Project Rainbow

The Philadelphia Experiment, otherwise known as Project Rainbow, has been a subject of long controversy and debate. It was an attempt by the Navy to create a ship that could not be detected by magnetic mines and or radar. However,its results were far different and much more dangerous than the Navy ever expected. Although the story itselfseems too bizarre to be true, far too many coincidences have occurred for it to not be based upon some small iota of truth. The technical data that has also been presented upon the subject hold far too much credence to be ignored. Many of the stories associated with this infamous experiment are wild: whispers of men 'freezing' in time for months, rumors of men traveling through time, and horror stories of men becoming stuck in bulkheads or even the floor of the ship itself. Naturally, the first questions one would want to ask would deal with the specifics of the experiment: who, what, when, where, and how.

In the early 1930's, the University of Chicago investigated the possibility of invisibility through the use of electricity. This project was later moved to Princeton's Institute of Advanced Studies. The research went unnoticed and continued on until the 1940's. The ship that was eventually used for the experiment, the USS Eldridge, was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on August 27, 1943 (Department of the Navy). According to Al Bielek, a man who claims to have been a crew member, the first tests done were in July of 1943 and the final test was on August 12, 1943. However, others claim that the experiment took place on October 28, 1943. Substantial evidence points to the October date as being more accurate. The Navy has released the Eldridge's deck log and war diary and at no time was the Eldridge in Philadelphia. However, the records could have easily been changed. The Eldridge's war diary reads as such: The Eldridge remained in New York and the Long Island Sound until September 16, when it left for Bermuda. From September 18 to October 15, it underwent training and sea trials. On October 18, it left in a convoy for New York and remained there until November 1. From November 1 to the 2, it went on a convoy to Norfolk and on November 3 left in a convoy for Casablanca. The Eldridge arrived in Casablanca on November 22 and stayed there until November 29, when it left for New York again in another convoy. The Eldridge arrived in New York on December 17. From December 17 to December 31, it traveled to Norfolk with four other ships (Department of the Navy). Although this is not the entire war log, it is the log of the ship during the suspected time the experiment took place (October 28, as mentioned above). It would seem that the Navy never did experiments on the Eldridge at any time, but the government has been known to cover up because of national security before. An example of such a situation would be the Manhattan project. This secret project was the building of the atomic bomb and no word was ever said about it until it was obvious that we had an atomic bomb.

The Navy, in a search for a plausible answer, has suggested that perhaps the Philadelphia Experiment was confused with experiments done attempting invisibility to magnetic mines. This was a process known as degaussing. The Navy defines degaussing as:

"...a process in which a system of electrical cables are installed around the circumference of the ship's hull, running from bow to stern on both sides. A measured electrical current is passed through these cables to cancel out the ship's magnetic field. Degaussing equipment was installed in the hull of Navy ships and could be turned on whenever the ship was in waters that might contain magnetic mines..."

(-Department of the Navy)
The Navy performed another experiment on the USS Timmerman's generating plant in the 1950's. Theexperiment tried to obtain 1,000 Hz instead of the standard 400 Hz from the generator (Department of theNavy). It resulted in light discharges. These light discharges may have been witnessed by Carlos MigueleAllende and caused him to start writing letters to prominent men in the scientific community. The Navy believesthat Allende mistook the experiment on the Timmerman for the Philadelphia Experiment.

Carlos Miguele Allende, also known as Carl Allen, was an odd man. He was born on May 31, 1925 in a small town outside of Pennsylvania. On July 14, 1942, Allende joined the Marine Corps and was discharged on May 21, 1943 (Taken from the book titled The Philadelphia Experiment, pg 99). He then joined the Merchant Marine and was assigned to the SS Andrew Furuseth. It was upon this ship that he claimed to see the Eldridge in action.

Allende's story was bizarre; he stated that he had witnessed the Eldridge being transportedinstantaneously to Norfolk from Philadelphia and back again in a matter of minutes. Upon researching thematter further, he learned of extremely odd occurrences associated with the project and wrote a basicsummation of his newly learned knowledge in a letter to Dr. Morris K. Jessup. Dr. Jessup was an astronomerand Allende had been in the audience of one of Dr. Jessup's lectures. Apparently having some respect for the man, he decided to entrust Dr. Jessup with his knowledge. The letters were written oddly: with capitalization, punctuation, and underlines located in various places. The letters were also written in several colors. In his letters, Allende revealed horrifying details of the Philadelphia Experiment to Dr. Jessup. Because Dr. Jessup was something of a believer in odd phenomenon he did not entirely dismiss the ideas presented to him. He wrote back to Allende and requested new information. The return address upon the letter never existed according to the mail service, yet Allende still received Dr. Jessup's reply. Allende responded with more detailed letters but the correspondence eventually discontinued because Dr. Jessup dismissed it as a hoax. During the time of Dr. Jessup's and Allende's correspondence, Dr. Jessup had just recently published his book titled The Case for UFO's. After Allende had written to Dr. Jessup, this book was sent to the Navy and had hand-written notes inside the book. The notes were in the same writing as in the letters sent to Dr. Jessup and eventually Dr. Jessup was asked by the Navy to view the notes.

Dr. Jessup recognized the writing immediately, but he was somewhat astonished, as he had concluded earlier that it was merely a hoax to trick him. The notes in the book were more detailed than in the letters and were highly insightful, so Dr. Jessup eventually believedthem and researched the matter. Unfortunately, Dr. Jessup could not find any new leads. Only one antalizingclue had shown up. Two crewmen had been walking in a park when a haggard looking man approached them.The man told them a fantastic story about an experiment done in which most of the crew died or suffered terrible side effects. He said that the government then claimed the entire crew was insane so that when they came forward, they would merely be dismissed as a group of crazy people who had merely concocted some fantastic story. After the conversation, one crew member was convinced while the other was not. Eventually, the member that had been convinced contacted Dr. Jessup and told him the story. Although this was a substantial lead, Dr. Jessup was not getting very far and he found that his reputation in the scientific community was worsening. Faced with overwhelming odds, Dr. Jessup eventually committed suicide on April 20, 1959, believing "another existence of universe being better than this miserable world." (The Philadelphia Experiment, 79). Some believe that his suicide was actually an assassination by government agencies to keep the experiment quiet.

Unfortunately for Dr. Jessup, a major clue in the puzzle turned up shortly after his death. This clue was a man by the name of Alfred D. Bielek.

Bielek's story is even more bizarre than Allende's. He claims that he was transported in time to the future and that here in the future he was brainwashed by the Navy. This brainwashing led him to believe that his name was Alfred Bielek, rather than his true name, Edward Cameron. Upon discovering his true identity, he tracked down his brother who had also participated in the experiment. Bielek claims that his brother time traveled to 1983 and lost his 'time-lock'. As a result, his brother aged one year every hour and eventually died. Bielek then claims that his brother was reborn. Needless to say, only a small group of people believe Bielek and nearly everyone thinks that his stories are based on some truth, but he's exaggerating the truth for personal reasons. This popular opinion seems to be reinforced when Bielek starts remembering things only after having seen the movie "The Philadelphia Experiment". Bielek has a Ph.D. in Physics, so he does have some technical experience. He is also a retired electrical engineer with thirty years of experience. Because of his obvious intelligence and skill, he cannot be discounted entirely. Bielek stated that the technology used in the Philadelphia Experiment was given to us by aliens. However, the germanium transistor, which was what Bielek said had been used, was invented by Thomas Henry Moray.

Bielek also stated that Dr. Albert Einstein, Dr. John von Neumann, and Dr. Nikola Tesla were involved in the project. Some controversy has arisen as to the participation of Tesla because he died in New York city on January 7, 1943, which was only a two month period of time after the project took place. Einstein, on the other hand, suggested such a project as this to the Navy on several occasions. Because of this, he was probably involved in the project. As for von Neumann, there is no evidence to refute or promote his active participation in the matter. There is evidence that supports the fact that he later continued on the experiment at a different time.

The principle that lay behind the Philadelphia Experiment was the Unified Field Theory. This theory states that gravity and magnetism are connected, just as mass and energy are connected through the formula E=mc2. Einstein never solved the Unified Field Theory, but the very nature of the Philadelphia Experiment suggests otherwise. It is probably that this theory has become a government secret because it is capable of doing many things, possibly even space travel without the assistance of rockets.
 
 

In a search for actual technical data on the experiment, not much information can be found that isn't tainted with doubt and speculation. The basic design has two large Tesla coils (electromagnets) placed on each hull of the ship. The coils are turned on in a special sequence and their magnetic force is so powerful that they warp gravity itself. Bielek also says that on August 12 every twenty years, the magnetic field of the Earth reaches a peak and allows the synchronization between the Tesla coils. The oscillator which Bielek claims to have run the coils in a special pattern looks more like an Army field kitchen refrigeration unit than anything else. Many believe that's exactly what it is and Bielek's story is just a hoax. Bielek gave it a technical name however: the "Zero Time Reference Generator". The oscillators would synchronize with the adjustable phase angle and created a scalar type wave (Anderson). Several scientists today have attacked Bielek's testimony on this, as they believe a vector wave would have been more efficient and probable. Bielek also does not make clear if the power used is AC or DC, pulsed or rotating, and what the Microwave and Radar frequencies are. In other words, Bielek provides almost no accurate technical information that can be used.

Rick Anderson however, may be able to shed some light upon the subject. He states that four RF transmitterswere phased to produce a rotating field. This field was pulsed at a 10% duty cycle. Instead of two coils, he says that four coils would have been set upon the deck of the ship and would be run by two generators that were pulsed in a counter-clockwise motion. Anderson states that the Tesla coils use a total of 7,500 feet, or 1.42 miles of #16 magnet wire. Because of this enormous quantity, no one has privately undertaken the experiment; the wire would be too expensive and also must to be wound in a special way (Anderson). Other scientists believe that Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and the science of the Philadelphia Experiment are connected.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance is also known as Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI. Yet another scientistnamed Alexander S. Fraser believes that everyone is wrong about the electromagnetic qualities of theexperiment. He believes that it was never done with electromagnetism, but with thermal fields. This thermal field could have caused the optical mirage effect which several witnesses reported. Fraser says that Allende had spoken of a 'scorch' field, fire, and optical wavering, all of which are products of a thermal field. As for the part about the Eldridge disappearing in front of their very eyes, certain weather conditions have been known in the ocean to cause islands to disappear as well. These weather conditions were taking place the day of the experiment. Yet another scientist believes that sonic and ultrasonic waves were used. The sonic waves could have been used to create an 'air blanket' around the ship, which is consistent with reports. There were many experiments done in the 1940's with high power ultrasonic waves, which indicates a high probability of the Philadelphia Experiment being one of them. Strong sonic fields are known for having bad side effects upon humans, which is also consistent with reports. The green haze which was presumably around the ship was caused by "exciting the surrounding sea water with powerful ultrasonics -- 'sonoluminescense' and related phenomena." (Anderson) The ultrasonic field would have caused the crew to pass out and make the journey from Philadelphia to Norfolk seem to last only a couple minutes. Needless to say, the technicalities of the Philadelphia Experiment are a matter of hot debate among scientists and no one seems to be able to provide any solid evidence. As Rick Anderson aptly puts it: "An electronics person knows that, without a DETAILED, comprehensive THEORY behind bench set-up, he is not going to know how to set up voltages and currents, power levels, frequencies, wave forms, pulse widths or duty cycles. If there's a chance a circuit won't work, Murphy's Law dictates that it WON'T more often than not."
 

(-Anderson)

If the technicalities of the experiment are vague and a matter of controversy, the results of the experiment are just as foggy. One fact which everyone seem to agree on is that a field was extended many yards, up to perhaps one hundred, outside of the ship and into the water (Anonymous). Everything inside of this sphere was vague in form and the only visible shape was the hull of the Eldridge in the water. This field seemed to have a greenish color and was misty. Another fact everyone agrees was that the Eldridge did not function properly after the experiment and became a source of trouble. The last item everyone believes is that terrible side effects were manifested upon the crew members. However, when one delves deeper into that particular subject, no one agrees on what the specific details are. Some witnesses, Allende and Bielek in particular, state that matter itself was changed and that men were able to walk through physical objects. When the field was shut off, some crew members were found stuck in bulkheads, others in the floor. Some were found with the railings of the ship stuck through their bodies. It was a horrendous sight. The sailors supposedly went crazy after this and raided a bar. They told the bar maid their story and completely terrified her. According to Allende, a newspaper article was written upon the raid, but no specific date was named, so the article cannot be found. Most crew members went insane, but a few retained their sanity, only to be thrust into worse situations. One man sat down to dinner with his wife and child, but then got up from the table, walked through the wall, and was never seen again. Two others simply disappeared into thin air and were also never seen again. Another crew member vanished in the middle of a fight, much to his opponent's astonishment. All three incidents had several witnesses. Yet the worse side effects were when men got 'stuck'. Getting stuck consisted of becoming invisible and being unable to move, speak, or interact with other people for a period of time. This was told of by Allende in his letters to Dr. Jessup. Getting stuck by the crew members was known as "Hell Incorporated". (The Philadelphia Experiment, 42). Itwas also known as the Freeze. A common freeze would last minutes to hours and was damagingpsychologically, but did not cause madness. A man would only come out of the Freeze if other crew memberslaid their hands upon him to give him strength. Unfortunately, in one instance of the "Laying of Hands," two men who attempted to lay hands upon the man burst into flames and burned for eighteen days (The Philadelphia Experiment, 44). The fires could not be stopped, despite multiple attempts to quench the flames. Needless to say, the Laying of Hands was discontinued from that point on. Then, men started going into the Deep Freeze, when a man would be frozen for several days to several months. During this time, the man is completely aware
of others and their actions but was unable to communicate to them or interact with them. Men in the Deep Freeze can only be seen by other crew members. It only takes two days for a man to go completely crazy in the Deep Freeze. The first deep freeze took six months and five million dollars worth of research and equipment to correct (The Philadelphia Experiment, 43). The man who was stuck for six went completely insane by the time he got out. Carlos Allende wrote: "Usually a A Deep Freeze Man goes Mad, Stark raving, Gibbering, Running MAD, if His freeze is far More than a Day in our time." (The Philadelphia Experiment, 42) Rick Anderson uncovered research that states this disappearance or freezing of people is the Zeeman Effect. "Zeemanising - the Zeeman Effect is defined as spreading out of the spectral lines of atoms under the influence of a strong magnetic field." (Anderson) The few remaining sailors have a high PSI factor which is intensified by fear or hypnosis. Unfortunately, they have all been discharged from the Navy as mentally unfit.

The Philadelphia Experiment has become a saga of strange occurrences and peculiar coincidences. It should be noted that Allende firmly believes the Navy was completely unaware of the side effects the Philadelphia Experiment would produce on the crew members. Allende is also quoted as saying: "I believe that further experiments would naturally have produced controlled transport of great tonnages at ultra-fast speeds to a desired point the instant it is desired. "(Allende). A full report of the Experiment was given to Congress and themembers were so horrified that they disbanded the project immediately. However, research continued at the Montauk Project, a.k.a. the Phoenix Project, which was headed by Dr. John von Neumann, who also directed the Philadelphia Experiment. The Montauk Project centered mostly on how the mind reacts to interdimensional travel. It took place at the Brookhaven National Laboratories. Von Neumann attempted to link computers with minds and was apparently successful beyond his wildest dreams. Using this computer-human link, Von Neumann could affect others minds and was eventually able to open a time vortex back to 1943 to the Philadelphia Experiment. He even made claims that the mind could created matter at any point in time. He also claimed to have sent a man named Preston B. Nichols through two times lines, a fact which was actually confirmed by Duncan Cameron in 1985 (Montauk). Cameron was trained by the National Security Agency, so his testimony is valid. Many people believe that the Montauk Project is continuing to this day, although much of the information available about it is only rumor.

The Philadelphia Experiment was a key part of American history because it demonstrates what a government is willing to do to have an advantage in war.
 

- Mark Bean