Sidney Sherby

Captain Sidney Sherby (also spelled Sydney Samuel Sherby), a U.S. Navy officer, served in the Office of Naval Research (ONR) during the 1950s. As a key figure there, he and Commander George W. Hoover investigated annotated copies of Morris K. Jessup's 1955 book 'The Case for the UFO,' received by ONR in 1956. These marginalia, penned by Carl Allen (alias Carlos Allende), alleged details of the Philadelphia Experiment—a supposed WWII invisibility project tied to UFO propulsion and alien technology. Sherby spearheaded the probe, which exposed the claims as a hoax fabricated by Allen. ONR commissioned Varo Manufacturing to produce 30 spiral-bound reproductions of the annotated book in colored inks, distributing copies including to Jessup. Sherby's role marks an early instance of official U.S. Navy scrutiny of UFO-related literature, though it debunked fantastical assertions rather than endorsing them.