[CNI News thanks Bob Soetebier (bikebob@MO.NET) for forwarding this item, which was posted to Usenet by Bob Tarantino (taranr@erols.com). The item originally appeared in a British journal called Aviation Report on December 9, 1955 and refers to the then-widespread discussion among aircraft designers and theorists on the possibilities of electrogravitics, or electromagnetic anti-gravity propulsion. Its references to AT&T (close affiliate of Bell Laboratories) and the newly invented transistor seem particularly relevant in light of the foregoing story from the American Computer Company.]
ELECTRO-GRAVITICS EFFORT WIDENING
Aviation Report, 9 December 1955
Companies studying the implications of gravitics are said in a new statement to include Glenn Martin, Convair, Sperry-Rand, Sikorsky, Bell, Lear Inc. and Clark Electronics. Other companies who have previously evinced interest include Lockheed Douglas and Hiller. The remainder are not disinterested, but have not given public support to the new science -- which is widening all the time.
The approach in the U.S. is in a sense more ambitious than might have been expected. The logical approach, which has been suggested by Aviation Studies, is to concentrate on improving the output of electrostatic rigs in existence that are known to be able to provide thrust. The aim would be to concentrate on electrostatics for propulsion first and widen the practical engineering to include establishment of local gravity forcelines, independent of those of the earth's, to provide unfettered vertical movement as and when the mathematics develops.
However, the U.S. approach is rather to put money into fundamental theoretical physics of gravitation in an effort first to create the local gravitation field. Working rigs would follow in the wake of the basic discoveries.
Probably the correct course would be to sponsor both approaches, and it is now time that the military stepped in with big funds.
The trouble about the idealistic approach to gravity is that the aircraft companies do not have the men to conduct such work. There is every expectation in any case that the companies likely to find the answers lie outside the aviation field. These would emerge as the masters of aviation in its broadest sense.
The feeling is therefore that a company like A.T.&T. is most likely to be first in this field. This giant company (unknown in the air and weapons field) has already revolutionized modern warfare with the development of the junction transistor and is expected to find the final answers to absolute vehicle levitation. This therefore is where the bulk of the sponsoring money should go.
[To date there is no direct evidence that AT&T or any similar company can claim the title of "master of aviation in the broadest sense." But from the late 1950s on, the previously public discussion of electrogravitic research suddenly fell silent, leading some researchers to speculate that breakthrough discoveries had been "taken black," or declared top secret. There are persistent rumors that the U.S. military has test-flown extremely exotic aircraft with some form of anti-gravity propulsion -- a notable example involves the mysterious Cash-Landrum incident of December, 1980 near Dayton, Texas.]
Original file name: CNI - AT&T.gravity.final
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