The Philadelphia Experiment

Conspiracies: below the surface, a series.

A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and/or powerful groups. These are generally because of political motivation. As we all are aware of some of these conspiracies, some are still floating a bit under everyone’s radar. Hence, is why I am starting a new series: conspiracies: below the surface. In this series, I will go through one of the weirdest, unknown, and craziest conspiracies. For this first chapter, I would like to discuss the “Philadelphia Experiment”.

Philadelphia experiment

The Philadelphia experiment was a test that occurred within the US Navy in 1943. This experiment was to test Einstein’s Unified Feld Theory to bend space and time. Thus, to make their ships invisible for enemy devices. According to the story, the US Navy ship disappeared and was transported 200 miles into Norfolk, Virginia. Later, the ship reappeared in its original location.

There were also said to be sailors on board during this event and that many of them reappeared confused and traumatized. Some even believed that some of them were partly rematerialized in the metal of the ship when they reappeared.

Alleged details of the experiment

According to a letter that was sent by Carlos Miguel Allende in 1955 to an American astronomer and writer Morris K. Jessup. It was believed that the US navy funded a group of scientists, that believed that they could make an object invisible by bending light over it by using large electrical generators, into trying to make a US navy ship invisible. As of today, there is no reliable, attributable account of what really happened that day, but some suggest that all the equipment for the experiment was installed in the USS Eldridge and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

It is believed that the experiment began during the summer of 1943. According to some witnesses, one of the tests resulted in the ship becoming almost invisible, they claimed to have seen a green fog in its place. The sailors that were aboard complained of nausea after the experiment, and when the ship reappeared, and some of its sailors had been embedded in the ship’s metal structure, while others became mentally unstable.

October 28^th

On October 28, the US Navy decided to repeat the experiment after altering some of its equipment. During the second experiment, the ship disappeared from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and reappeared 200 miles away in Norfolk, Virginia. The ship was supposedly seen by a crew aboard the SS Andrew Furuseth, before vanishing and appearing in Philadelphia. Some even claim that the USS Eldridge traveled through time. There are many versions of this experiment describing what happened to the sailors, including some of the severe side effects some of them were facing. For example, some sailors were physically fused to the ship’s bulkheads, while others suffered various mental disorders. Some crew members vanished, while others were rematerialized inside-out. It is also believed that the remaining sailors were brainwashed into keeping the experiment a secret.

Lack of evidence

The government organizations that were allegedly involved have declared that this experiment has never happened. Also, there has never any documentation been found. The only written mention of the Philadelphia Experiment was by Allende himself.

Over the years the Philadelphia Experiment has become a bit of a gimmick amongst other theorists. Everyone has their own version of events and explanations as to what could have caused the alleged disappearance and teleportation of an entire naval destroyer.

The fact that Allende seems to have been the only witness to such a large-scale event seemed to hold most right-minded people back from believing the story. However, in 1988, Allende was joined by another witness. A man called Al Bielek came forward and claimed that he was aboard the ship when it disappeared, and he had been brainwashed to forget it. He claimed that his memories came flooding back after seeing the Hollywood movie the Philadelphia experiment which was created to portray the alleged experiment.  

A more realistic explanation

Currently, most people are inclined to believe the explanation from Edward Dudgeon. He had worked as a Navy electrician and he was stationed near the USS Eldridge in the summer of 1943. According to Dudgeon, the generators were indeed placed on both the Eldridge and his ship – the USS Engstrom, to make the ships invisible.

However, the term invisible did not apply to the ship’s physical appearance, but rather its ability to be detected by the magnetic torpedoes fired by German U-boats. This was then referred to as “degaussing”. According to Dudgeon was, the allegedly seen fog, the result of a lightning-like phenomenon known as ST. Elmo’s Fire.

Meanwhile, the fact that the ship appeared out of thin air in Norfolk, Virginia, before reappearing in Philadelphia was explained by inland canals, which were off-limits to civilians and could shorten a two-day journey to just six hours.

Even though Dudgeon gave a more realistic explanation for the Philadelphia experiment, there are still those who choose to believe the more exciting version. As there is no official documentation about this experiment. So, technically speaking there is no proof for either of these stories.

As for the USS Eldridge itself, it is said to be transferred to Greece and it was used for exercises during the Cold War. Currently, it lies in pieces, after being sold for scrap metal in the 90s.