In the legend of the Philadelphia Experiment the date of the main “deadly” experiment given is Oct. 28, 1943. Below we will look at the various sources and dates given.

“Being employed at the Shipyard during this time, up to 1982, I was in a position to go into some shipyard records and files to find anything relating to the date or to the USS Eldridge DE-173. The listing indicated that the USS Eldridge was not in the shipyard in 1943. My search of the records uncovered another unusual fact. On the supposed date of the experiment, October 23, 1943, at all shops and offices on that day, a Saturday, the back channel employees were assigned work in other locations or given the day off. Most unusual for a wartime shipyard. This fact was verified in conversation with a now retired and deceased member of Liaison Group, Jimmie Judge.” – Sam Kuncevich

“The ‘result’ was complete invisibility of a ship, Destroyer type, and all of its crew, While at Sea (October 1943)” – Carl M. Allen

“The experiment, he {Carl Allen} said, took place in the last few days of October 1943 and the first week of November 1943” – Jacques Vallee [1]

“To the best of Allen’s recollection, the disappearance of the DE-173 occurred between 17:05 and 17:20 hours on, possibly, the 27th or, more likely, the 28th or 29th of October 1943.” – Bob C. Warth [2]

“…it appears that the Philadelphia Experiment took place sometime between July 20th and August 20th, 1943.” – William L. Moore [3]

In 1945 The U.S.S. Antietam (CV-36) went into the Philadelphia Naval Yard for degaussing. The crew, having heard of the PX legend, was starting to get concerned that their ship might be used for a continuation of the experiment. To ease tension, Captain J. R. Tague called all crew to quarters and read a memo from the Secretary of the Navy about the PX. The memo stated that the PX happened on October 28, 1943. This event was entered into the log of the Antietam in May, 1945. [4]

Carl Allen had said that he witnessed the experiment in October of 1943, from the deck of the S.S. Andrew Furuseth.

“..at approximately 5:05 in the afternoon on a nice, clear, sunshiny day. It was a beautiful, lovely day – no clouds in the sky…” – Carl M. Allen. [5]