Overview
The Philadelphia Experiment is an alleged military experiment conducted by the U.S. Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in October 1943. According to the story, the destroyer escort USS Eldridge (DE-173) was rendered invisible to radar — and, in some versions, completely invisible to the naked eye — using powerful electromagnetic field generators based on Albert Einstein's unified field theory. The ship allegedly teleported from Philadelphia to Norfolk, Virginia, and back, with catastrophic effects on the crew, some of whom were reportedly fused with the ship's structure, went insane, or vanished entirely.
Origins of the Story
The Philadelphia Experiment story originated in 1955 when Carl M. Allen (also known as Carlos Miguel Allende) wrote a series of letters to astronomer and UFO researcher Morris K. Jessup. Allen claimed to have witnessed the experiment from the deck of the SS Andrew Furuseth, a merchant marine vessel docked nearby. He described seeing the Eldridge become enveloped in a green fog before disappearing and reappearing.
In 1956, Jessup received a copy of his own book, The Case for the UFO, which had been sent to the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The book was filled with handwritten annotations in three different ink colors, apparently by three individuals, discussing advanced propulsion systems, anti-gravity, and the Philadelphia Experiment. The ONR, intrigued by the annotations, produced a limited run of annotated copies (known as the "Varo Edition"), which gave the story a veneer of official interest.
Jessup died in 1959 in what was ruled a suicide, and some conspiracy theorists allege his death was connected to his investigations.
The Claims in Detail
The experiment was allegedly overseen by Dr. Franklin Reno (sometimes identified as "Dr. Rinehart") and was based on aspects of Einstein's unified field theory — a theoretical framework attempting to unify electromagnetism and gravity that Einstein never completed. The Navy supposedly installed massive degaussing equipment and generators aboard the Eldridge to bend light and radar waves around the ship.
Proponents claim two tests were conducted:
- July 1943: The ship became nearly invisible, with only a faint outline visible. Crew members experienced severe nausea and disorientation.
- October 28, 1943: The ship vanished completely from the Philadelphia Naval Yard, appeared briefly at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard approximately 200 miles away, and then returned to Philadelphia. Crew members were found embedded in the ship's steel structure, some were on fire, others had gone insane, and several had vanished permanently.
Evidence Against
The Philadelphia Experiment is widely regarded as a hoax or an urban legend by historians and scientists:
- Ship's log: The USS Eldridge's deck logs, released through FOIA requests, show the ship was nowhere near Philadelphia in October 1943. It was on its shakedown cruise in the Bahamas and was later deployed to escort convoys in the Atlantic.
- Crew testimony: Surviving crew members of the Eldridge have consistently denied that any such experiment took place. Former crew member Edward Dudgeon testified that the "invisibility" story may have originated from degaussing operations — a standard procedure to make ships invisible to magnetic mines, not to the eye.
- Carl Allen's credibility: Allen was described by investigators as eccentric and unreliable. In 1979, he admitted to author Robert Goerman (who discovered Allen was his neighbor) that he had fabricated the entire story, though he later recanted this admission.
- Scientific implausibility: Physicists note that Einstein's unified field theory was never completed, and there is no known mechanism by which electromagnetic fields could render a large steel ship invisible or teleport it.
The ONR Response
The Office of Naval Research has issued official statements denying the experiment occurred. The ONR's interest in the annotated Jessup book, which fueled conspiracy theories, was explained as the curiosity of individual officers rather than any official investigation.
Legacy in Popular Culture
The story has inspired numerous books, including Charles Berlitz and William Moore's 1979 bestseller The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility, two films (1984 and 2012), and countless television documentaries. Despite being debunked, it remains one of the most enduring military conspiracy theories and has influenced science fiction concepts of teleportation and invisibility technology.
The Philadelphia Experiment serves as an instructive example of how a claim originating from a single questionable source can take on a life of its own through repetition, embellishment, and cultural fascination with secret military technology.