Gary Gochnour plasma aircraft patent
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 10
| Inventor | Gary Gochnour, independent inventor (filings listed as "Individual") |
|---|---|
| Main application | US 2006/0102795 A1, filed 25 May 2005, published 18 May 2006; abandoned |
| Granted patent | US 8,109,471 B2, "tubular" plasma craft; filed 14 November 2008, granted 7 February 2012; expired for non-payment of fees |
| Related filings | Applications with priority dates from 2004 to 2010 |
| Claimed abilities | Silent flight, vertical take-off, invisibility, space and underwater travel, boron-hydrogen fusion |
| Status | Paper designs; no craft known to have been built |
| Date | 18 May 2006 |
| Topics | Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| People | Gary Gochnour |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 162 |
| Year | 2006 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2006 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 8 |
Gary Gochnour was an independent inventor who, from the mid-2000s, filed a series of U.S. patent applications for plasma-powered craft. Their drawings resemble classic flying saucers.[1][2][6] His 2005 application described a craft that would be silent, invisible and able to fly in space or underwater, and that would help generate electricity by nuclear fusion. It was abandoned.[1] A later design for a tubular plasma craft able to approach the speed of light was granted as U.S. Patent 8,109,471 in 2012. It later expired because its fees were not paid.[2] UFO enthusiasts have pointed to the filings as saucer-like designs in the patent record. No craft based on them is known to have been built.[2][5]
The inventor
Google Patents lists Gochnour as the inventor and the applicant as an "Individual", with no company or institution named.[1][2] A list of his patents on Justia refused automated access.[4] He has been described as an Army veteran, and his obituary has been described as calling him a "space explorer". The obituary was published under the name Gary Richard Gochnour through the Seattle Times on Legacy.com. Its text did not load, so neither detail could be checked.[7]
A 1979 FBI memo released under the JFK Records Act concerns a man of the same full name in New Orleans. It calls him a "chronic complainer" and a possible source of spurious information about the Kennedy assassination. Nothing in the sources establishes whether he and the inventor were the same person.[8]
The 2005 application
Application US 2006/0102795 was filed on 25 May 2005 and published on 18 May 2006. It claims priority from an application of 6 May 2004.[1] Its title is "Fusion energy system and plasma propulsion aircraft to produce electricity from a controlled nuclear fusion reaction".[1] The abstract claims:[1]
- Lift. The craft is held in flight by "an uplifting Larmor gyro orbiting particle field" and an extensive capacitor system.
- Construction. It is made of chromium steel or higher ferrochromium steel.
- Energy. After start-up from stored capacitor energy, it draws energy from its operating environment.
- Uses. It is "immediately capable" of space flight, use as a submersible, or use as an energy source in an artificial environment.
- Stealth. It is "invisible within the visible spectrum" and to electromagnetic radiation, and absorbs the radiation it produces.
- Flight. It flies soundlessly, takes off and lands vertically, operates within Earth's radiation belts, and is faster than "the fastest aerodynamic aircraft".
- Fusion. With two larger, faster craft of magnesium-aluminium, it could ignite a spherical fusion plasma on its roof using boron-11 and ordinary hydrogen, "with no radiation" and no cooling needed.
The application's indexed terms include capacitors, ferromagnetic materials, electrolysis, seawater, tungsten and the ionosphere.[1] The application is listed as abandoned. Six later documents cite it, and it cites seven earlier patents.[1] The PDF of the published application held only images, with no extractable text.[6]
The 2012 patent
Gochnour filed the application that became U.S. Patent 8,109,471 on 14 November 2008. It was published as US 2009/0127383 on 21 May 2009 and granted on 7 February 2012.[2] Its abstract describes:[2]
- Shape and field. A "tubular" plasma-based craft with a magnetic field and a plasma vortex. The field is described as an inhomogeneous, diamagnetic, orbiting plasma field carrying a magnetohydrodynamic current.
- Equipment. A "vast array" of capacitors, a proton accelerator, plasma guns, "diversion devices", and about seven uninsulated tungsten bands around the hull.
- Fuel. Fuel drawn "at no cost" from an atmosphere or from a radiation-induced atmosphere in space, likened to the Moon's thin atmosphere of noble gases.
- Range. The craft "will approach the speed of light, over time" and could reach a G- or K-type star "for only the cost of construction".
- Escape craft. Three on-board escape and exploratory craft.
Google Patents gives its status as "Expired – Fee Related": the patent lapsed because maintenance fees were not paid. Its adjusted expiry would otherwise have been 19 October 2029. One later document cites it.[2]
Other filings
The 2005 application belongs to a wider family. Google Patents links it to these applications:[1]
- US 2005/0254613, with priority from 6 May 2004
- US 2008/0061191, filed 23 March 2007
- four applications filed on 19 March 2010: US 2010/0243796, 2010/0243816, 2010/0294881 and 2011/0000185
A Medium post about "UFO patents" found while searching magnetohydrodynamic patents is listed among the sources but refused automated access.[5]
The Tic Tac comparison
UFO enthusiasts have sometimes compared Gochnour's designs with the "Tic Tac" object of 14 November 2004.[3][5] In that encounter:[3]
- The sighting. Commander David Fravor of the USS Nimitz strike group saw a white, oval object about 40 feet long hovering above a disturbance in the sea off southern California.
- Witnesses. Four aircrew watched it for about five minutes.
- Radar. The USS Princeton had reportedly tracked objects descending rapidly from 80,000 feet for two weeks before.
- The video. Lieutenant Commander Chad Underwood later filmed an object with an infrared targeting camera.
The earliest priority date in Gochnour's 2005 filing, 6 May 2004, is about six months before the encounter, and the filing came long before the Tic Tac video was made public in 2017. The resemblance is a matter of comparison, not evidence of any connection.[1][3]
Assessment
Patents describe ideas, not demonstrated technology. A patent office does not require proof that an invention works.[1][2] Gochnour's filings make claims of invisibility, near-light speed and free fuel without supporting test results. The main application was abandoned, and the one granted patent was allowed to lapse.[1][2] There is no evidence that any such craft was built, or that the designs relate to any reported UFO.[2][3]
People and topics
- Gary Gochnour — Inventor of a patented plasma-based aircraft design.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation — The U.S. federal police agency, which helped check flying disc reports from 1947 to 1950.
On the Timeline
- Skunk Works astral projection anecdote (28 April 2006) — Greer claims a Skunk Works engineer described using astral projection.
- BAE Systems executive claim (2006) (27 September 2006) — Kit Green says a BAE Systems executive is involved in the UAP issue.
See every 2006 event on the UAP Timeline →
Further reading
- USS Nimitz UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
References
- US patent application 2006/0102795, Google Patents · patents.google.com · archived copy
- US Patent 8,109,471, Google Patents · patents.google.com · archived copy
- USS Nimitz UFO incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Patents by inventor Gary Gochnour — Justia · patents.justia.com · archived copy
- On UFO-like plasma aircraft patents — Medium · medium.com · archived copy
- patentimages.storage.googleapis.com · patentimages.storage.googleapis.com · archived copy
- legacy.com · legacy.com · archived copy
- documents.theblackvault.com · documents.theblackvault.com · archived copy
Facts in this article are drawn in part from the Wikipedia article “USS Nimitz UFO incident”, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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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