The USS Eldridge was alleged to have been the ship involved in Project Rainbow, otherwise known as the Philadelphia Experiment, on or around October 28, 1943. Legend goes that while participating in an experiment designed to render Navy ships invisible to magnetic mines, the Eldridge actually completely disappeared, reappeared off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia (some 200 miles away) minutes later and stayed there long enough to be clearly visible to those in the area, then transported back to its original location in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Depending on the version of the story you hear, the Eldridge was also alleged to have transported forward in time to 1984 and connected with the Montauk Project while it was out of sight in 1943.

Morris K. Jessup spent most of the early 1950s as an unassuming UFO researcher and author of little note, but that all changed when he received a mysterious letter from a man identifying himself as Carlos Miguel Allende. Allende, claiming to be a former member of the US Navy, was the original source who brought the Philadelphia Experiment to Jessup’s attention. He claimed to have witnessed the disappearance and reappearance of the USS Eldridge itself, as well as sharing stories about Eldridge crew members bursting into flames, freezing in time, and even disappearing into thin air and never being seen again.

Duncan Cameron, an alleged former crew member of the USS Eldridge and frequent guest on Philadelphia Experiment panels, is one of the most public figures related to the experiment. He has spent much of the last couple of decades discussing how he and Al Bielek (who was allegedly born Ed Cameron, his brother), were caught up in the wake of the experiment and eventually had their identities ripped from them before they were dumped back into civilian life. But while Bielek’s claims include talk of time travel, aliens, and brainwashing, Cameron’s story takes it a step further and throws reincarnation in to boot.

The second letter that Carlos Allende/Carl Allen sent to Morris K. Jessup regarding the Philadelphia Experiment came in January of 1956, just days after the first letter. * * * Notes in addition to and pertaining to Missive. (Contact Rear Admiral Rawson Bennett for verification info Herein. Navy Chief of Research. He may offer you a job ultimately.) Coldly and analytically speaking, without the Howling that is in the Letter to you accompanying this, I will say the following in all Fairness to you & to Science.