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JULY 22, 1943
U.S.S. Eldridge, Destroyer Escort 173
0900 Hours/ 9:00 A.M.
150 Miles of the Eastern Coast of the United States
“Sir, power to the generators is at near capacity,” the seaman said, standing at attention.
“Thank you. Carry on.” Lieutenant Hamilton dismissed the young man, as the steady and slightly increasing hum of the generators resonated in the background.
As the Eldridge steamed out of the Philadelphia Naval Yards and into the waters of the Atlantic, the current to the generators had been initiated. Magnetic power was slowly building as the ship sailed through the fresh and salt water mix of the Delaware River into the now deep salt waters of the cold Atlantic. Lieutenant Hamilton had put more than one hundred and fifty miles between the ship and the Philadelphia Navel Yards. In that time the harmonic buildup of the electrical frequency into magnetic energy was nearly complete.
“Mr. Einstein, we will be moving you to an observation ship.” Lieutenant Hamilton turned to the small graying haired man as a PT boat, launched from one of the observation ships just off the Eldridge’s bow, pulled up alongside.
Einstein looked away from the row of panels of tubes, fused wires, and toggle switches, “We are ready then. I have done all that I can.”
Seven minutes later on the observation ship thirty five yards off the starboard bow of the U.S.S Eldgridge, Einstein and the crew aboard the observation ship Rainbow stared in horror and disbelief.
It was gone.
Not just off of the radar instrumentation, but from sight as well.
A thick greenish fog had built up at the water line, and then increased, until it slowly engulfed the U.S.S. Eldridge. The dim hum from the massive generators on board the Eldridge resonated throughout the hull of the ship and into the deep waters of the Atlantic. The sound waves hit the observation ship Rainbow at the same time the fog lifted, rising up from the water line to the height of the Eldridge’s super structure.
In the quarters below deck of the Rainbow, a team of seaman listened intently through hydrophones, keen to the slightest change in the sound waves emanating from the electronic hum of the generators. Despite their preparedness and efforts to foresee a problem, it happened too quickly for any of them to react. The steady wave of sound from the Eldridge was replaced in a second’s time by the sound of silence.
The Eldridge was gone.
Only still water remained.
“Well, Mr. Einstein, congratulations are in order.” Lieutenant Hamilton offered his hand to the scientist.
Einstein did not accept the proffered hand. Instead, he turned away, muttering in German, and rechecked the dials on the nearby instrument panel. “This is not right,” he said, glancing back to the Lieutenant briefly. “No. No. Something is wrong here. We should see the ship. The ship is not supposed to disappear. It should only become invisible to our instruments.” Einstein moved to the railing of the ship and stared at the place where the Eldridge was once anchored. “It should still be there.”
“It seems to have worked better than we expected.” Lieutenant Hamilton smiled, but this time kept his hand to his side.
“This is not what we had planned.” Einstein considered the Lieutenant’s words, then dismissed them. “I do not know what is happening to that ship.”
“Sailor, are we maintaining radio contact with the Eldridge?” Lieutenant Hamilton shouted to the young radioman.
“Sir, radio contact maintained.”
“Mr. Einstein, it appears as though we still have radio contact with the Eldridge.”
“Good. Then, tell them to shut it down,” he said, rushing back to the instrumentation. “Order them to turn off the generators.” Einstein stared at the man who commanded the ship. “Your men are on board that ship, Lieutenant.”
Hamilton hesitated, then said, “Sailor, give the order to shut down the generators.”
“Yes, sir,” the sailor replied. “U.S.S. Eldridge this is observation ship Rainbow. You are ordered to disengage the generators. Do you read me Eldridge?”
Static.
“U.S.S. Eldridge, come in.” The radioman paused for a moment. “U.S.S. Eldridge come in.”
“Observation ship Rainbow. This is U.S.S Eldridge.” The static was broken. “We read you. We are shutting down the generators. I repeat. Shutting down.”
The thick greenish fog that had enveloped the Eldridge before its disappearance began to build again. At the exact site where the Eldridge had been anchored, the fog grew, becoming a dense swirling mass.
Below deck on the observation ship Rainbow, the hum from the generators returned, vibrating within the steel walls of the hull, and then began to diminish steadily.
As the hum of the generators wound down, the fog surrounding the site of the Eldridge began to dissipate, and with it the outline of the Eldridge began to materialize.
Fifteen minutes after the experiment had begun, the Eldridge was back.
Within minutes of the ship’s return, Lieutenant Hamilton and a crew of six came alongside the ship. The ship and its crew were silent. Lieutenant Hamilton expected a crewmember to come along the side of the ship, as protocol demanded, and attend the small boat. The lack of protocol alerted his senses. He knew that something was different aboard the Eldridge, but hid his concern in his voice. “Prepare to board,” Lieutenant Hamilton shouted the order to several crewmembers aboard the Eldridge that were in clear sight. His order was ignored. The crewmen never responded, and wandered off.
It took another five minutes, after coming alongside the Eldridge, to secure the PT to the ship, and board. The crew of the Eldridge, disoriented, wandering aimlessly on deck, took no notice of Lieutenant Hamilton or his crew as they climbed up the net ladder attached to the side of the Eldridge and onto the boat.
The generators were intact and now completely off and silent. The acrid smell of burning wire and insulation hung in the air about the boat. If there had been a fire, it was out now.
A gagging sound caught the attention of Lieutenant Hamilton and his crew. They turned to the bow where several crew members from the Eldridge had draped themselves over the side, heaving, over whelmed by nausea.
Lieutenant Hamilton pulled the radio from his belt. “Observation ship Rainbow. This is Lieutenant Hamilton. Prepare to bring Mr. Einstein to the Eldridge.” He hesitated for a moment, choosing the correct words. “Something has gone wrong here. Very wrong.”