Xref: utzoo alt.alien.visitors:566 sci.energy:4596 sci.electronics:19746 sci.skeptic:10556 Path: utzoo!utgpu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!cynic!arkham!jaguar From: jaguar@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca (Jeremy Reimer) Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,alt.conspiracy,sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.skeptic,misc.mi Subject: Re: INFO: How To Build A UFO - T Pawlicki, Nikola Tesla Message-ID: Date: 30 Apr 91 08:27:07 GMT References: Organization: Chez Cthulhu +1 604 983 3546 "Caterers to the Elder Gods" Lines: 88 ford@swrdpnt.bison.mb.ca (Scott Young ) writes: > mwtilden@watmath.waterloo.edu (Mark W. Tilden) writes: > > > > > In 1978 I caught a hitchike with an engineer who, during an interesting > > discussion, gave me a photocopy of an article describing the > > construction of a 'Searle generator', a device which exhibits > > all the properties associated with flying saucers. > > > > The basic principle is that two flat rotating conductive disks form > > a charge-capacitive effect which generates obsene amounts of static > > charge, sufficient to lift the device from the ground. The article > > shows several devices built by Searle and a discription of what happened > > (flight, bizarre pink halo, disappeared into distance). > > > > For years I have been keeping an eye out for appropriate flat disks to > > prove or disprove this theory. Anybody know anything more about it? > > Is it the crank I think it is? > > > > Is all. > Sounds kind of fishy, but it's hard to tell from the brief description. > What lifts the disks? Is it an electromagnetic repulsion of the ground? > Or an attraction to charged particles in the air? Either way, I don't > think it would work; you would have to have an *immense* charge buildup > on the disks, which would probably be difficult to insulate from each other > and from grounding out via a lightning-type discharge. And what's this > taken yet. Please post further details, it sounds interesting. > Scott > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > Reply to: ford%swrdpnt.bison.mb.ca@niven.cc.umanitoba.ca > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The thing about all these stories is all it takes is a little basic physics to show that they aren't the big wonderful discoveries they claim to be. First, any buildup of static charge, no matter how great, will not be repulsed by the earth's magnetic field! You need magnetic field to do that! Even if you could somehow magically produce enough static charge to repel a ship (one would have to oppositely charge the ground, which for all intents and purposes is electrically neutral) a quick calculation shows that before any levitation would occur a huge electrical discharge would happen between the ground and the saucer. (That's why we get lightning, when there are two differently charged areas on the ground and in cloudcover, a discharge equalizes the two) Any saucer fliers would be fried rather quickly. And as for attracting particles in the air (I might remark that they too are almost all electrically neutral), such particles would merely stick to the ship. You would have an easier time swimming vertically through the air by paddling with your hands and feet. If one assumes these people are merely mistaken and really mean MAGNETIC field, then you can easily do a calculation determining how much current you would have to put through a wire to levitate off the earth's magnetic field at any given latitude. The current ends up being so ridiculously high as to be laughable. Even with a superconducting wire you run into this problem. It's not like building a maglev train; the earth's magnetic field is very weak compared to what is needed for practical levitation. You can do these sorts of problems with one or two equations found in any first year physics text, they are really trivial solutions! Fortunately, there is NO NEED for these fancy pseudo-scientific devices to keep us levitating in a saucer. There are several small companies NOW producing "UFO"s that look more like sleek futuristic cars. High-powered motors are fixed horizontally into the vehicle and run small propellors that lift the beast vertically and propel it horizontally. Computers control the aspect of the motors to allow vertical takeoff and landings. If anyone wants I can dig up the Discover article (over a year old) about one man who started up such a company in his garage. WHO NEEDS FANCY ELECTRO-MAGNETIC BULLS**T WHEN SIMPLE PROPELLORS WILL DO? By the year 2000, at least a few of these flying cars should replace private helicopters for inter-city travel. They're really quite neat, and you don't have to violate any of the laws of physics to build them. :) . . . . . ._)_--_ \|/ . . . . / * ]\ -=*=- Look out! The black stuntship's about . . . =___ __| /|\ to crash into the sun! "---- ==================================== Jeremy Reimer, aka =====jaguar@arkham.wimsey.bc.ca===== Sunny Vancouver BC The Jaguar. The Car ==================================== Canada, where it's the Cat, the Lunatic George: What time is it? fun, fun, fun... -------------------- Edmund: Three o'clock in the ------------------