Stranger Things wrapped up its story on New Year’s Eve, dropping a two-hour finale that pulled the curtain on Hawkins, Indiana, for good. The last episode, The Rightside Up, put the spotlight on the gang as they finally took down Vecna and sealed the gate to the Upside Down.You would think that would be the end. But instead, fans went wild. The buzz didn’t die down; in fact, it exploded. Exactly a week later, on January 7, 2026, around 8 p.m. ET, so many people rushed to Netflix, all convinced there was a secret ninth episode, that they crashed the whole service.A viral conspiracy theory known as “Conformity Gate” triggered the platform outage. People started claiming that the New Year’s Eve finale was just a fake-out, and the real ending would suddenly appear on January 7. Even though Stranger Things Season 5 pulled in 137 million views since dropping in November, the finale stirred up a storm.Fans couldn’t agree on how they felt, and most of the drama centered on what actually happened to Eleven. She looked like she sacrificed herself in the Upside Down, but then Mike hinted she might have escaped and started over somewhere else. That kind of uncertainty, mixed with some frustrating plot holes, left a lot of people feeling cheated. Tons of fans went hunting for answers, convinced a secret episode was out there waiting for them.Netflix crashes as fans search for Stranger Things Episode 9 following “conformity gate” theoryIn the days after the release of the Stranger Things finale, a viral theory circulated on social media suggesting that the one the audience had seen was not the real ending. This conspiracy theory was dubbed by the online community as “Conformity Gate.” It said that the Duffer Brothers had intentionally released a fake finale, with Episode 9 being planned that would give the series the actual ending.The movement was boosted by fan discontent with the ambiguous ending of the finale and an alleged lack of narrative coherence. Those who subscribe to the theory indicated several hints that they thought had been concealed during the final episode.These so-called evidences were as varied as wardrobe decisions or even the details of set design. Graduation gowns donned by characters were orange instead of the traditional green and yellow of Hawkins High, and many extras seen in the background had glasses resembling those of villain Henry/Vecna.Other alleged pieces of evidence were a doorknob that was found on the other side of a door in the basement of the Wheelers, a color change on dials at the WSQK radio station, and cassettes appearing to spell “U DID NOT STOP ME” in Morse code. The conspiracy theorists said that these details indicated that Vecna had not been killed but had manipulated everyone, including the audience.This theory gained specific momentum when fans determined January 7, 2026, as the alleged date of release of Stranger Things Episode 9. The date was selected due to multiple reasons: Netflix had already released other volumes of the season around the big holidays, and Volume 1 was released on Thanksgiving Eve, Volume 2 on Christmas, and the finale on New Year’s Eve. January 7 is the day of Orthodox Christmas, which also fits the trend. Also, Netflix added a mysterious text that said “Your future is on the way,” tagging January 7, and fans saw this as a confirmation.Even the number seven had a symbolic meaning in the mythology of Stranger Things. A die with a seven was prominently displayed in the final scene of the finale, and the character of Noah Schnapp, Will Byers, rolled a seven during one of the Dungeons and Dragons games in the very first episode of the series in 2016.The theory climbed up a notch closer to January 7. Fans made comprehensive Google documents of alleged discrepancies and deleted scenes, and a Change.org petition requesting the release of “unseen footage” garnered over 390,000 signatures. There was even speculation among fans that typing 'fake ending' into Netflix would only yield Stranger Things as a result, and there is no logical explanation for this.But when 8 p.m. ET Jan. 7 passed without any surprise episode, Netflix was at last able to respond to the conspiracy theory. The official Stranger Things social media pages were updated to state the message: “ALL EPISODES OF STRANGER THINGS ARE NOW PLAYING,” which conclusively proves that the show is over.The Duffer Brothers themselves had refuted these theories in several interviews. Matt Duffer, when questioned by Capital Buzz on whether he had shot alternative endings, replied:“Oh no. I love it when I hear people do that, but I’m like, ‘How do you have the time?’ Oh my God! The energy to A, write it, and then shoot it. Are you crazy? No. No.”The creators also put to rest allegations of edited footage and deleted scenes, with Matt Duffer saying there was not a single cut scene in the whole season.