The Philadelphia Experiment
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Relevant Documents

One of the many intriging aspects of the work and life of Townsend Brown is that whenever his name is mentioned, the so-called Philadelphia Experiment (TPX) inevitably comes up. The TPX, as legend has it, was an attempt, by the U.S. Navy during World War II, to create an invisibility field around a ship, in this case, the U.S.S. Eldridge (DE-173 class). Reams and reams of stories, articles, books have been written regarding the TPX, and accusations between the differing factions have waxed and waned over the years.

The most well-known book regarding the TPX was "The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility," by William L. Moore in consultation with Charles Berlitz (deceased), dated 1979. The book contains a full chapter entitled, "The Force Fields of Townsend Brown," in which the authors describe Townsend Brown's research into the Biefeld-Brown Effect and hypothesize the possibility of he and his work being integrated into the TPX.

The reasoning behind the inclusion of the chapter has been a matter of debate for some time, although it appears that Mr Moore's association with Dr. Reilly H. Crabb of Borderland Sciences, whose belief that Townsend Brown was possibly in charge of the TPX was probably instrumental in the inclusion.

Various significant errors in research procedures and reliance on unreliable sources has come to light in more recent years. For example, on pp. 235-236, the author discusses Mr. Moore's attempts at an "investigative ploy" :

"Interested to discover whether these early deguassing experiments may in fact have been forerunners of the far more complicated Philadelphia Experiment, Moore attempted an investigative ploy with another scientist known to have been heavily involved in the Navy's early deguassing efforts [confirmed as being Townsend Brown by the Townsend Brown family-ed.]. Having previously written a brief account of that scientist's life as part of a projected magazine article [Wizard of Electrogravity, 1978-ed.], he hit upon the idea of trying to determine whether he knew anything about Allende's ship experiment by arranging to have him edit and approve a draft of that article, and then loading the draft with a specially prepared paragraph before submitting it to him. Thus the draft manuscript which he recieved [confirmed by the Townsend Brown family-ed.] contained the following 'planted' paragraph...

...The object of this , of course, was to observe this man's reaction to the planted material by watching what he did with it in the editing process. The surprise came with the return of the edited document. As requested the scientist had indeed penciled in numerous suggestions, corrections, additions, and delletions...but had allowed to stand without change or comment the entire test paragraph !...

...The cover letter letter which came with the manuscript seemed to clinch it. "As to the draft of your article," it said, the information "appears to be essentially correct [ed.]."

Interestingly enough, quoting from a reliable source assigned as an escort to Townsend Brown for a number of years off and on from the 1940's through 1980's:

"Dr. Brown was an accurate speller and an excellent wordsmith. His penmanship, if you have a chance to notice it, was controlled and elegant. I personally have experienced his " proofreading skills" and his abundant use of a red pen to correct mistakes, and I made plenty and still do.

The phrase he used to use with me was that my report was "substantially correct [ed.]" (which was his code phrase meaning that there was a hole in the report big enough to drive a truck through. "Substantially correct "for him was not good enough and if you thought that was a phrase used as a compliment you were WAY off base)."
This information casts significant doubt on the reliability of the included chapter and book as a whole, as described at: www.ttbrown.com

Although "The Philadelphia Experiment" was one of the first books to investigate the TPX, the legend really began with one man, Mr. Carl(os) Miguel (Merideth) Allen(de), a sailor claiming to have been on an accompanying ship, the S.S. Andrew Furuseth, during one experimental attempt. If anything is to be made of the legend, it seems reasonable to go back to the original source.

Qualight Systems does not take any official position on the existence or non-existence of the TPX, and any potential scientific aspects of such an experiment seem to be clouded by the legend that has grown up around it. The following are a few of the voluminous letters sent to Mr. William Moore by Mr. Carlos Allende during the 1970's.

Relevant Documents:

A copy of Carlos Allende's original Seaman's Certificate."

Letter from March 7, 1977 from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Letter from March 12, 1977 from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Postcard from Albuquerque, New Mexico (date unknown).

What list would be complete without Mr. Allende's earliest interaction with M. K. Jessup in the infamous Varo Edition of "The Case for the UFO," as transcribed by The Quantum Future Group, Castelnau-Barbarens, France in 2003 and also posted at the lifters group at American Antigravity.

Last, but not least, the Navy's take on the Philadelphia Experiment:

Naval Public Liason Branch - on the Philadelphia Experiment.

Naval Historical Center - on the Philadelphia Experiment.

Department of the Navy - a history of the U.S.S. Eldridge.