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{{short description|Urban legend about a supposed US Naval experiment in 1943}}
{{Other uses }}
[[File:USS Eldridge (DE-173) underway, circa in 1944.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[USS Eldridge (DE-173)|USS ''Eldridge'' (DE-173)]] {{circa|1944}}]]
{{Paranormal}}
The '''Philadelphia Experiment''' is an alleged military experiment supposed to have been carried out by the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], sometime around October 28, 1943. The U.S. Navy [[destroyer escort]] {{USS|Eldridge}} was claimed to have been rendered [[invisibility|invisible]] (or "[[cloaking device|cloaked]]") to enemy devices.

The story first appeared in 1955, in letters of unknown origin sent to a writer and astronomer, [[Morris K. Jessup]]. It is widely understood to be a [[hoax]];<ref>{{cite web | url = http://skepdic.com/philadel.html | title = Philadelphia experiment | first = Robert Todd | last = Carroll | authorlink = Robert Todd Carroll | work = [[The Skeptic's Dictionary]] | date = 2007-12-03 | accessdate = 2008-02-05 }}</ref><ref name="Borderlands">{{cite book | title = Borderlands | first = Mike | last = Dash | authorlink = Mike Dash | location = Woodstock, New York | publisher = Overlook Press | year = 2000 | origyear = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-87951-724-3 | oclc = 41932447 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/borderlands00dash }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_293.html | title = Did the U.S. Navy teleport ships in the Philadelphia Experiment? | last = Adams | first = Cecil | authorlink = Cecil Adams | work = [[The Straight Dope]] | date = 1987-10-23 | accessdate = 2007-02-20 }}</ref> the U.S. Navy maintains that no such experiment was ever conducted, that the details of the story contradict well-established facts about USS ''Eldridge'', and that the alleged  claims do not conform to known [[physical laws]].<ref name=USN-NHC>{{cite web | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-1.htm | title = The "Philadelphia Experiment" | publisher = Naval Historical Center of the [[United States Navy]] | date = 2000-11-28 | accessdate = 2007-02-20 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070220130747/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-1.htm | archivedate = 2007-02-20 }}</ref>

== Origins of the story ==

In 1955 astronomer and UFO researcher [[Morris K. Jessup]], the author of the just published book ''The Case for the UFO'', about [[unidentified flying object]]s and the exotic means of [[propulsion]] they might use, received two letters from Carlos Miguel Allende<ref name="The Philadelphia Experiment From A-Z">{{cite web | title=Carlos Miguel Allende or Carl Meredith Allen or... | website=The Philadelphia Experiment From A-Z | url=https://www.de173.com/carlos-miguel-allende-carl-allen/ | access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref> (who also identified himself as "Carl M. Allen" in another correspondence) who claimed to have witnessed a secret [[World War II]] experiment at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]]. In this experiment, Allende claimed the destroyer escort {{USS|Eldridge}} was rendered invisible, teleported to [[New York City|New York]], teleported to another dimension where it encountered aliens, and teleported through time, resulting in the deaths of several sailors, some of whom were fused with the ship's hull.<ref name=Barna>Barna William Donovan (2011). ''Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious'', McFarland. p. 106</ref> Jessup dismissed Allende as a "crackpot".<ref name=Barna />

In early 1957 Jessup was contacted by the [[Office of Naval Research]] (ONR) in [[Washington, D.C.]], who had received a parcel containing a paperback copy of ''The Case for the UFO'' in a manila envelope marked "Happy Easter." The book had been extensively annotated in its margins, written with three different shades of pink ink, appearing to detail a correspondence among three individuals, only one of whom is given a name: "Jemi." The ONR labelled the other two "Mr. A." and "Mr. B."

The annotators referred to each other as "[[Gypsies]]" and discussed two different types of "people" living in [[outer space]]. Their text contained [[non-standard]] use of [[capitalization]] and [[punctuation]], and detailed a lengthy discussion of the merits of various elements of Jessup's [[wikt:assumption#Noun|assumptions]] in the book. There were oblique references to the Philadelphia Experiment (one example is that "Mr. B." reassures his fellow annotators who have highlighted a certain theory which Jessup advanced).<ref name=Moseley>Moseley, James W. & Karl T. Pflock (2002), ''Shockingly Close to the Truth!: Confessions of a Grave-Robbing Ufologist.'' [[Prometheus Books]]. {{ISBN|1-57392-991-3}}.</ref> Based on the [[handwriting style]] and subject matter, Jessup concluded a large part of the writing was Allende's,<ref name=Barna /> and others have the same conclusion, that the three styles of annotations are from the same person using three pens.<ref>[http://philadelphiaexperiment.crossingmymind.com/morris-jessup-philadelphia-experiment/ "Morris K. Jessup: Unwitting Pioneer Of The Legend, philadelphiaexperiment.crossingmymind.com"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001133035/http://philadelphiaexperiment.crossingmymind.com/morris-jessup-philadelphia-experiment/ |date=2015-10-01 }}</ref>

The ONR funded a [[self-publishing|small printing]] of 100 copies of the volume by the Texas-based Varo Manufacturing Company, which later became known as the Varo edition, with the annotations therefore known as the Varo annotations.<ref>[http://windmill-slayer.tripod.com/aliascarlosallende/id2.html Introduction to the Varo edition of M. K. Jessup's Case for the UFO]</ref>

Jessup tried to publish more books on the subject of UFOs, but was unsuccessful. Losing his publisher and experiencing a succession of downturns in his personal life led him to commit suicide in Florida on April 30, 1959.<ref name=Barna /><ref name=Bainton />

===Repetitions===

In 1963 [[Vincent Gaddis]] published a book of [[Charles Fort#Fortean phenomena|Forteana]], titled ''Invisible Horizons: True Mysteries of the Sea.'' In it he recounted the story of the experiment from the Varo annotations.

George E. Simpson and Neal R. Burger published a 1978 novel titled ''Thin Air.'' In this book, set in the present day, a [[Naval Criminal Investigative Service|Naval Investigative Service]] officer investigates several threads linking wartime invisibility experiments to a [[List of conspiracies (political)|conspiracy]] involving [[Teleportation|matter transmission]] technology.

Large-scale popularization of the story came about in 1979 when the author [[Charles Berlitz]], who had written a best selling book on the [[Bermuda Triangle]], and his co-author, [[ufologist]] [[Bill Moore (ufologist)|William L. Moore]], published ''The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility,'' which purported to be a factual account.<ref name=Bainton>Roy Bainton (2013). ''The Mammoth Book of Unexplained Phenomena: From bizarre biology to inexplicable astronomy'', [[Little, Brown Book Group]]. p. 461</ref> The book expanded on stories of bizarre happenings, lost [[unified field theory|unified field theories]] by [[Albert Einstein]], and government [[coverup]]s, all based on the Allende/Allen letters to Jessup.<ref name=Barna />

Moore and Berlitz devoted one of the last chapters in ''The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility'' to "The Force Fields Of Townsend Brown," namely the experimenter and then-U.S. Navy technician [[Thomas Townsend Brown]]. Paul LaViolette's 2008 book ''Secrets of Antigravity Propulsion'' also recounts some mysterious involvement of Townsend Brown.

The story was adapted into a 1984 [[time travel in fiction|time travel film]] called ''[[The Philadelphia Experiment (film)|The Philadelphia Experiment]]'', directed by [[Stewart Raffill]]. Though only loosely based on the prior accounts of the "Experiment", it served to dramatize the core elements of the original story. In 1990, Alfred Bielek,<ref>Death of Al Bielek announced on ''[[Coast to Coast AM]]'' broadcast by [[George Noory]] on 13 October 2011</ref><ref>Adachi, Ken (October 14, 2011). [http://educate-yourself.org/ab/albielekpasses14oct11.shtml "Al Bielek Passed Away in Mexico on Oct. 10, 2011 at Age 84"]. Educate-Yourself.</ref> a self-proclaimed former crew-member of USS ''Eldridge'' and an alleged participant in the Experiment,<ref>Bielek interview with Art Bell, Coast to Coast AM Radio, Phoenix, AZ, 1993</ref> supported the version as it was portrayed in the film. He added details of his claims through the Internet, some of which were picked up by mainstream news outlets.<ref name=debunk>{{cite web | url = http://www.bielek-debunked.com | title = Al Bielek Debunked | date = 2008-01-14 | access-date = 2006-06-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181009201438/http://www.bielek-debunked.com/ | archive-date = 2018-10-09 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

===General synopsis===
:''Note: Several different, and sometimes contradictory versions of the alleged experiment have circulated over the years. The following synopsis recounts key story points common to most accounts.<ref name="Borderlands"/>''

The  experiment was allegedly based on an aspect of some [[unified field theory]], a term coined by [[Albert Einstein]] to describe a class of potential theories; such theories would aim to describe&nbsp;— mathematically and physically&nbsp;— the interrelated nature of the forces of [[electromagnetism]] and [[gravitation|gravity]], in other words, uniting their respective fields into a single field.

According to some accounts, unspecified "researchers" thought that some version of this field would enable using large [[electrical generators]] to [[bend light]] around an object via [[refraction]], so that the object became completely invisible. The Navy regarded this of military value and it sponsored the experiment.

Another unattributed version of the story proposes that researchers were preparing magnetic and gravitational measurements of the [[seafloor]] to detect anomalies, supposedly based on Einstein's attempts to understand gravity. In this version, there were also related secret experiments in [[Nazi Germany]] to find [[anti-gravity]], allegedly led by [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]-[[Obergruppenführer]] [[Hans Kammler]].

There are no reliable, attributable accounts, but in most accounts of the supposed experiment, USS ''Eldridge'' was fitted with the required equipment at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]]. Testing began in the summer of 1943, and it was supposedly successful to a limited extent. One test resulted in ''Eldridge'' being rendered nearly invisible, with some witnesses reporting a "greenish fog" appearing in its place. Crew members complained of severe [[nausea]] afterwards. Also, reportedly, when the ship reappeared, some sailors were embedded in the metal structures of the ship, including one sailor who ended up on a deck level below that where he began and had his hand embedded in the steel hull of the ship, as well as some sailors who went "completely [[wikt:bananas#Adjective|bananas]]."<ref>{{cite episode |title=Invisibility Cloaks |date=7 July 2009 |series=That's Impossible |series-link=That's Impossible (show) |network=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History]] |season=1 |number=1}}</ref> There is also a claim the experiment was altered after that point at the request of the Navy, limiting it to creating a [[stealth technology]] that would render USS ''Eldridge'' invisible to radar.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} None of these allegations have been independently substantiated.

The conjecture then claims that the equipment was not properly [[Calibration|re-calibrated]], but that in spite of this, the experiment was repeated on October 28, 1943. This time, ''Eldridge'' not only became invisible, but it disappeared from the area in a flash of blue light and [[Teleportation|teleported]] to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], over {{convert|200|mi|km}} away. It is claimed that ''Eldridge'' sat for some time in view of men aboard the ship {{SS|Andrew Furuseth}}, whereupon ''Eldridge'' vanished and then reappeared in [[Philadelphia]] at the site it had originally occupied. It was also said that the warship went approximately ten minutes back in time.

Many versions of the tale include descriptions of serious side effects for the crew. Some crew members were said to have been physically fused to bulkheads while others suffered from mental disorders, some re-materialized inside out, and still others vanished. It is also claimed that the ship's crew may have been subjected to [[Mind control|brainwashing]], to maintain the secrecy of the experiment.

==Evidence and research==

The historian [[Mike Dash]]<ref name="Borderlands"/> notes that many authors who publicized the "Philadelphia Experiment" story after that of Jessup appeared to have conducted little or no research of their own. Through the late 1970s, for example, Allende/Allen was often described as mysterious and difficult to locate, but Goerman determined Allende/Allen's identity after only a few telephone calls. Others speculate that much of the key literature emphasizes dramatic embellishment rather than pertinent research. Berlitz's and Moore's account of the story (''The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility'') claimed to include factual information, such as transcripts of an interview with a scientist involved in the experiment, but their work has also been criticized for [[plagiarism|plagiarising]] key story elements from the novel ''Thin Air'' which was published a year earlier.

===Misunderstanding of documented naval experiments===
Personnel at the Fourth Naval District have suggested that the alleged event was a misunderstanding of routine research during World War II at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. An earlier theory was that "the foundation for the apocryphal stories arose from [[degaussing]] experiments which have the effect of making a ship undetectable or 'invisible' to magnetic mines."<ref name="USN-infosheet">{{cite web | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-2.htm | title = Information Sheet: Philadelphia Experiment | publisher = [[Naval Historical Center]] of the [[United States Navy]] | date = 1996-09-08 | accessdate = 2012-09-08 }}</ref> Another possible origin of the stories about [[levitation]], [[teleportation]] and effects on human crew might be attributed to experiments with the generating plant of the destroyer {{USS|Timmerman|DD-828}}, whereby a higher-frequency generator produced [[corona discharge]]s, although none of the crew reported suffering effects from the experiment.<ref name="USN-infosheet" />

Observers have argued that it is inappropriate to grant credence to an unusual story promoted by one individual, in the absence of corroborating evidence. Robert Goerman wrote in ''[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]'' magazine in 1980, that "Carlos Allende" / "Carl Allen", who is said to have corresponded with Jessup, was Carl Meredith Allen of [[New Kensington, Pennsylvania]], who had an established history of [[psychiatric illness]], and who may have fabricated the primary history of the experiment as a result of his mental illness. Goerman later realized that Allen was a family friend and "a creative and imaginative loner&nbsp;... sending bizarre writings and claims."<ref>{{Skeptoid | id=4016 | number=16 | title= The Real Philadelphia Experiment |accessdate=2017-06-15|date=2006-12-24}}</ref>

===Timeline inconsistencies===
The USS ''Eldridge'' was not commissioned until August 27, 1943, and it remained in port in [[New York City]] until September 1943. The October experiment allegedly took place while the ship was on its first [[shakedown cruise]] in [[The Bahamas]], although proponents of the story claim that the [[ship's logs]] might have been falsified or else still be [[Classified information in the United States|classified]].

The [[Office of Naval Research]] (ONR) stated in September 1996, "ONR has never conducted investigations on radar invisibility, either in 1943 or at any other time." Pointing out that the ONR was not established until 1946, it denounces the accounts of "The Philadelphia Experiment" as complete "[[science fiction]]."

A reunion of Navy veterans who had served aboard USS ''Eldridge'' told a Philadelphia newspaper in April 1999 that their ship had never made port in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news | title = The Where Ship? Project: Though long dismissed by the Navy, the legend of The Philadelphia Experiment shows no signs of disappearing | first = Frank | last = Lewis | url = http://citypaper.net/articles/081999/news.cb.ship.shtml | work = [[Philadelphia City Paper]] | date = August 19–26, 1999 | accessdate = 2008-02-05 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120624005111/http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/081999/news.cb.ship.shtml | archivedate = 2012-06-24 }}</ref> Further evidence discounting the Philadelphia Experiment timeline comes from USS ''Eldridge’s'' complete World War II action report, including the remarks section of the 1943 deck log, available on [[microfilm]].<ref name=USN-NHC />

===Alternative explanations===
Researcher [[Jacques Vallée]]<ref name="scientificexploration.org">Vallée, Jacques F. (1994) [http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_08_1_vallee.pdf "Anatomy of a Hoax: The Philadelphia Experiment Fifty Years Later"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222023540/http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_08_1_vallee.pdf |date=2009-12-22 }} ''[[Journal of Scientific Exploration]]'' Volume 8, Number 1, pg. 47-71{{rs?|date=February 2020}}</ref> describes a procedure on board {{USS|Engstrom}}, which was docked alongside the ''Eldridge'' in 1943. The operation involved the generation of a powerful electromagnetic field on board the ship in order to [[Deperming|deperm]] or [[Degaussing|degauss]] it, with the goal of rendering the ship undetectable or "invisible" to magnetically fused undersea [[naval mine|mines]] and [[torpedo]]es. This system was invented by a Canadian, [[Charles F. Goodeve]], when he held the rank of [[commander]] in the [[Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve]], and the [[Royal Navy]] and other navies used it widely during World War II. British ships of the era often included such degaussing systems built into the upper decks (the [[Electrical conduit|conduits]] are still visible on the deck of {{HMS|Belfast}} in London, for example). Degaussing is still used today. However, it has no effect on visible light or radar. Vallée speculates that accounts of USS ''Engstrom's'' degaussing might have been garbled and [[confabulated]] in subsequent retellings, and that these accounts may have influenced the story of "The Philadelphia Experiment."

Vallée cites a veteran who served on board USS ''Engstrom'' and who suggests it might have travelled from Philadelphia to Norfolk and back again in a single day at a time when merchant ships could not: by use of the [[Chesapeake and Delaware Canal]] and [[Chesapeake Bay]], which at the time was open only to naval vessels.<ref name="scientificexploration.org"/> Use of that channel was kept quiet: German submarines had ravaged shipping along the East Coast during [[Second Happy Time|Operation Drumbeat]], and thus military ships unable to protect themselves were secretly moved via canals to avoid the threat.<ref name="ReferenceA">[http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/abstracts/v8n1a2.php abstract of "Anatomy of a Hoax: The Philadelphia Experiment Fifty Years Later"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927075259/http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/abstracts/v8n1a2.php |date=2006-09-27 }} by Jacques F. Vallée, URL accessed February 21, 2007</ref> The same veteran claims to be the man that Allende witnessed "disappearing" at a bar. He claims that when the fight broke out, friendly barmaids whisked him out of the bar before the police arrived, because he was under age for drinking. They then covered for him by claiming that he had disappeared.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==See also==
{{Portal|Philadelphia}}
* [[Diffused lighting camouflage]], a prototype Royal Canadian Navy counter-illumination system for ships
* [[List of conspiracy theories]]
* [[Montauk Project]]
* [[Yehudi lights]], a prototype US Navy counter-illumination system for aircraft

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.de173.com The Philadelphia Experiment from A–Z] – A collection of images, articles, USS ''Eldridge''’s Logs, original research, and timeline of events
* [https://archive.org/details/PhiladelphiaExperiment The Philadelphia Experiment by the Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center]
* [https://www.de173.com/the-varo-edition The Varo Edition of ''The Case for the UFO''] All Information available, including original pages.
* [http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/Varo-Jessup.pdf PDF version of "The Case for the Unidentified Flying Object" by Morris K. Jessup – 2003 transcription of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) annotated "Varo edition", with three-color notes supposedly by Carlos Miguel Allende]

{{Time travel}}

[[Category:Conspiracy theories in the United States]]
[[Category:Culture of Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Urban legends]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania folklore]]
[[Category:Hoaxes in the United States]]
[[Category:1943 in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Open problems]]
[[Category:Stealth technology]]
[[Category:Teleportation]]