Martins–Pinheiro inertia papers
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 6
| Date | 1 February 2007 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| People | Bernard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda, Harold Puthoff |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 164 |
| Year | 2007 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 2007 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 5 |
In 2006–2008 physicists Alexandre A. Martins and Mario J. Pinheiro of the Technical University of Lisbon published papers arguing that inertia — an object's resistance to acceleration — has an electromagnetic origin connected to a charged particle's own vector potential. If correct, they suggested, it might in principle be possible to alter inertial mass with applications to propulsion.[1][2]
The papers
The first, "The connection between inertial forces and the vector potential", was posted to arXiv in November 2006 and published in the American Institute of Physics conference proceedings in 2007. It used the Lagrangian formalism of canonical momentum and retarded potentials to argue that the electron's mass is entirely electromagnetic in origin. The second, "On the electromagnetic origin of inertia and inertial mass", posted in February 2008, analysed the motion of an extended charged particle and derived what the authors described as a kind of induction law for inertia.[1][2][3]
Background
The idea that mass and inertia might be electromagnetic in origin dates back to classical electron theory around 1900. In the 1990s Bernard Haisch, Alfonso Rueda and Hal Puthoff proposed that inertia might arise from interaction with the quantum zero-point field, and Puthoff's work on vacuum physics later fed into the Pentagon-funded AAWSAP studies.[4]
Reception
These are theoretical proposals, not confirmed by experiment, and they remain outside mainstream physics; other physicists have found errors in some zero-point-field theories of inertia. They are often cited in discussions of how UAP might perform the manoeuvres reported by witnesses.[4]
People and topics
- Bernard Haisch — Astrophysicist at Lockheed who co-developed the zero-point field theory of inertia.
- Alfonso Rueda — Physicist who co-developed the zero-point field theory of inertia.
- Harold Puthoff — Physicist who co-founded the SRI remote-viewing research and later worked on AAWSAP and To The Stars Academy.
- Zero-point energy — The lowest possible energy of a physical system, which some hope to tap for power.
- Unidentified anomalous phenomena — The U.S. government's current term for unidentified objects in the air, in space and underwater.
On the Timeline
- 1960s disc hovercraft inquiry (5 Jan 2007) — Puthoff and Davis look into a 1960s Lockheed hovercraft that looks like a disc.
- DARPA zero-point energy test (2007) (27 May 2007) — Haisch tells Vallée a DARPA-funded zero-point energy test is negative so far.
See every 2007 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- A. A. Martins and M. J. Pinheiro, "The connection between inertial forces and the vector potential" (2006), arXiv · arxiv.org · archived copy
- A. A. Martins and M. J. Pinheiro, "On the electromagnetic origin of inertia and inertial mass" (2008), arXiv · arxiv.org · archived copy
- AIP Conference Proceedings (2007), DOI · aip.scitation.org · archived copy
- Harold E. Puthoff — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- arxiv.org · arxiv.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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