Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, aliens, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, EVPs, myths, ancient artifacts, religion, strange facts, odd sightings or just the plain unexplainable.
In WW II German submarines were sinking lots of allied ships – boat loads, if you will. It was because the warships were slow and clunky. The U-boats slipped in underwater, fired some torpedoes – sinking almost whatever they wanted. The US government needed a way to avoid all this. A common man might think a better rudder, or boat-side rocket boosters might work.
The US, however, would prefer to try bending light to cause invisibility. According to some – they succeeded.
Not only is The Philadelphia Experiment a story of a Naval ship, called The Eldridge, turning invisible, it’s also a story of that ship accidentally teleporting 200 – 300 miles, and back again during the course of the same invisibility experiment. When it returned – some in the ship’s crew had been fused with the boat itself. Flesh and metal were merged, some of the sailors are said to have been stuck between floors.
Believers say the Philadelphia Experiment has other names attached to it when it’s referred to on federally-issued letterhead. The two other associated names are Operation Ghost, and Project Rainbow. Of course the government has no record of any of them. Whatever it’s called, in referrence to the experiment’s effects on the crew Wikipedia sums things up quite well:
“The Philadelphia Experiment is claimed to be variously an attempt at radar invisibility, optical invisibility, or physical teleportation of a US Navy ship, with results ranging from deaths, insanity, disappearances, time travel, ‘fusion’ of bodies with material objects, to extra-terrestrial or occult contact.”
And under a different heading on the same topic, Wikipedia says:
“The alleged physiological effects of the experiment on the crew were profound: almost all of the crew were violently ill. Some were alleged to have suffered from mental illness as a result of their experience; behavior consistent with schizophrenia is described in other accounts. Still other members, like Jacob D. Murray, were physically unaccounted for — supposedly “vanished” — and five of the crew were allegedly fused to the metal bulkhead or deck of the ship. Still others were said to fade in and out of sight. Sometimes they would disappear, then crewmates would stick their hands into the spot they had disappeared and try to grab the crewmate, but, if they did not, that spot would burst into flames. Horrified by these results, Navy officials immediately canceled the experiment. All of the surviving crew involved were discharged; in some accounts, brainwashing techniques were employed in an attempt to make the remaining crew members lose their memories concerning the details of their experience.”
There were some witnesses to the ships disappearing & reappearing, and according to Mike Garrett, a Zatso Magazine contributor, this is what they saw:
“…the Eldridge put to sea followed by a smaller vessel packed with scientists and high-ranking Naval officers. When the ships were out of sight of land, they threw the switch and the electronics came to life. The ship began to shake and shudder as the generators increased their frequencies and the sailors became more and more anxious. Then a green haze appeared and enveloped the Eldridge. A few moments later she disappeared. Then they powered down the equipment and the ship reappeared.”
There you have it – the Philadelphia Experiment is all about a ship that was rendered invisible, and the technology to do so apparently had the side effect of teleportation. There’s far more to the story too – such as several sailors disappearing and reappearing during a bar brawl, and crewmen literally jumping ship just before the green-haze disappearance, not to touch ground until decades in the future and then having the government age-reverse them back into babies.
But you’ll have to look all that up on your own. Youtube would be a good place to start.
King Jimbo says
It would be cool if stuff like this was true…
Eugene says
See the Wikipedia entry. The whole Philadelphia Experiment thing rests on two rambling letters from one guy who sounds like he was insane. Otherwise, there’s no information to back it up, and plenty to counter the claims. Sorry folks, nothing to see here.