Talk:James Harder (ufologist)

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"However, small gravitomagnetic devices have recently been constructed and demonstrated by physicist Ning Li, formerly with NASA. According to Li, the latest device can generate a continuous, 11 kilowatt gravity-like beam that can be either attractive or repulsive (what she calls “AC gravity”). The device uses a varying magnetic fields applied to a high-temperature superconductor to produce a gravitomagnetic field. (1999 Popular Mechanics article describing device) In 2003, Li started a gravity research company called AC-Gravity, with financial backing from Army Aviation & Missile Command, to further develop the device.

The device is apparently based on a theoretical paper written by Li and D. G. Torr describing a method for converting an electromagnetic field into a gravitomagnetic field using superconductors. Atoms in a material can individually produce minute gravitomagnetic fields when they absorb electromagnetic energy, but in a superconductor the atoms can “couple” and behave coherently, producing a net gravity-like repulsion force.

If true, Li’s gravitomagnetic work might confirm the insights expressed by Dr. Harder back in 1968 on UFO propulsion."

Please back this up with evidence, nothing in modern physics could explain this, and a single article in a non peer reivewed journal is not a good enough reference. If this were true it would have certainly won a Nobel prize or two by now.

Really without any evidence to back up this extraordinary claim I don't think this person deserves his own wikipedia article, and so I will probally start the proceedings to delete this page. --Jpowell 00:08, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

-- The validity of Ning Li's work really isn't the issue, since the article is about James Harder, professor emeritus of engineering at U.C. Berkeley, and longtime and well-recognized UFO researcher. If necessary, the comments about Ning Li's work could be cut out of the article entirely. The reason I put it in there was to give an example of how Harder's conjecture back in 1968 about the source of UFO propulsion as gravitomagnetic (and associated with high magnetic fields generated) might be backed by current developments in physics such as Li's work.

As for Ning Li, she is an internationally recognized expert in the field of gravitomagnetics with many peer-reviewed papers, dating back to at least 1991. She isn't the only physicist working in the field. Below is a review by physicist Robert Baker of the history of the subject and 25 papers presented at the 1st International Gravity Wave Conference in 2003:

RML Baker Jr, "Precursor Proof-of-Concept Experiments for Various Categories of High-Frequency Gravitational Wave (HFGW) Generators," AIP Conference Proceedings, 2004

Paper presented by Ning Li at GW confrerence (providing calculations for 11KW SC gravity wave generator: "Measurability of AC gravity waves," 2003, International Gravity Wave Working Group conference

Original paper on generation of gravity waves using superconductors (note: fully peer-reviewed in Physical Review) [http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v43/i2/p457_1 N. Li and D. G. Torr, "Effects of a gravitomagnetic field on pure superconductors," 1991, Phys. Rev.]

Paper critical of Ning Li calculations: Harris E.G, "Comments on 'Gravitoelectric-electric coupling via superconductivity' by Douglas G. Torr and Ning Li'," Foundations of Physics Letters

I could list more papers, but I hope the point has been made. This is a fully legitimate field of physics and a lot of work is currently being done on the cutting edge. Whether some of the concepts eventually prove themselves out as practical devices remains to be seen. Please don't be too quick to dismiss topics just because they don't make it into a basic undergraduate physics curriculum. Dr Fil 18:25, 23 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Here's another article about the recent confirmation of a measurable gravimagnetic effect in a spinning superconductor, the experiment being conducted by scientists for the European Space Agency. 66.117.135.19 19:09, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Citations & References
See Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the  tags Nhl4hamilton (talk) 08:13, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

January 2021 rewrite
The article was discussed at the Fringe Theories Noticeboard in January (thread permalink). As a result I attempted a rewrite, improvements are welcome. — Paleo Neonate  – 20:57, 13 January 2021 (UTC)