22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dont expect too much, July 1, 1999
Because the navy officially denies that any such experiment ever occurred, there is virtually no information available about the experiment. Therefore the authors rely on second-hand accounts, hearsay, and the recollections of some individuals long after the alleged experiment occurred.
Some of these accounts may or may not be true. The problem with this however, is that the authors do not attempt to document their sources. This means they are either unable or unwilling to document these sources. All of which means many or all of these sources or accounts could either be true or false.
Basically, nobody will ever know, and the authors may have wanted it that way. Admittedly, the book IS interesting, as long as the reader takes in the material with a certain amount of cautious skepticism. But there doesn't seem to be anything here that is strongly substantiated. That doesn't prove it's NOT true, it only proves that it cannot be proven to BE true.
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52 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The most interesting thing about this book is ..., May 18, 2001
...how it got into print at all. This book is so terribly bad that it should carry a government health warning.
The basic premise of this ill conceived pile of drivel is the notorious Philadelphia Experiment (called PX by those in the flim flam trade), a top secret experiment that supposedly took place in 1943 aboard the USS Eldridge (DE173). Allegedly, the vessel and some crew were exposed to a high level of electromagnetic current designed to make the ship magnetically invisible (to mines), but the experiment went horribly wrong, resulting in the ship becoming optically invisible, teleporting itself to a different location and then crashing through the time/space barrier into a different dimension! Naturally the Navy denies all knowledge of the incident because they, like everyone else with half a brain, know that it didn't happen. Naturally `Bill' Moore and `Chuck' Berlitz know better than the United States Navy, and what's more, they know a government conspiracy when they see one, and in this case when they don't see one.
But before I really sink my teeth into this mindless tome, let's review some obvious facts first. The historical reality of WWII is that it was the first real-time, electronic technology war. The `Battle of the Beams', the cavity magnetron, Oboe, H2S, the Enigma decrypts, Colossus and the Manhattan Project are just a few the more well documented cases of this research and development battle that took place in facilities all over the world. Along with these there were probably hundreds, or even thousands, of other experimental attempts to produce superior technology that would win the war, or at least give the Allied forces the edge in combat. All of these projects would have files stamped with warnings like: `Most Secret', `Top Secret', `Above Top Secret', "So Unbelievably Secret That If You Read This File We Will Have To Poke Your Eyes Out With A Sharp Stick' and `Use As X-Files Script Only'.
`Bill and 'Chuck' construct this brazen and misguided tale upon three main characters. First is Morris Jessup, a self appointed PhD (probably in `applied barbecue maintenance' or some other advanced concept) whose main claim to fame is that he preceded Eric von Danekin by two decades in suggesting that the Mayan temples were constructed by extraterrestials. Talk about gifted! He also wrote a book entitled `The Case For The UFO'. Jessup is a genuinely tragic case, with the last years of his life seemingly spent in despondency, paranoia and depression, resulting in suicide. The second, and the most crucial player, is Carlos Allende. A one-time merchant seaman who wrote a series of letters to Jessup about `The Case For The UFO' in which he claimed to have detailed knowledge of the PX, and that this knowledge came from an informant who was one of the projects lead researchers. If I have given you the impression that Morris Jessup was mentally unstable, then Allende is totally unhinged - you only have to read any of his letters to realise just how completely deranged and deluded this character really is. The third component of this triumvirate of lunatics is Dr Franklin Reno (an alias), who is in reality a Dr Rinehart (also an alias) who claims to have worked on the PX (this is an alias as well) - they would have been better off calling him Dr Alias. The good doctor was terrified that people were watching him constantly and that he was being monitored where ever he went because he 'knows too much'. Dr Alias died before the publication of the book (he was the lucky one).
The `Bill' and `Chuck' roadshow provides no tangible proof for anything. The critical witnesses are always anonymous `for obvious reasons' (I mean, as if I would think they're fruitcakes) and they provide no evidence at all that anything, anywhere ever took place. They allude to a conspirational government cover up and even publish a copy of the letter sent by the Navy (to anyone who asks about the PX), as if to confirm just how deep this conspiracy goes and how much money the Navy is prepared to spend in maintaining this covert gloss. If you read the Navy's letter it is easy to detect just how frustrating it must be for their PR department to continuously respond to oafs like these two. This letter highlights the very obvious point that if any government agency had invented a teleportation device it wouldn't remain secret for long and you don't have to have a post graduate degree to realise what a startling weapon this would be! No more ICBM's, missile crammed submarines or stealth weapons, you simply dial up some co-ordinates and deliver a thermonuclear weapon the size of a Zeppelin hangar straight into the Kremlin's war room. Better still, you can just imagine the look of shock on the face of the Saddam Hussein as you teleport an entire years collection of Jerry Springer episodes into his headquarters - this would soon have him begging for mercy!
The writer unashamedly promotes Berlitz' previous book `The Bermuda Triangle' and makes ridiculous asides like `does this answer the unsolved riddle of the Bermuda Triangle'. Strangely, the `unsolved riddle of the Bermuda Triangle' has been solved so often that its amazing that anyone still believes it. This book has so many holes in it that it would take a book twice its size just to critique it. If you take out all the unproven conjecture, the first two words of this book would read `The End'.
Yet this work is so completely mindless that does have a fascination about it - it's like a 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' in print - somehow it's both lamebrained and beguilingly stupid all at the same time. If you plan to have a portion of your library devoted to the worst books ever printed, then this would make a good start. It is a book written by lunatics, about lunatics, for lunatics (come to think of it - I read it!). Clearly this is the work of anti-talent at its best and is only for the connoisseur of quality hogwash, so you have been warned.
Bill & Chuck - give me a break!
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