University of South Carolina gravity generator
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 1 March 1998 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| People | Ning Li |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 131 |
| Year | 1998 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1998 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 6 |
In 1998 writer Charles Platt reported in Wired that the University of South Carolina's Office of Technology Transfer had circulated an announcement offering to license a "gravity generator", a device said to create a force beam in any chosen direction.[1]
The announcement
Platt came across the announcement reprinted on the back of a photocopied newsletter of fringe science claims. It invited licensees or joint developers and gave a university reference number. When Platt called the technology transfer office, an assistant confirmed it was genuine but said it had been presented prematurely, had circulated more widely than intended, and that the university was still working on the technology and preferred no publicity.[1]
Douglas Torr
The office would not say who was involved, but Platt found physicist Douglas Torr's name on a patent application for the gravity generator listed in a university report to the faculty senate. In 1990, while at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, Torr had begun writing papers with physicist Ning Li predicting that superconductors could affect gravity; Li went on to work with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, while Torr moved to South Carolina.[1][2]
Outcome
No results from the project, and no working device, were ever made public.[1]
Context
Platt's article surveyed a wave of 1990s gravity-control claims, including Eugene Podkletnov's reported weight loss above spinning superconductors. Physicists he consulted said that true gravity shielding consistent with general relativity would require enormous amounts of mass and energy. None of these claims was confirmed.[1][2]
People and topics
- McDonnell Douglas — The aerospace company that ran several quiet studies of UFOs and propulsion.
- Ning Li — Physicist who tested superconductor gravity claims at NASA Marshall.
On the Timeline
- Bigelow's expectation of a UFO announcement (1998) (11 January 1998) — Bigelow tells Vallée he feels a dramatic UAP development is coming soon.
- Zero-point field theory of inertia paper (1998) (August 1998) — Puthoff and Lockheed researchers publish a paper on inertia and vacuum energy.
See every 1998 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Charles Platt, "Breaking the law of gravity", Wired (March 1998) · wired.com · archived copy
- Eugene Podkletnov — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Antigravity research history talk (2018, PDF) — HAL5 · hal5.org · archived copy
- Charles Platt, 'Breaking the Law of Gravity' (Wired 6.03, 1998), archived copy · geocities.ws · archived copy
- Press coverage of antigravity research, 1990s — Patrick Gross · ufologie.patrickgross.org · archived copy
- Gravitational repulsion effect claimed (2001) — Slashdot · science.slashdot.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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