Hutchison Effect
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8

| Date | 1983 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic), Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| People | John Hutchison, John B. Alexander, Albert Stubblebine, Nick Cook |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 95 |
| Year | 1983 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1983 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
The Hutchison Effect is a set of phenomena that Canadian inventor John Hutchison has claimed, since about 1979, to produce with high-voltage electrical equipment in his Vancouver home: objects levitating, metals fracturing, and dissimilar materials such as metal and wood fusing. The effects have never been reproduced under controlled conditions.[1][2]
The claims
Hutchison said he discovered the effect accidentally while trying to reproduce one of Nikola Tesla's experiments, using Tesla coils, a Van de Graaff generator and surplus military electronics. Supporters have attributed it to "scalar waves" tapping zero-point energy, an idea without scientific support. A 1984 Canadian television news report showed a demonstration of levitating objects, and a company, Pharos Technologies, was formed to develop it.[1][3]
Military interest

Hutchison said he demonstrated the effect for scientists from U.S. Army intelligence. According to the testimony, in 1983 a team connected to Army intelligence, including Colonel John Alexander, then exploring unconventional technologies for the Army's Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), looked at his work; INSCOM's commander, General Albert Stubblebine, was known for his interest in psychic and fringe science. Hutchison's work also appears in Nick Cook's The Hunt for Zero Point.[1][4]
Criticism
The effect is not reproducible, even by Hutchison himself, who has said he was unable to produce it after 1991. A video made for a television special showing a toy UFO apparently levitating revealed a string moving in time with the object; Hutchison first said it was part of the apparatus and later admitted he had been "creative" with the footage. Skeptics suggest other videos used hidden magnets or an upside-down camera.[1]
Status
Independent observers have never reproduced the effects under controlled conditions, and many think the videos were staged or misinterpreted.[1][2]
People and topics

- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
- John Hutchison — Canadian inventor of the claimed "Hutchison Effect".
- John B. Alexander — Retired Army colonel who organized the 1985 Advanced Theoretical Physics group and wrote UFOs: Myths, Conspiracies and Realities.
- Albert Stubblebine — Army intelligence commander who championed psychic research.
- Nick Cook — Jane's Defence Weekly aviation editor and author of The Hunt for Zero Point.
- The Hunt for Zero Point — Nick Cook's 2001 book on secret anti-gravity research.
- AAWSAP — The Defense Intelligence Agency's UAP research program of 2008–2010, carried out by Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies.
- AAWSAP DIRD release — AAWSAP DIRD release
On the Timeline

- Sandia uncle crashed saucer story (1982) (29 September 1982) — Puthoff relays a story of a scientist who studied a crashed saucer and copied an antigravity device.
- Montauk Phoenix and Rainbow claims (1983) — Alleged Montauk projects reportedly used radio and microwaves in mind experiments.
See every 1983 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- "The Hutchison Effect", Damn Interesting · damninteresting.com · archived copy
- "Grove brud på fysikkens love", Videnskab.dk · videnskab.dk · archived copy
- "John Hutchison, the wild scientist from Vancouver" (archived site) · mirrors.nic.funet.fi · archived copy
- John B. Alexander — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
- theblackvault.com · theblackvault.com · archived copy
Further reading
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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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