SIGHTINGS


 
NASA Endorses Podkletnov's Anti-Gravity Research
By Mark D. Somerson
Dispatch Staff Reporter
5-9-98


Take a controversial Russian scientist, NASA and a high- tech Columbus company and the world just might -- might -- have a good shot at beating gravity.
 
But before anyone fires an apple at Sir Issac Newton, many things have to happen, including determining whether Eugene Podkletnov and his quest for shielding Earth's pull are real.
 
Yesterday, a representative from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration brought Podkletnov to Superconductive Components on the Northwest Side, to talk anti-gravity.
 
"Ten years ago, physicists would have said this stuff is Star Trek -- impossible to do," said Ron Koczor, associate director of the Space Science Laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
 
"But if Eugene's work can be duplicated independently, this will change totally how the world does business."
 
In 1992, while working in Finland, Podkletnov said he achieved a 2 percent reduction in the force of gravity by using superconducting materials. He said, in essence, that he had built an anti-gravity machine.
 
In the world of physics, 2 percent is a giant leap. This is the stuff, scientists said yesterday, that Albert Einstein described but couldn't prove -- that objects can be shielded against the waves of gravity that make what goes up come down.
 
But there is a problem. No other scientist has been able to replicate the Russian's results, and Podkletnov has yet to publish his work in a science journal.
 
Although Podkletnov said his idea is valid, he isn't exactly sure why it works.
 
"This is an entirely new field of knowledge," he said. "We can't understand everything. This is physics, chemistry, ceramic technology, electrical engineering and more."
 
Still, NASA was interested enough to bring him to its Marshall Space Flight Center four days ago, and to Columbus to see whether his work can be duplicated.
 
Podkletnov reported that he reduced gravity while a 12-inch superconductive ceramic disk was spinning rapidly inside a container of super-cold liquid nitrogen. He said all objects placed above the spinning disk showed a small drop in weight.
 
Despite many attempts, NASA's Marshall Center had no success in replicating the experiment.
 
So NASA came to Superconductive Components. In February the company was awarded a $70,000 NASA grant to duplicate and someday enlarge the superconducting disks.
 
One day the space agency would like to stack ceramic disks atop one another, freeze and spin them, and watch gravity lose its edge, Koczor said.
 
James Gaines, vice president and general manager, said if Superconductive can duplicate Podkletnov's disk, it could lead to a second NASA award of about $750,000.
 
"We've sold materials to NASA and a number of credible people," Gaines said. "But we've also sold it to every kook in the world. We've had the president of every UFO society in the country buying small versions of this stuff."
 
The biggest ceramic disks that Superconductive has made are 6 inches in diameter.
 
"The degree of difficulty goes up when you make the disks bigger," Gaines said.
 
Still, he said Superconductive is willing to give it a whirl.
 
"When his idea first hit the Internet, hundreds of people were trying to duplicate it," Gaines said. "Now, it's winnowed down to the strong-hearted people with a lot of money."
 
NASA has the money.
 
"I don't know if it's going to work," Gaines said. "But if it does, it's going to be a hoot."


Sightings HomePage