Unsolved mystery of the 20th century: “Philadelphia experiment with the ship”

Let’s continue the series of articles on unsolved mysteries of the 20th century. This time let’s talk about the experiment to create an invisible warship. On a gloomy October morning in 1943 in the protected area of ​​the Philadelphia naval base was the destroyer Eldridge, the tail number “DE 173”. Specialists from the Naval Research Department of the US Navy decided to use it for the secret experiment “Rainbow”. Based on the Unified Field Theory, developed by Albert Einstein, they created an electromagnetic system capable of making the ship invisible.
After turning the switch, the air around the ship began to darken. From the water floated greenish fog. After a few minutes, the Eldridge was out of sight, although there was still a hollow in the water from its hull.
When the Eldridge disappeared in Philadelphia, many people saw his sudden appearance in the port of another base – Norfolk. A few minutes later, the “ghost” began to melt, and then the ship “manifested” in Philadelphia.
But the worst thing is that the experiment had dire consequences for the crew. Most of the sailors died, and those who survived were immediately dismissed from the army and spent the rest of their lives in a closed clinic for the insane. This forced the US military to abandon risky research.
Such is this incredible legend, which can be found in almost any book devoted to anomalism, among the standard set of miracles.
Mysterious letters
The first rumors about an experiment in Philadelphia appeared only in 1955, when the book “Arguments in favor of UFOs” by ufologist Morris K. Jessup was published. The destroyer “Eldridge” was not mentioned in it, but it was after the publication of Jessup that he received by mail several unusual messages.
The letters were written with colored pencils and inks in a very strange style. In the middle of a sentence, the words were suddenly written in capital letters, many spelling and lexical errors were present, and the punctuation marks were scattered at random. Whole sentences were underlined. Such creativity is a formidable symptom of the “gone roof” *.
The author, who introduced himself as Carlos Miguel Allende, indicated that he was interested in sections of the book that talked about levitation, and for the first time in history a story about a destroyer was born:
“… as a result, the ship has shrouded some field resembling an ellipsoid. Everything, objects and people that got into the field had blurred outlines … Half of the crew of that ship are mad now … ”
Further, “Senor Allende” tells about the “miracles” that subsequently occurred with the surviving sailors:
“One walked through the wall of his own apartment and disappeared in front of his wife with a child and two guests. Two other officers flashed like matches and burned … ”
And in the last letter, the author admitted that he served during the war on another ship – the “Andrew Fyureset” and from his side personally watched how the Eldridge disappeared, and then appeared again at the same place.
The first reaction of Jessup was to dismiss strange, delusional messages. However, he soon learned that the Pentagon’s Department of Naval Research received by mail a copy of his book, UFO Arguments, written in the same style. And instead of throwing it into the basket, the military reissued the book with all the limited edition marks.
Mystery of mr. Allende
On the evening of April 20, 1959, Morris Jessup was found in a state of coma behind the wheel of a car. He took a huge dose of sleeping pills, drinking it with alcohol. On top of that, he stuck the exhaust pipe hose into the open window. Jessup died on the way to the hospital.
Neither the police nor their relatives doubted that it was a suicide, especially since he wrote two farewell letters to his relatives and friends. Jessup was in severe depression due to numerous failures – he got into a car accident, his wife filed for divorce, the books were not for sale … But in the ufological community there was talk that he “came too close to the truth”, “he was removed”. Rumors around the “experiment” immediately revived noticeably.
The famous explorer of anomalous phenomena, Charles Berlitz, author of more than once exposed “masterpieces” about the Bermuda Triangle, and his co-author William Moore, took up the matter.
In the envelopes on which the return addresses were indicated, the co-authors easily found the “elusive Mr. Allende.” But his name was not revealed to the general public. At the meeting, he added many colorful details to the description of the experiment, but admitted that he “slightly exaggerated” the story about the grave consequences for the team. He allegedly feared that the results of the research would fall into unjust hands and this would have terrible consequences.
And in 1979 came the best-selling Berlitsa and Moore “Philadelphia Experiment”. It presents the classic story of the disappearance of the destroyer Eldridge.
Ufologists follow the trail
At the beginning of the 90s, the famous letters fell to the researcher – skeptic Robert Goerman. And he also went in search of their author. Allende turned out to be one hundred percent American born in 1925 in Pennsylvania.