According to popular legend, during an experiment to turn a warship into invisibility, it moved in time and space, and the crew suffered heavy losses.
On October 28, 1943, one of the most mysterious experiments in history was performed in Philadelphia. As the legend says, in the course of experiments to turn a combat destroyer into an invisible ship, the researchers managed to achieve serious success. True, they were given at such a price that the experiments were terminated, and what happened that day was strictly classified.
Philadelphia experiment
According to the most common version of the legend, the unusual experiments on the destroyer Eldridge began in the summer of 1943, when the ship was enlisted in the US Navy.
The detailed circumstances of the experiments remain practically unknown; therefore, different versions and hypotheses are put forward in various sources. According to one version, tests were carried out on the destroyer using some special generators that are capable of achieving such a refraction of light that the object will become completely invisible. According to another version, the essence of the experiments was in some kind of studies of gravity. On the third, experiments were carried out with the creation of electromagnetic fields.
One way or another, the researchers managed to achieve some success, albeit with certain side effects. The ship became invisible, and a green fog enveloped it, and at the end of the experiments, the ship's crew complained of poor health, confusion, etc.
Promotional video:
Finally, on October 28, 1943, a bullet was drawn. The last experiment didn't go as expected. The ship safely disappeared, but never appeared. Instead, he ended up in Norfolk Harbor, over 300 kilometers from Philadelphia. Several people saw him there. Then, for some inexplicable reason, the ship disappeared again and reappeared at its original location in the harbor of Philadelphia.
At the same time, the crew suffered heavy losses. Some of the sailors simply disappeared, others died from electric shocks, some went crazy, several people were literally "mounted" into decks and bulkheads, and only a minority of the crew survived without receiving serious damage. At the same time, for all sailors, the clock showed the wrong time and was synchronously behind by about ten minutes.
According to legend, the surviving sailors were subjected to an intensive course of brainwashing to make them forget about their experiences. The incident itself was highly classified, and experiments ceased. A new crew was recruited on the ship, and immediately after the war it was sent to the reserve and later sold to the Greeks.
Mysterious death
In 1955, UFO researcher Morris Jessop published another book on UFO topics. Jessop was one of the first popularizers of UFOs in the world, and his books were very popular in the mid-50s.
One day, a letter from a certain Carlos Allende came to Jessup's address. He assured the researcher that he had witnessed something so unusual, in comparison with which unidentified flying objects are nothing more than childish pranks.
Then Allende described to him the history of the Philadelphia experiment, which he witnessed, observing what was happening on board a merchant ship standing in the harbor. Jessop doubted Allende's testimony, nevertheless entered into a long correspondence with him.
The researcher planned to publish another book about UFOs and the Philadelphia Experiment. However, this could not be done, since its former publisher had died, and besides, public interest in unidentified objects had noticeably subsided by the end of the 50s.
On April 19, 1959, Jessop contacted one of the publishers and made an appointment the next day. According to him, he made an incredible breakthrough in the investigation of the experiment and planned to share his thoughts.
However, the next day, the researcher's body was found in his car with a hose in the cabin. According to the investigation, Jessop committed suicide.
Conspiracy theorists interpreted his sudden death unambiguously - as an attempt to hide the Philadelphia experiment and its consequences.
Popularization
Later, since the early 60s, various researchers have repeatedly published books about the Philadelphia experiment, however, almost all of them were based on the materials of Jessop and Allende. Since the 70s, the story has enjoyed great popularity, and several feature films have been shot based on it. As a result, the Philadelphia Experiment became a popular urban legend.
In 1990, a man who identified himself as a former sailor from a destroyer confirmed the story of the experiment. The news was widely disseminated by the media, but other sailors who survived until the 90s denied that a man with that name had ever been on the Eldridge's crew.
The Office of Naval Research has repeatedly denied any such experiments during the Second World War. The sailors from the destroyer also claimed that they did not participate in such experiments. In addition, according to them, in October 1943, their ship did not call at Philadelphia at all.
Conspiracy theory
Nonetheless, conspiracy theorists dismiss all these arguments and are confident that in October 1943, the ship did collide with something unusual and beyond the ordinary.
They indicate that the ship was seen on the same day both in Philadelphia and in Norfolk, although the distance between them is so significant that it is impossible to pass it in a few hours.
Since the experiment was strictly classified, the logbook was completely falsified and its records cannot be trusted. The same can be said about the sailors from the destroyer, who were "brainwashed" and strictly forbidden to even mention state secrets. The only sailor who dared to appear in print after almost half a century was ridiculed and declared an impostor.
In addition, the death of Jessop looks very strange, who, literally on the eve of his death, announced that he had achieved a breakthrough in the investigation of this mystery. His death, disguised as a suicide, clearly played into the hands of those who sought to keep this mysterious story out of the public eye.
Skeptics version
According to skeptics, trusting a story known from just one person is at least short-sighted. There is nothing in the history of the Philadelphia Experiment that cannot be explained scientifically. In addition, in this legend, apparently, events that actually took place with several ships were mixed.
First of all, doubts were caused by the only witness of the experiment, who revealed its secret. This is a certain Carlos Allende. An investigation carried out in the 80s made it possible to establish his real identity. It turned out to be Karl Meredith Allen, a big dreamer and a weirdo. He was known for sending out very strange letters to many of his relatives and friends. For example, he claimed to be personally acquainted with Einstein, who was his longtime mentor and also oversaw the Philadelphia Experiment.
The Eldridge's logbook does not confirm that he was in Philadelphia in October 1943. The ship that some witnesses may have mistaken for the Eldridge was most likely the destroyer Engstrom. He was indeed in Philadelphia and Norfolk on the same day, since warships had the ability to pass through the classified Chesapeake Canal, which was used only by warships and was closed to everyone else. It is known that in the fall of 1943, this ship sailed this route at least once.
Moreover, experiments were actually carried out on the Engstre in 1943. Only it was not about creating an invisible ship. They consisted in the so-called demagnetization of the ship. A magnetic field with variable amplitude was created using an electromagnet coil. Due to the decrease in the magnetization of the ship's hull, it became "invisible" to the magnetic mines and torpedoes popular at the beginning of World War II. From the outside, the procedure looked very unusual: bulky equipment, cables, "crazy" compasses and watches. At first, this technique made a great impression on sailors.
As for the mysterious death of Jessup, then, according to skeptics, there was nothing mysterious about it. In recent years, his business was not going well, old books were not sold out, publishers did not accept new books by the author. Jessop was deeply depressed, exacerbated by the car accident in which he suffered, as well as the departure of his wife. According to the testimony of many friends and acquaintances, in the last months of his life, the researcher was in severe depression and often contemplated suicide.
According to skeptics, the history of the Philadelphia experiment was inspired by the actual practice of degaussing (demagnetizing) ships, which initially frightened sailors, as well as the existence of the Chesapeake Canal, closed to civilian ships, which allowed warships to "miraculously" cover a long distance in several hours. These stories, passed from mouth to mouth, gradually acquired more and more fantastic features, until the dreamer Allen put them together.
Author: Evgeniy Antonyuk