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(More customer reviews)The Philadelphia Experiment is one of those stories you really want to believe in because it is truly one heck of a good story. You've got an incredible technological breakthrough (of invisibility and teleportation) based on one of Einstein's theories, terrible consequences which led to a complete government cover-up of the whole project, a mystery man whose strange missive to the Office of Naval Research piqued the interest of many, the strange "suicide" of a scientist claiming to have made a breakthrough on his research into the project, and other related events that seem to tie into a conspiracy. Unfortunately, the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment has been pretty effectively debunked. Even still, it's too good a story to simply fade away - and this History's Mysteries presentation does an impressive job of telling both sides of the story.
For those unfamiliar with the project, it centers around a supposed 1943 U.S. Navy experiment in "electronic camouflage." German U-boats were playing havoc with American naval vessels at the time, and this gives the story a certain plausibility. Using Einstein's theories, an electromagnetic force field was generated around a navy destroyer (later identified as the USS Eldridge) - and the experiment worked beyond anyone's imagination. The ship literally became invisible; it also, most unexpectedly, was teleported from its Philadelphia dock to Norfolk for several minutes before returning. To the Navy's horror, the men on board the ship suffered horrible consequences. Many were driven mad, others seemed normal but periodically faded in and out of view, and some were embedded inside steel structures on the ship. As a result of these tragic after-effects, the project was soon closed. Then, years later, a seaman named Carlos Allende sent an annotated copy of Morris K. Jessup's book Case For the UFO - Unidentified Flying Objects to the Office of Naval Research; therein, he claimed to have witnessed the disappearance of the Eldridge. After learning of this from the navy, Jessup began his own investigation. One day after telling a friend he had news of a breakthrough to share with him the next day, Jessup turned up dead - an apparent suicide.
After making the case for the plausibility of the Philadelphia Experiment, this documentary turns to the evidence that disproves the story fairly convincingly. Central in this is Robert Goerman's discovery of Allende's true identity in 1979 (which is a story in and of itself) and Eldridge crew members' assertions that their ship had never been in Norfolk. It's a very even-handed presentation that actually pays respect to those on both sides of the argument - a rarity in documentaries addressing the paranormal. I would have liked to hear more from Al Bielek, who was interviewed early on in the segment, but that's primarily because I find the man so fascinating. The "history" of the Philadelphia Experiment and the related Montauk experiments some years later can hardly be separated from the man and his extraordinary claims. All in all, though, this is an excellent and fairly definitive look at one of conspiracy theorists' most provocative legends.
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