Philadelphia Experiment
The alleged 1943 U.S. Navy experiment that supposedly rendered the USS Eldridge invisible with catastrophic consequences for the crew.
OVERVIEW
The Philadelphia Experiment is one of the most famous conspiracy theories in naval history. The story claims that in 1943, the U.S. Navy conducted a secret experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that made the USS Eldridge (DE-173) invisible to radar and human observers. According to the tale, the experiment went catastrophically wrong, causing crew members to become fused with the ship's hull, go mad, or disappear entirely. The story was first published in the 1950s after correspondence with a man named Carlos Allende (Carl M. Allen). The Navy has consistently denied the event, and the USS Eldridge's deck logs place the ship in New York during the claimed experiment dates.
KNOWN FACTS
Carlos Allende's letters to Morris K. Jessup described the experiment in detail
Jessup's annotated copy of 'The Case for the UFO' was allegedly sent by those involved
Some witnesses claimed to have seen the Eldridge disappear in Philadelphia harbor
FOIA requests revealed the Navy was interested in degaussing (magnetic field neutralization)
Alleged crew members have come forward with stories over the years
CLAIMS
The Navy used Einstein's unified field theory to make the ship invisible
Crew members were fused with the ship's structure during the experiment
Some crew disappeared and never returned
The experiment involved teleportation of the ship to Norfolk, Virginia
The Navy covered up the experiment and its casualties
EVIDENCE FOR
Carlos Allende's letters to Morris K. Jessup described the experiment in detail
Jessup's annotated copy of 'The Case for the UFO' was allegedly sent by those involved
Some witnesses claimed to have seen the Eldridge disappear in Philadelphia harbor
FOIA requests revealed the Navy was interested in degaussing (magnetic field neutralization)
Alleged crew members have come forward with stories over the years
EVIDENCE AGAINST
The USS Eldridge's deck logs prove it was in New York on the claimed dates
Carlos Allende/Carl M. Allen was found to be an unreliable narrator with psychiatric issues
Interviews with actual Eldridge crew members found no knowledge of such experiments
No period documentation from the Navy references such an experiment
Einstein's involvement is fabricated; he was not working on invisibility
OPEN QUESTIONS
No open questions recorded.
SOURCES
TIMELINE
Alleged first invisibility test of the USS Eldridge
Alleged second test with teleportation
Allende sends letters to Jessup describing the experiment
Story popularized through books and documentaries