# The third city project? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231 "2005-05-17T13:34:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/1 "2005-05-17T13:34:26Z")
Cecil describes the Philadelphia Experiment in his [column](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_293.html) of 23 October 1987, Cecil quotes John H of Virginia as saying, “I have long been interested in the ‘Philadelphia Experiment,’ which was supposedly conducted by the U.S. Navy during World War II as one of the three ‘city projects.’” So my question about this is, if the Manhattan Project (the nuclear bomb) was the first “city project”, and the Philadelphia Experiment was the second “city project”… what was the third “city project”? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/2 "2005-05-17T15:02:30Z")
One of William Tenn’s best known stories is: _The Brooklyn Project_. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/3 "2005-05-17T22:04:13Z")
To repeat (though with spelling corrected) what I said the [last time](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252208) this question was asked: > [@](#): > > If the Manhattan Project is to be one of these special “city projects”, then there ought to be countless others. For the reason behind its name was rather conventional - indeed deliberately so - under the circumstances. It was proposed by Leslie Groves in line with the standard practice prevailing in the US Army Corps of Engineers at the time. Projects were refered to as “districts” and named after the city in which they were located. Since the bomb project happened to have its then main office in downtown NYC, Groves suggested that it be called the “Manhattan District”. The fact this gave no clue whatsoever to the nature of the project - and it was already realised that it wasn’t going to be geographically restricted to Manhattan - was an acknowledged advantage to this name. > Indeed I suspect that “Manhattan Project” is a postwar mutation of the name. The official designation during the war was “the Manhattan District”. (See _Racing for the Bomb_, Steerforth, 2002, p170, by Robert Norris.) > > At a guess, Cecil’s questioner was refering to the Montauk Project. Some accounts conflate this with the Philadelpia Experiment, while [others](http://www.crystalinks.com/montauk.html) suggest it was a seperate project. Though, no doubt, equally fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/4 "2005-05-18T01:16:49Z")
Okay, that makes sense. I was just wondering about the emphasis on three and only three. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/5 "2005-05-18T11:42:10Z")
So, those rumors about the Peoria Project, they’re false, then? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/6 "2005-05-18T13:27:49Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > So, those rumors about the Peoria Project, they’re false, then? I dunno, Peoria’s almost invisible… ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/7 "2005-05-18T13:31:48Z")
Of course, even if the notion that there were these three - and only three - special “city projects” has no basis in reality, the loose end is where had John H. got the idea from when he wrote to Cecil? The obvious guess is from Moore and Berlitz’s book, though it’s striking that none of the numerous websites that uncritically regurgitate their version seems to mention this particular detail. Anybody got a copy of Moore and Berlitz that they can check? (I haven’t looked inside one in over twenty years.) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/8 "2005-05-18T20:19:33Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > I dunno, Peoria’s almost invisible… Didn’t Snake Pliskan escape from Peoria? Or am I think of some other city(other then New York and LA)? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/9 "2005-05-18T21:28:10Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Didn’t Snake Pliskan escape from Peoria? Or am I think of some other city(other then New York and LA)? Cleveland. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/10 "2005-05-19T01:24:07Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Didn’t Snake Pliskan escape from Peoria? Or am I think of some other city(other then New York and LA)? I thougt he was dead. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/11 "2005-05-19T02:30:07Z")
> [@RJKUgly](#): > > I thougt he was dead. Same here, but he keeps suprising you. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-third-city-project/304231/12 "2005-05-19T03:37:27Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > Of course, even if the notion that there were these three - and only three - special “city projects” has no basis in reality, the loose end is where had John H. got the idea from when he wrote to Cecil? > The obvious guess is from Moore and Berlitz’s book, though it’s striking that none of the numerous websites that uncritically regurgitate their version seems to mention this particular detail. > Anybody got a copy of Moore and Berlitz that they can check? (I haven’t looked inside one in over twenty years.) People seem to like things to come in threes