Allegedly, a navy experiment (Project Rainbow) done on October 28, 1943, in which a U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Eldridge, was made invisible, dematerialized and teleported from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Norfolk, Virginia, and back again to the Philadelphia Naval Yard.
The experiment was allegedly done by Dr. Franklin Reno as an application of Einstein's unified field theory. The experiment supposedly demonstrated a successful connection between gravity and electromagnetism: electromagnetic space-time warping.
The Navy denies that it ever did such a test. Where did the notion come from, then? One source of this alleged experiment in invisibility is the same man who gave us books on Atlantis, the Bermuda Triangle and Noah's Ark: Charles Berlitz. Along with William L. Moore, Berlitz is the author of The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibilty (New York: Fawcett Crest, 1979). In their book, not only the ship but several crew members disappeared into a new dimension, never to be seen again (unless, of course, you sail to Atlantis on Noah's Ark through the Bermuda Triangle where you will no doubt find these sailors holding a seance).
Another source of this idea comes from a movie made in 1984, "The Philadelphia Experiment," which was directed by Stewart Raffill and was based on a screenplay by William Gray and Michael Janover,
Another source is a letter written on January 13, 1965, by Carlos Miguel Allende (aka Carl Allen) to Dr. Morris Jessup, an astronomer and author of "The Case For The UFO" (1995). Allende claims that he witnessed the disapearance of the USS Eldridge while on board a merchant ship, the SS Andrew Furuseth. He also claims he saw some Eldridge crew members disappear into thin air during a fight.
With so many reliable sources, how could anyone doubt that the Navy can make ships disappear? Especially since the Navy denies it! That means it must be true, right? There is obviously a conspiracy to cover-up this experiment and prevent the world from knowing that Star Trek is not fiction and that at any moment any one of us could be beamed up to the transporter room of the Starship Eldridge.
further reading
The Philadelphia Experiment from A-Z
Philadelphia Experiment: Project Rainbow