Effects of the Experiment on the Crew
“The experiment Was a Complete Success. The Men were Complete Failures.” – Carl. M. Allen
The aftereffects of the experiment first came to light through the letters Carl M. Allen wrote to Mr. Jessup. Allen described some of the more bizarre things that happened to the men. In the end all personnel were quarantined at Bethesda Naval Hospital; some were released and given the classification “Mentally Unfit for Duty”, regardless of their “real” status. I think the Navy did this so that if anyone “talked” they could just pull out the “He’s insane” documents, and simply say, ‘He is crazy, here are the papers to prove it, we’re the Government…. what would we know / care….’
“The only thing I ever heard about the crew of the Eldridge was that they were kept at Bethesda Naval Hospital out of communication with everybody for the remainder of the war.” – Frederick Tracy
“Psychic ability seemed to have been generally sharpened, while many retained the effects of transmutation from the experiment, temporarily disappearing and reappearing, either at home, walking on the street, or sitting in bars or restaurants, to the consternation of onlookers and waitresses. Twice the ship’s binnacle suddenly burst into flames while being taken ashore, with disastrous results to the carrier.” – Dr. Valentine recalling his talks with Dr. Jessup. [1]
It was said the experiment was rushed along at the time (because of the war) and the Navy would never budge from their rigid set of test dates. The scientists requested more time to figure out how to properly protect the people from the hazardous effects of the electromagnetic fields generated for the experiment, but the request for more time was denied. The Navy seemed more interested in getting the equipment working than in worrying about the “lab rats” running it.
According to Carl Allen’s letters to Mr. Jessup, this is what happened to the men exposed to the electromagnetic field:
- Some men would “Freeze”, “Get Stuck”, or “Go Blank”, etc. Most of the men would simply be unable to move, and referred to it as “HELL Incorporated.” The men are usually aware of the passage of time, and were in some sort of a coma. If a man remained in a “Deep Freeze” for more than a day he usually went insane. It took six months and five million dollars worth of electronic equipment to “Unfreeze” the first “Frozen” crewman.
- Two men “Froze” and caught fire. They burned for 18 days. {Like Spontaneous Human Combustion}
- Some men would “disappear” or appear to be in a “heat mirage” while not under the effects of the Field.
- Some men were just “missing” after the experiment and were never found.
- One sailor walked through a bulkhead (in plain view of witnesses) and was never seen again.
Bethesda Naval Hospital
“There are only a very few of the original Expierimental D-E’s Crew Left by Now, Sir. Most went insane, one just walked “throo” His quarters Wall in sight of His Wife & Child & 2 other crew Members (WAS NEVER SEEN AGAIN), two “Went into “The Flame,” I.E. They “Froze” & caught fire, while carrying common Small-Boat Compasses, one Man carried the compass & Caught fire, the other came for the “Laying on of Hands” as he was nearest but he too, took fire. THEY BURNED FOR 18 DAYS. The faith in “Hand Laying” Died When this Happened & Mens Minds Went by the scores.” – Carl Allen
In a lengthy interview with Gray Barker William More states;
William Moore
“Today we know (although we didn’t in 1943) that electromagnetic energy in certain wavelengths can indeed affect the mind in a variety of ways: anything from a complete coma to ringing in the ears. In fact, a great deal of research is being done on this today. Of course, electromagnetic energy in certain wavelengths can even cook things. As far as I can determine, two of the men did not survive the Philadelphia Experiment. Possibly more did not survive, but at least two didn’t come back when the ship returned to visibility. Those who did survive were shipped off to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and put under treatment for unspecified lengths of time. I am told that only eight or nine were finally discharged, and that these suffered from “mental incompetence” – or so it was alleged. After all, this would make a perfect cover if they were to “talk” about the experiment. The Navy could say, “Look, you’re talking to a nut; what do you expect to get from a person like that?” I have gotten to some of these witnesses, secondhand. That is, I’ve talked to somebody who talked to the actual persons. But within the past week, I’ve got to one of these men directly, and he has indicated that he will come forward and tell me his story, firsthand.”[2a]
In Colin Wilson’s “Enigmas and Mysteries” he related that according to a report 16 crew members died and six went insane.
In 1945, a guard (only remembered as “Jim” by Patrick Macey) for classified audiovisual material saw part of a film viewed by a group of Navy brass. He recalls:
“I remember only part of the film, as my security duties did not permit me to sit and look at it like the others… I do remember that it concerned three ships… it showed two other ships feeding some sort of energy into the central ship. I thought it was sound waves, but I didn’t know, since I, naturally, wasn’t in on the briefing.
After a time the central ship, a destroyer, disappeared slowly into a transparent fog until all that could be seen was an imprint of that ship in the water. Then, when the field, or whatever it was, was turned off, the ship reappeared slowly out of thin fog.
Apparently that was the end of the film, and I overheard some of the men in the room discussing it. Some thought that the field had been left on too long and that that had caused the problems that some of the crew members were having.” – Jim [2]
“we know he {Tomas Townsend Brown} was depressed {in 1943} over the effects on the crew of the experiment and the subsequent experiment that took place on the sea.” – Charles F. Berlitz [3]
If you think the Navy would not use there own men in a dangerous experiment, against there will, and silenced, think again;
In Aug~Nov of 1943 (the very same year of the Philadelphia Experiment), the United States Navy used its own men in experiments with poison gas. Conducted at the Naval Research Laboratory in Anacostia in Washington, DC and the Edgewood arsenal in Maryland. The experiments involved injecting toxic mustard gas into locked chambers from which the men, who had been recruited under false pretenses, were unable to escape. Participants who refused to take part were given a verbal “Dressing down” and threatened with court martial and 40 years in prison. Not surprisingly, almost all the victims suffered severe external and internal burns. Despite the inevitable damage to their health, the men were subsequently ignored by the Navy. In the end they were told that the Espionage Act would be used against them if they disclosed what had taken place.
The above is not far from what Carl Allen wrote in his letters to Jessup.
“The navy’s own reports, entitled ‘Chamber Tests with Human Subjects’, dated 1943 and now declassified, are extraordinarily blase about the results of the experiments.”
A prior crew mate of Carl Allen’s wrote that he he had served with Carl on the Newton Baker. He didn’t recall Carl telling any stories about the disappearing ship, but others who’d been on the Furuseth talked about it. One of them knew one of the fated DE’s crew who had been “locked up at Bethesda with other nuts that babbled a lot of crap like that.” The writer was surprised to learn that no one believed Carl, and asked, “How can so many men go insane at the same time and all of them tell the same story about the same destroyer that went invisible?“[3a]
A Slice Of Science
In as early as 1930 scientists found that people subjected to high-frequency electromagnetic fields (between 380 to 500 mHz for different subjects) would experience a definite pulsing in the brain, ringing in the ears, hallucinations, and other strange sensations.
Studies were also conducted in noise abatement using infrasonic and ultrasonic sound waves. Some of the reactions in the subjects were: fatigue, tension, loss of balance, headaches, nausea, and fainting spells. [4]
Dr. A. Frey, M. Messenger, and E. Eichert proved that radio fields can simulate the neurons in the brain. By modulating microwaves with pulse generators, they could easily produce recognizable sounds such as: bongo drums, electric saws, lawnmower, engines, etc. [5]
With this in mind one could summarize that the men of the experiment could have had mass hallucinations, magnifying a simple ship experiment into the present legend.
“During my service on the A/T Leon I had some reports from crew members stating that they had seen something mysterious like an illusion (i.e. some type of ghost), or they reported that they were missing things (objects, possessions), nothing of value which would suggest that a thief was on-board. Usually they would find the lost objects after a couple of days in a different place than they had placed them. We used to make jokes between us about the ‘ships ghosts’ that changed the place of things.” – Commanding officer who served on the A/T Leon [6]
[1]“The Bermuda Triangle” by Charles Berlitz, Pg 115
[2]“The Philadelphia Experiment” by Bill Moore & Charles Berlitz, Pg 240-241
[2a]“The Ghost of the Philadelphia Experiment Return” by Gry Barker
[3]Transcript from “Eye of the Storm” Narrated by Stan Deyo
[3a]“HOAX: The Philadelphia Experiment Unraveled” by P.J. Dowers, Pg 110
[4]“Aliens From Space: the Real Story of Unidentified Flying Objects” by Donald Keyhoe, Pg 28
[5]“Is Anyone Out There” by Jack and Lawton Stoneley, Pg 152
[6]Interviewed by George Pantoulas
