According to popular legend, in 1943, the US Navy undertook secret experiments based out of the port of Philadelphia. These experiments were designed to put Einstein’s unified field theory to practical use by making a naval ship invisible. While conspiracy theorists debate the existence of the Philadelphia Experiment, one alleged survivor of the scientific outing, Al Bielek, maintained that the Navy’s purpose was entirely different. According to Bielek, the true purpose of the Philadelphia Experiment wasn’t invisibility, it was time travel.
In 1990, Bielek claimed that he spent time in two separate periods of the future only to return to the present and tell his story. And that was just the beginning of the fantastic revelations of this totally, completely, absolutely, one hundred percent not fake time traveler. As if someone would make that up anyway.
1. A Peculiar Child
A peculiar child by his own words, Al Bielek was born in 1927 to an otherwise wholesome family. He says his first memory came at a Christmas party when he was just nine months old. He found he was able to fully understand the adults talking in the room around him. Growing up, he says he was known as a “walking encyclopedia,” easily distinguishing himself among his classmates.