High-frequency gravitational waves

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Contents 6
High-frequency gravitational waves
Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.
TypeTerm
Also known asHFGW, high-frequency gravitational wave
On the Timeline4 events, 2003–2022

High-frequency gravitational waves (HFGW) are hypothetical gravitational waves of much higher frequency than those produced by astronomical events. Some researchers have claimed they could be generated in the laboratory and used for communication, imaging or spacecraft propulsion, ideas that appear in UFO-related research, but a 2008 review by the JASON scientific advisory group found no credible basis for these uses.[1][2]

Background

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Illustration: Earth, the Moon and space. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Gravitational waves are ripples in space-time predicted by general relativity; those from astronomical sources are extremely weak. Proponents of HFGW, notably Robert M. L. Baker Jr. and his company GravWave, argued that much higher-frequency gravitational waves could be generated and detected with laboratory equipment.[1][3]

The JASON review

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Illustration: glowing orbs in the sky. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

In 2008 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence asked the JASON group of scientists to assess whether foreign powers might exploit HFGW. Their report, High Frequency Gravitational Waves (October 2008), concluded that no foreign threat from HFGW was credible and rejected suggested applications including communication, detection and imaging of objects, and vehicle propulsion. It warned that relativity and gravitation have attracted pseudoscience, and urged officials to seek expert scientific opinion on such claims.[1][2]

Dispute

Salvatore Pais: Salvatore Cezar Pais
Salvatore Pais: Salvatore Cezar Pais Photo: MrsBobDobalina · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Baker said the JASON report seriously misrepresented GravWave's research, arguing that the panel had made errors in analysing the laboratory generation of gravitational waves. A U.S. Navy patent application by engineer Salvatore Pais for a "high frequency gravitational wave generator" was granted in 2019, but no working device has been demonstrated.[3][4]

UFO connection

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Illustration: a disc-shaped craft in the night sky. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

A Pentagon-funded technical report on HFGW was among those produced for the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) around 2009–2010; critics have pointed to the JASON findings to argue that it did not hold up.[5]

On the UAP Timeline

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

References

This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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