E is for Experiment: Turning the USS Eldridge invisible

Image: Wikipedia, USS Eldridge, ca 1944

Today I present a "Cliffs Notes" version of the Philadelphia Experiment, compiled from here:

In the fall of 1943, this navy destroyer was docked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard where it underwent a special test to render the Eldridge invisible to radar. Massive Tessla coils were placed on the ship creating an eletromagnetic field to divert radar waves from the ship.

Image: Owen Phairis, a six-inch Tessla coil

After this contraption was activated, the ship was engulfed in a green haze and vanished from sight. Wow, invisible to both radar and eyeballs. Awesome!

But that's not all. The ship wasn't just invisible, it teleported to Norfolk, VA for a few minutes before reappearing in Philly. And that's when things got gruesome.

Image: from the 1984 film, The Philadelphia Experiment

Crew members came back embedded in the bulkheads, decks, and railings. Many went insane. Others remained invisible to anyone except other crew members. Attempts to bring these unfortunate souls back into the correct time and place set their bodies on fire for 18 days.

There's a couple of movies based on this conspiracy theory released in 1984 (see trailer here) and 2012 (see trailer here).

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E is also for EGADS, I totally forgot about the IWSG. If you don't know, this a remarkable collection of writers of all types that get together on the first Wednesday of the month to release their writerly woes and triumphs to the blogosphere. Headed by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group also boasts its own IWSG Goodreads Book Club, websight (Insecure Writer’s Support Group), publishes anthologies featuring its members, and will have a pitch party this July. Please join us!

This month's awesome co-hosts are: Chris D. Votey, Madeline Mora-Summonte,Fundy Blue, and Chrys Fey!

This month's optional question is: Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?

Why, yes. A couple of years ago, I promoted a collection of sci-fi stories and although I gave away many copies of individual tales, sales were less than brisk for the overall collection. I should be promoting something this year, but I'm way behind on my to-do list and just couldn't get things ready in time. 

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Ever heard of the bizarre story of The Philadelphia Experiment or seen one of the films?