unfortunately the place that I stay at in Montauk isn't winterized, so it's a bit too cold for me to stay out there during the colder months. I did make an exception on 2 weekends this Winter, though. Now that it is warming up, I expect to be out there again on a pretty regular basis. I will, or course, keep you all updated. I did celebrate New Years Eve out in Montauk and spent the weekend. Because of the festivities, I was unable to tramp around Camp Hero. But I did get a chance to do a quick drive-by of the base. Someone -- I assume the Parks Department -- has fixed the main gate at the entrance to the base. It seems like they straightened it all out and put it back on its track after whatever it was smashed into it. The gate was back in its proper place and was open (a). I didn't enter the base. I also drove past the ballfield and noticed that they changed the sign on the road leading into the base. The 'AREA CLOSED' sign (b) has been removed and a 'DO NOT ENTER' (c) sign has been put up. I must assume that someone stole the 'AREA CLOSED' sign and took it home as a souvenir. Those were my only observations that weekend. (a) (b) (c) I spent Valentine's Day weekend out in Montauk as well. We stayed in the beautiful old Montauk Manor. I'm only mentioning this because it was alluded to in one of the books that the Manor played some part in the Project. After checking into the room and searching the place for hidden surveillance devices (you can never be too careful), I did a little exploring of the place. I went into the basement and poked around a bit but was unable to sneak into any of the closed, unmarked doors because of the abundance of security cameras that were scattered around the hotel. I also went upstairs to walk past the 'haunted' room that is mentioned in one of the books. I didn't hear anything go "bump in 1
the night" or have any specters chase me through the halls, so I guess it's all just a myth. Not a thorough search of the place by any means, of course. But I thought I'd let you know that I didn't find anything out-of-the-ordinary in my short stay there. On the weekend of April 8 th, I decided that I would do a little more "serious" looking around out in Montauk. Because of somewhat inclement weather and the fact that I slept away almost the entire weekend, I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped. Every time I'm in Montauk, I feel sleepy and "drained" all of the time. Does anyone else feel that way out there? It must be the air... or maybe the Dish??? My companion and I decided to check out the old abandoned submarine base that we have heard mentioned so frequently lately. While I don't believe the submarine base was connected to the Project in any way, we decided to check the place out just for curiosity's sake. I have included a map that I have taken from MapQuest.com and edited to show where the area is located. We drove to the West end of Navy Road -- which is closer to our place then Camp Hero -- until we got to a locked gate in the road. The gate had a 'NO VEHICLES' sign on it along with a warning about hunting in the area. We parked the car on the side of the road and went in on foot since it was outside the listed hunting dates posted on the fence. The Long Island Railroad tracks are just several feet from the south edge of this road. We walked down the road a couple of hundred feet. It is intersected by another road. We turned right onto the road and ended up in a clearing a little further down it. When we got to the clearing, we noticed several hard-to-miss concrete structures. The bunker/shelter type things were pretty small -- only about 25 feet square and maybe 12-feet high. The first one we came to was kind of out in the open and covered in graffiti (a) (b). One side of the clearing -- just beyond this bunker -- was a huge mound of dirt and sand that almost looked like a huge sloping wall (c). The bunkers have a narrow entrance way to them on the left side with an entrance to a room near the end of it. I have made a rough overhead cutaway sketch of the bunker so you can get a better idea of it's overall shape (d). Entering the room revealed a fairly clean, intact shelter (e). On either side of the entrance way were small vent-like openings near the floor (f). 2
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) We checked out the next bunker (a). It was pretty much identical to the first. The 3 rd bunker (b) had an asphalt walkway leading up to it. This bunker had some trash in it and a large piece of plywood on the floor. I started to move the plywood aside to see what was underneath. But a couple of rats -- of a size that would make a New York City subway rat jealous -- scurried out from a dark corner. Needless to say, I high-tailed it the hell out of there. Some "tough" investigator I make, huh? All but the first of the bunkers were somewhat set into the earthen mounds that surround the clearing they are in. I wonder if the first one was also buried at one time and has recently been unearthed. There was a small earthmoving machine parked nearby on the main road into the area. (a) (b) On the opposite side of the clearing across from the third bunker was another small structure (a). This building had 2 entranceways that led into 2 different small rooms. There were small vents in the back of each of these rooms. Judging by the size and shape of this structure, one might guess that it was a latrine. On the floor of the room on the right were several empty bags of "Sakrete" concrete sand mix (b). I wonder what was recently cemented over? 3
(a) (b) backtracked our way to Navy Road. After snooping around all of the concrete structures, we started to climb up one of the sand embankments nearby. When we got to the top, we pushed our way through some overgrowth and found ourselves about 30 feet above Fort Pond Bay. The view was absolutely magnificent. We could see Montauk Manor on the other side of the bay. This was truly one of the most beautiful spots I have seen yet in Montauk. To our left, we could see some sort of dock extending out into the bay. It was a bit too steep here to climb safely down to the water so we Once on Navy Road again, we headed in the direction of the dock. We followed the road until we came upon another clearing. This area was quite a bit different from the other one because a very large part of the ground here was concrete (a). The float used by the Montauk Fire Department in this year's St. Patrick's Day parade was abandoned here. There was also a circle of ash left here where apparently a nice size fire once burned. I wonder where the Fire Department volunteers partied after the parade? Hmmm... The only thing that I found curious was the large pile of discarded pallets left here (like the ones left near Camp Hero's 'Beast Bunker' [Report#1 (b)] ). We walked to the water and discovered a ramp that led right into the bay (c). This area was obviously used to store and launch boats. (a) (b) (c) 4
Not far from the concrete area was another area that had sand embankments around it (a). There were a few structures here along with the remains of some buildings. One particularly odd building was right near the water (b). Directly in front of the entrance to this structure are the remains of the long dock or wharf (c). Inside the building is a long dark tunnel (d). It was filled with debris of all sorts. If I am ever to enter the tunnel to check it out, it will have to be a trip that I am more appropriately dressed and carrying a flashlight. The roof of this building right near the entrance was made out of metal. It was shaped like a square funnel with a hole in the center of it. Perhaps this was some sort of loading facility. Stuff could be dumped through the roof into waiting mine-like cars and then either brought into the tunnel or sent out onto the wharf to waiting watercraft. (a) (b) (c) (d) Not far from there was another building. This building appeared relatively intact. A chain link fence that was topped with barbed wire surrounded it. Most of the building was also surrounded by dense overgrowth. The rotting, smelly carcass of a raccoon-sized animal blocked the one side of the building that was free of vegetation. Again, not being properly dressed or overly motivated, I did not jump the fence to inspect the small building. Maybe next time. 5
We then walked a little further and came to one of the Hither Woods hiking trails. There was a map of the park here along with a 'NO VEHICLES' sign posted here (a). We proceeded to start walking down one of the trails. Several hundred feet into the woods, we heard the noise of a large caliber weapon. Fearing gunshots and the rapidly setting Sun, we decided to call it a day. On the way out, we noticed a couple of cinder block structures that were only a few feet in height. One of them had several blocks missing. I was able to poke my head in for a look around. The room appeared to be a very small basement for whatever once stood above it. Some piping and old electrical equipment could be seen (b). Nothing of any particular interest was noted here. On the way back to Navy Road, I climbed up one of the sandy mounds and took a picture of the area (c). (a) (b) (c) Judging by the easy accessibility of the entire area, I seriously doubt that this old submarine base was involved in any way with the Montauk Project. There are no signs warning against trespassing or any other indications of off-limits areas. There are only a few things that I'm curious about. What are all the sandy mound areas about? Has stuff been dumped here and covered up for years now? Have these areas been dug out and the large mounds are all that's left of what used to be higher ground? Were they here all along and used in some defensive way at the time the base was in operation? What were the small bunkers used for? Did they provide safety against incoming enemy artillery? What was the tunnel and long wharf used for? While the trip didn't reveal any evidence of the Montauk Project, I thought we should check it out just because so many people have been asking about it lately. I did find evidence as to why the Long Island Railroad slows to a crawl in this area (this has been mentioned to me several times as being strange.) At one point, there is a fairly sharp turn in the tracks. Once the train leaves the submarine base area, it practically rolls through the backyards of the small waterfront houses and motel nearby. The train is literally only about 50 feet from the back of some of these houses. I'm sure that the slow-down is just a courtesy to the residents and guests in the area. I hope to be back out at Camp Hero in the next couple of weeks and will, of course, report my findings. Copyright 2000 - Valentine's Designs if on the Internet, press <BACK> on your browser to return to the previous page (or go to www.stealthskater.com) else if accessing these files from the CD in a MS-Word session, simply <CLOSE> this file's window-session; the previous window-session should still remain 'active' 6