Editing Philadelphia Experiment (section)

===Misunderstanding of documented naval experiments===
Personnel at the Fourth Naval District have suggested that the alleged event was a misunderstanding of routine research during [[World War II]] at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. One theory is that "the foundation for the apocryphal stories arose from [[degaussing]] experiments which have the effect of making a ship undetectable or 'invisible' to magnetic mines." Another possible origin of the stories about [[Levitation (physics)|levitation]], [[teleportation]], and effects on human crew might be attributed to experiments with the generating plant of the destroyer {{USS|Timmerman|DD-828}}, wherein a higher-frequency generator produced [[corona discharge]]s, although none of the crew reported suffering effects from the experiment.<ref name="NHHC 1996">{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/philadelphia-experiment/philadelphia-experiment-onr-info-sheet.html |title=Philadelphia Experiment: Office of Naval Research Information Sheet |website=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |date=1996-09-08 |access-date=2021-07-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514055617/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/p/philadelphia-experiment/philadelphia-experiment-onr-info-sheet.html |archive-date=2021-05-14}}</ref>

Observers have argued that it is inappropriate to grant credence to an unusual story promoted by one individual in the absence of corroborating evidence. Robert Goerman wrote in ''[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]'' magazine in 1980, that "Carlos Allende"/"Carl Allen", who is said to have corresponded with Jessup, was Carl Meredith Allen of [[New Kensington, Pennsylvania]], who had an established history of [[psychiatric illness]] and who may have fabricated the primary history of the experiment as a result of his mental illness. Goerman later realized that Allen was a family friend and "a creative and imaginative loner&nbsp;... sending bizarre writings and claims".<ref>{{Skeptoid | id=4016 | number=16 | title= The Real Philadelphia Experiment: The US Navy did not make a warship completely disappear in 1943|date=2006-12-24}}</ref>