The Science of Conspiracy Theories

The Philadelphia Experiment

The Philadelphia Experiment

This conspiracy theory is of interest to me because of my love of science fiction. Supposedly, in October 1943, the Navy at the Philadelphia Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania conducted an experiment to determine if they could make a ship disappear, sort of like a cloaking device, and that instead they found a way to time travel.
The ship involved in this experiment was the USS Eldridge, a destroyer escort.

A secret report, that was supposedly leaked, told of using powerful electrical generators to bend light around the ship by creating strong magnetic fields. The truth is that they would have to create strong gravity fields to bend light. There is even a report that they were using anti-gravity devices much the same as the Nazi's were using, and in fact, it was Nazi technology recovered at the end of World War II.
One report revealed that the test was partially successful, actually making the Eldridge partially vanish. Some sailors on the ship reported seeing a greenish fog and becoming nauseated, and one even reported having his hand imbedded into the ship's steel hull.

Another report claims that on a subsequent test was rendered completely invisible and teleported to Norfolk, Virginia, which is 200 miles away. Other reports claim that the ship went 10 minutes back in time. There are several witnesses who claim to have seen the ship vanish.

What's even wilder is that Einstein knew about it, that he had developed a Unified Field Theory but repressed its revelation to the world.

Of course, the media had a field day with this. Hollywood made a 'Hollywood' version in 1984 that involved time travel. There have been other movies that refer to 'The Philadelphia Experiment'.

Is there any credence to this idea? That depends upon whom you believe. I could easily see the Navy trying to make a ship disappear, but it would have been beyond technology of that period. Creating a gravity field strong enough to bend light would have required nuclear power and large generators. The idea that's used now would not have been available then. Basically, one can make an object appear to be invisible by displaying what's in back of it in a projection at the front.

I found another report that the Navy was trying to degauss the Eldridge by removing its magnetism so that it would be less attractive to mines. That makes more sense to me. I think this is another one of those conspiracies that has been blown out of proportion.

Interesting to note that the Philadelphia Experiment led to the Montauk Project conspiracy. This was a series of experiments conducted in a secrete lab at an Air Force Station on Montauk Long Island, New York. Evidently, they had information given by extraterrestrials from Orion and Sirius A and they had something to do with a Black Hole project. This conspiracy is also linked to the faked Apollo Moon Landings conspiracy. Again, there is little evidence of anything other than a series of books about it by Preston Nichols.

Thanks for reading