The USS Eldridge Is One Of The Most Famous Government Experiments Ever Pulled Off

Learning about the USS Eldridge government experiment sounds like one of those conspiracy theories that annoy most people… but then down-low makes them scratch their heads and wonder what actually happened.

It’s a military urban legend. And a World War 2 conspiracy theory. Here’s what happened:

The Philadelphia Experiment, as it’s come to be known, went down on October 28, 1943. In the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, the government conducted an experiment to create an “invisible” ship. The intention was to make something that couldn’t be detected by the enemy. Because of this, the USA could gain command of the oceans against the Axis powers.

The rumour was that the government was experimenting with a technology that would make naval ships invisible to enemy radar. They were testing it on USS Eldridge de 173.

That day in October of 1943, they were ready to test it out.

Legend has it that witnesses saw an eerie greenish glow around the hull of the ship. Her generators started up, and all of a sudden… the USS Eldridge of the Philadelphia Project just disappeared.

After that, the ship was suddenly seen in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia. But wait… there’s more. It was only seen there momentarily, and then it disappeared again. Guess where it re-appeared…

Back in Philadelphia.

Reports claim that the Eldridge crew went insane, developed strange illnesses, and even became fused to the metal of the ship. Strange stuff, indeed.

Conspiracy theorists of course thought it was aliens. And the government holding out on time-travel and light-travel and teleportation… that sort of thing. There were a lot of theories, but none of them were viable (because, physics). All of the ideas and texts and creepy stuff faded into history never to be heard about again. Until…

Of course, once Hollywood people got their hands on the concept, they decided to create a movie about it. The movie “The Philadelphia Experiment” came out in 1984. It’s about a Navy invisibility experiment that ends up sending two sailors forty years into the future. That’s two years from now, if you’re wondering.

It’s an action-packed sci-fi film, and while it didn’t rate very high critically, maybe you should check it out for some classic 80s suspense and adventure.

The Truth About The USS Eldridge

The green glow was explainable: It’s a phenomenon known as St. Elmo’s Fire, which is a weather phenomenon where plasma creates a strong energetic field. Because of this, it gives of a bright glow which perfectly explains the other worldly green light coming off of the hull of the ship.

Inland canals connected Norfolk to Philly back then, which allows a ship to travel between the two cities in a few hours, rather than a couple of days.

And, to wrap this up, apparently the government was never actually trying to make an “invisible” ship! They just used the word to describe the technology they created to help the ship fly under the radar of enemy detection.

Or maybe that’s just what the government is telling us?