The Navy made a warship invisible in the Philadelphia Experiment
| The Navy made a warship invisible in the Philadelphia Experiment | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "In 1943 the US Navy made the destroyer escort USS Eldridge invisible and teleported it from Philadelphia to Norfolk, Virginia, with horrifying effects on the crew." | |
| Domain | Paranormal & Supernatural |
| Tactic | Fabrication |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1955 |
| Origin | Letters from a man calling himself Carlos Allende (Carl Allen) to UFO author Morris K. Jessup in 1955 and 1956 |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-29 |
| Further reading: books on Paranormal & Supernatural | |
The Philadelphia Experiment is a legend about a secret wartime test that supposedly made a Navy ship invisible and teleported it hundreds of miles. It began with letters written to a UFO author in the 1950s and was popularized by a 1979 book and a 1984 film. The Navy says no such experiment took place, and the ship's records place it elsewhere at the time.
The claim
The story says sailors were fused into the ship's hull or went mad.
What the evidence shows
- Navy statement. The Office of Naval Research has said it never conducted invisibility experiments and that the story is fiction.
- Ship records. The USS Eldridge's war diary shows it was not in Philadelphia at the time of the supposed experiment.
- Real research. The Navy did experiment with "degaussing," reducing a ship's magnetic signature to protect it from magnetic mines, which may have inspired the tale.
- Source. Allen later gave contradictory accounts and admitted to inventing parts of the story.
Sources
- US Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command, "Philadelphia Experiment."
- William L. Moore and Charles Berlitz, The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility (Grosset & Dunlap, 1979).