- The Philadelphia Experiment is one
of the most grotesque military urban legends ever,
and it has endured as an infamous
World War II conspiracy theory.
But is there any truth to it?
Let's take a look.
According to legend, on October 28, 1943,
the USS Eldridge, a Cannon-class destroyer escort,
was conducting top-secret experiments
designed to win command of the oceans
against the Axis powers.
The rumor was that the government was creating technology
that would render naval ships invisible to enemy radar,
and there in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard,
it was time to test it out.
Witnesses then claimed an eerie green-blue glow
surrounded the hull of the ship as her generators
spun up and then, suddenly, the Eldridge disappeared.
The ship was then seen in Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia
before disappearing again
and reappearing back in Philadelphia.
The legend states that classified military documents
reported that the Eldridge crew were affected
by the events in disturbing ways.
Some went insane.
Others developed mysterious illnesses.
But others still were said to have been fused together
with the ship, still alive,
but with limbs sealed to the metal.
(gagging)
You disturbed?
Yeah, you should be.
And that is actually why the Eldridge's story
gained so much momentum.
In a 1994 article for the Journal of Scientific Exploration,
Jacques F. Vallee theorized that deep-seated imagery
is key to planting a hoax into the minds
of the masses and of the educated public.
But before we break down what really happened that day,
let's talk about the man behind the myth:
Carl M. Allen, who would go by the pseudonym,
Carlos Miguel Allende.
In 1956, Allende sent a series of letters
to Morris K. Jessup, author of the book
The Case for the UFO, in which he argued
that unidentified flying objects merit further study.
Jessup apparently included text about unified field theory
because that is what Allende latched onto
for his correspondences.
In the 1950s, unified field theory,
which has never been proven,
attempted to merge Einstein's general theory of relativity
with electromagnetism.
In fact, Allende claimed to have been taught
by Einstein himself and also claimed
he could prove the unified field theory based
on events he said he witnessed
on October 28, 1943, and aliens.
Allende claimed that he saw the Eldridge disappear
from the Philadelphia Naval Yard,
and he further insisted that the United States military
had conducted what he called the Philadelphia Experiment
and was trying to cover it up.
Jessup was then contacted
by the Navy's Office of Naval Research,
who had received a package containing Jessup's book
with annotations claiming that extraterrestrial technology
allowed the U.S. government to make breakthroughs
in unified field theory.
This is one of the weirdest details.
The annotations were designed to look like they were written
by three different authors, one maybe extraterrestrial?
Now according to Valle's article
for the Journal of Scientific Exploration,
Jessup became obsessed with Allende's revelations,
and the disturbed researcher
would take his own life in 1959.
It wasn't until 1980 that proof
of Allende's forgery would be made available.
Inexplicably, two ONR officers had 127 copies
of the annotated text printed and privately distributed
by the military contractor Varo Manufacturing,
giving wings to Allende's story long after Jessup's death.
So what really happened aboard the USS Eldridge that day?
According to Edward Dudgeon,
who served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Engstrom,
both ships did have classified devices on board.
Now they were neither invisibility cloaks
nor teleportation drives designed by aliens,
but instead, they scrambled the magnetic signatures
of ships using the degaussing technique,
which provided protection
from magnetic torpedoes aboard U-boats.
How Stuff Works suggested that the green glow
reported by witnesses that day could be explained
by an electric storm or St. Elmo's Fire
which, in addition to being
an American coming-of-age film starring the Brat Pack,
is a weather phenomenon in which plasma is created
in a strong electric field, giving off a bright glow
almost like fire.
Finally, inland canals used by the military
connected Norfolk to Philadelphia,
allowing a ship to travel between the two in a few hours,
which would explain how the USS Eldridge
could've been seen in both places that day.
You know, it just went from one to the other,
and then, it came back.
Maybe, I don't know.
The USS Eldridge would be transferred to Greece
in 1951 and sold for scrap in the 90s,
but Allende's hoax would live on
in our (beeping) nightmares forever.
Good thing it's something that never happened,
but for all of you true believers out there.
What are your favorite military conspiracy theories?
I'm almost afraid to ask.
No, I'm not, I'm not afraid of anything.
Well, I am afraid of this theory,
but anyway, it doesn't matter.
Leave me a comment, let me know.
(upbeat music)