En 1943, dos jóvenes oficiales de la marina tomaron parte voluntariamente en un experimento militar altamente secreto que consistía en impedir que su barco fuera detectado por el radar enemigo. Un error imprevisible los trasladará al futuro, al año 1984.
In 'The Philadelphia Experiment', a secret government research project tries reviving the World War II "Philadelphia Experiment," which was an attempt to create a cloaking device to render warships invisible. When the experiment succeeds, it brings back the original ship (the Eldridge) that disappeared during the first test in 1943 - which brings death and destruction to the 21st century. It's up to the sole survivor (Lea) of the first experiment and his granddaughter (Ullerup) to stop it.