The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged naval military experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime around the date of October 28, 1943, in which the U.S. destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible to human observers for a brief period of time. It is also referred to as Project Rainbow.

According to some accounts, the experiment was conducted by a Dr. Franklin Reno (or Rinehart) as a military application of a Unified Field Theory. The theory, briefly, postulates the interrelated nature of the forces that comprise electromagnetic radiation and gravity. Through a special application of the theory, it was thought possible, with specialized equipment and sufficient energy, to bend light around an object in such a way as to render it essentially invisible to observers. The Navy considered this application of the theory to be of obvious military value (especially as the United States was engaged in World War II at the time) and both approved and sponsored the experiment. A navy destroyer escort, the USS Eldridge, was fitted with the required equipment at the naval yards in Philadelphia.

Testing began in summer 1943, and was successful to a limited degree. One test, on July 22, resulted in the Eldridge being rendered almost completely invisible, with some witnesses reporting a “greenish fog” in its place. However, crew members complained of severe nausea afterwards. At that point, the experiment was altered at the request of the Navy, with the new objective being invisibility solely to radar.

Equipment was not properly recalibrated to this end, but in spite of this, the experiment was performed again on October 28. This time, Eldridge not only became almost entirely invisible to the naked eye, but actually vanished from the area in a flash of blue light. However, the U.S. naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, just over 600 km (375 miles) away, reported sighting the Eldridge offshore twenty minutes before the ship had left port, whereupon the Eldridge vanished from their sight and reappeared in Philadelphia, at the site it had originally occupied in an apparent case of accidental teleportation.

The physiological effects on the crew were profound. Almost all of the crew were violently ill. Some suffered from mental illness as a result of their experience; behavior consistent with schizophrenia is described in other accounts. Still other members 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 and some were on fire.Horrified by these results, Navy officials immediately canceled the experiment. All of the surviving crew involved were discharged; in some accounts, brainwashing techniques were allegedly employed in an attempt to make the remaining crew members lose their memories concerning the details of their experience.

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq21-1.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment

the wiki page destroys this theory quite soundly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment

however I value the whole story because two great sci fi films were made out of it
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087910/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107819/

they covered several science fiction subjects including time travel and alternate realities

the second film I thought was especially good as it features the typical portrayal of Nazi's as psycopaths and mad scientists and I always found such stereotypes very entertaining.

the only film close to these is "the final countdown which features the USS Nimitz a nuclear armed Aircraft carrier with a full compliment of F14's which travels back in time after passing through a strange weather phenomena while at sea arriving off pearl harbour just before the Japanese attack with enough firepower on its own to obliterate not only the strike force, but the carrier fleet and Japan into the bargain. But of course America is not at war with Japan until after the attack so a moral dilemma is the main plot of the story
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080736/
at one point in the film the modern jets take on a couple of Japanese Mitsubishi Zero's which are attacking a civilian yacht with predictable results and Kirk Douglas as Captain Yelland gets to utter one of the most unforgetable lines in any science fiction film I have ever seen

I found the entire clip on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mshmYNmfc0
it also has a good twist at the end

p.s. I think this might be in the wrong forum

fascinating reads

I am a bit confused. With reference to the sighting at Norfolk, was the Eldridge sighted twenty minutes before the ship had left the Philadelphia port? So the Eldridge was seen at Norfolk at the same time it was at Philadelphia, then twenty minutes later when the experiment was conducted it disappeared for a few seconds then reappeared? Sorry if the solution to this seems blindingly obvious to everyone.

Avs

I too have always enjoyed this story, I am a big fan of Tesla's work, his coils were used in the story I read

It's an interesting read, but from what I can gather from what I've read about the experiment, it's been debunked a long time ago.

That correct.The entire story has been proven to be a hoax.The only research on invisability had to do with Anti-radar tech.I dont know if Alende "Mr. Allen " intended on starting the hoax,but did nothing to stop it.-usdi Agaluga

Yeah. The most likely explanation is that the degaussing experiment (meant to make the naval vessels "invisible" for magnetic mines and torpedoes) was exaggerated into an experiment involving magnetism used to actually make the vessels invisible to the naked eye.

this has nothing to do with ancient civilizations or alternative history and should belong in the conspiracy theories forum!!