The Philadelphia Experiment - Origin, Claims, and Why the Legend Persisted

The Philadelphia Experiment legend grew from Carl M. Allen's sensational letters to author Morris K. Jessup and an annotated edition of Jessup's book. Real wartime degaussing experiments and dramatic electrical phenomena likely supplied the raw material, while ship logs, Navy statements, and veteran testimony contradict the story's supernatural claims.

What the story says

The Philadelphia Experiment is a long-running legend that claims a U.S. Navy destroyer escort, the USS Eldridge (DE-173), was rendered invisible, teleported from Philadelphia to Norfolk and back on October 28, 1943, and that the experiment produced horrific side effects for the crew. The tale usually ties the event to a so-called "Project Rainbow" and to fringe applications of Einstein's unified field ideas.

The documented origins

The modern legend began in the mid-1950s when Morris K. Jessup, an amateur astronomer and author, published The Case for the UFO (1955). In 1956-57 Jessup received letters from Carl M. Allen (who also used the name Carlos Allende) describing the disappearance of a ship and bizarre aftereffects. Allen's annotations of Jessup's book later circulated and attracted attention from the Office of Naval Research and private firms.

Jessup died in 1959; his death was ruled a suicide. His annotated copy - often called the "Varo edition" after the small firm that printed the annotated version - helped fuel public interest and conspiracy claims.

What likely happened (and what is documented)

Naval researchers did conduct degaussing and magnetic-signature work during World War II to protect ships from magnetic mines and torpedoes. Those procedures involved heavy cables and electrical equipment and could sound or look dramatic to casual observers. St. Elmo's fire and other electrical effects also occur on ships in stormy conditions and were reported in contemporary accounts.

Many elements of the Eldridge story track a plausible wartime scene - loud equipment, secretive crews, and hurried sailings - but not the impossible parts. Navy statements, veteran interviews, and ship records contradict key claims that the Eldridge vanished and reappeared or teleported. Deck logs and crew lists place the Eldridge on routine wartime assignments inconsistent with the dramatic timeline in the legend. ¹

How the story spread

Carl Allen's letters, the Varo-annotated Jessup copy, and later books by authors such as Charles Berlitz and William L. Moore amplified the tale. Fictional treatments and a 1984 feature film, The Philadelphia Experiment (directed by Stewart Raffill), further popularized the myth. Over decades the story mixed eyewitness error, hoaxing, and speculative interpretation of degaussing research into a persistent conspiracy narrative.

Bottom line

The Philadelphia Experiment remains a cultural curiosity: a mix of wartime technology (degaussing), an eccentric correspondent (Carl Allen), an intrigued writer (Jessup), and decades of speculative retellings. Official records, veteran testimony, and the physical limits of the claimed effects make the extraordinary parts of the story implausible, while the ordinary facts that inspired it (anti-magnetic measures, electrical phenomena) are well documented.

1. Confirm publishing details and corporate identity of the "Varo" edition and the firm that produced it.
2. Verify specific deck logs and archival locations that place USS Eldridge on assignments inconsistent with the October 1943 teleportation claim.