SAIC electric propulsion study (1988)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | April 1988 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Nuclear & missile sites (topic), Propulsion & physics (topic) |
| People | Franklin Mead, Pharis Williams |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 101 |
| Year | 1988 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1988 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 9 |
In September 1988 the defence contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) began an "Electric Propulsion Study" for the U.S. Air Force Astronautics Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, which examined, among other things, possible couplings between electromagnetism and gravity. Its final report was published in August 1990.[1][2]
The study
The work was Task 07 of a scientific and technical assistance contract (F04611-88-C-0014) and ran from 21 September 1988 to 30 November 1989. The Air Force task manager was Franklin Mead of the laboratory's future technologies office, who had edited the 1972 Project Outgrowth report; the principal investigator at SAIC was physicist Dennis Cravens, and the other main technical contributor was physicist Pharis E. Williams, a consultant.[1]
Pharis Williams
Williams had developed an unconventional theory linking gravity and electromagnetism. According to the testimony, a Los Alamos colleague later told a journalist that if anyone built an anti-gravity device, it would probably be based on Williams's principles. His ideas have not been accepted by mainstream physics.[1][3]
Contents
The report's sections include discussions of the Biefeld–Brown effect (the claimed thrust of charged capacitors), a "conductive submarine" and a "gravitational rotor", and it recommended further study of radiation pressure and Biefeld–Brown effects.[1][2]
Significance
The study shows that the Air Force continued to fund speculative propulsion research in the late 1980s, though none of it produced working technology. The final report, AL-TR-89-040, is publicly available from the Defense Technical Information Center.[1][2]
People and topics
- SAIC — A U.S. defence contractor that carried out propulsion studies and remote-viewing work.
- Edwards Air Force Base — The Air Force flight test center in California.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Franklin Mead — Air Force propulsion engineer who edited Project Outgrowth and commissioned advanced propulsion studies.
- Pharis Williams — Physicist with an unconventional theory of gravity cited in UFO propulsion debates.
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — The New Mexico laboratory where the atomic bomb was designed.
- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
On the Timeline
- Veritay propulsion report (1988) (April 1988) — A contractor submits a propulsion report to the Air Force led by Franklin Mead.
- Kit Green on MJ-12 (1988) (23 October 1988) — Kit Green tells Vallée that 'MJ12' was real.
See every 1988 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Dennis J. Cravens, "Electric Propulsion Study" (AL-TR-89-040, Aug 1990), DTIC (PDF) · apps.dtic.mil · archived copy
- "Electric Propulsion Study (1990)", UFO Scans · ufoscans.com · archived copy
- Edwards Air Force Base — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Advanced Propulsion Concepts – Project Outgrowth, AFRPL-TR-72-31 (PDF) — DTIC · apps.dtic.mil · archived copy
- Project Outgrowth — The Black Vault · theblackvault.com · archived copy
- apps.dtic.mil · apps.dtic.mil · archived copy
- devoidlives.com · devoidlives.com · archived copy
- osti.gov · osti.gov · archived copy
- scientificexploration.org · scientificexploration.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Edwards Air Force Base — 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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