The Philadelphia Experiment was an alleged naval military experiment at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime around October 28, 1943, in which the U.S. destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible (i.e. cloaked) to human observers for a brief period. It is also referred to as Project Rainbow.
Supposedly a 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.
The theory continues that the equipment was not properly re-calibrated, but in spite of this the experiment was performed again on October 28. This time, Eldridge not only became entirely invisible, but actually vanished from the area in a flash of blue light. According to some accounts, the U.S. naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, just over 215 miles (346 km) away, reported sighting the Eldridge offshore, 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. It was also said that the boat traveled back in time for the brief time of 10 seconds.
Serious side effects are rumoured to have befallen the crew. Crew members would have been physically fused to bulkheads, suffered from mental conditions or would have just vanished into thin air. It is also claimed that the crew may have been subjected to brainwashing, in order to keep the experiment secret.
