The Philadelphia Experiment. Project Rainbow. All dedicated X-Philies have heard Mulder or The Lone Gunmen mention it at one time or another and any conspiracy theory enthusiast will tell you it happened. But what is it really? What has sparked public interests and speculation as to result in such a myriad of books, websites and even entice Hollywood to partake in this supposed modern fairy tale? Basically, the Philadelphia Experiment was a United States Naval experiment to test radar invisibility. The accounts vary as to whether the original idea was to achieve invisibility to enemy radar or whether the prize sought after was more profound: optical invisibility. The USS Eldridge was the ship on which this experiment took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (hence the name) in October of 1943. The result was complete invisibility of a ship destroyer type, and all its crew, while at sea. The field was effective in an oblate spherical shape, extending 100 yards out from each beam of the ship. Any person within that sphere became vague in form. Amazingly, the experimental ship disappeared from its Philadelphia dock and only a very few minutes later appeared at its other dock in the Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth area. The ship then again disappeared and went back to its Philadelphia dock. It is commonly believed that the mechanism involved was the generation of an incredibly intense magnetic field around the ship, which would cause refraction or bending of light or radar waves around the ship, much like a mirage created by heated air over a road on a summer day.
Where did we get the technology to do this? There is no definite answer, only theories. The two most popular being alien technology or the combined genius of scientists such as Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and Dr. John Von Neumann.
This experiment is one of great interests to those who believe in the government conspiracy theory, and with good reason. But there are some things that must be kept in mind when looking at events that many believe the "government is covering it up." First of all, would you accept an answer other than the one you seek? Example: Roswell. Would you accept anything but the government saying what happened in July of 1947 was a UFO crash? (Though the Air Force changing its story so many times is peculiar.) Second, consider the source of the information. It's easy to jump on the bandwagon and follow what the general public thinks. Research it for yourself. What conclusions can you draw from that research? There's possibly a perfectly logical explanation for some of the "cover-ups" out there. Finally, keep an open mind. It is your key for finding the truth.
Sara Eberhard
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Copyright (c) 1997 TRUSTNO1 online magazine