Stranger Things fans unnerved by government agency request

Demogorgons assemble?

A military agency made a strange request on Twitter that has caught the attention of Stranger Things fans around the world.

The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency – also known as DARPA – posted a message requesting access to “a human-made underground environment spanning several city blocks” for “research and experimentation” purposes.

Sound familiar? That’s because that’s precisely what the US government has constructed in the hit Netflix show. It’s these dangerous experiments that set all kinds of creatures loose on Hawkins, Indiana after researchers open up a portal to the Upside Down.

While many fans thought DARPA's tweet was a joke, it turns out the agency is being deadly serious. A spokesperson released a statement to Gizmodo, saying: “Complex urban underground infrastructure can present significant challenges for situational awareness in time-sensitive scenarios, such as active combat operations or disaster response.

“DARPA is interested in exploring this domain for researchers to analyse and enhance approaches to improve situational awareness and response times in emergency scenarios. Locations submitted could help the research community identify relevant sites for further field experimentation to accelerate their development of such technologies.”

Still, this didn’t stop people from admitting they’re terrified at the thought of such a lab existing.

When one Twitter user suggested DARPA was looking for a place to hide Demogorgons, the agency responded: “Please. Demogorgons are such a Department of Energy thing.”

Find everything we know about the fourth season of Stranger Things here.