Lunatic theories I received

Since these theories were not posted on the SDMB I thought a new thread was appropriate. When I was the Facility Manager of NASA’s Zero Gravity Research Facility in the 1990s I got a some odd mail because my office address was public. One guy mailed me two different theories hand written on many sheets of paper. I saved them but I guess I left them behind when I retired. I’ll describe them as best as I can.

Idea number 1: Although he recognized the facility’s ability to produce microgravity 5 seconds at a time, he had a better method. Picture a Ferris wheel type device 100 yards in diameter. This is mounted on a low friction track of some sort that was 100 yards long. On the Ferris wheel were research chambers where the microgravity was produced. I think each chamber slid on a track from the axle out to the rim. There was a vacuum in each chamber. As the wheel rotated it simultaneously slid along the track and the chambers slid along their tracks. About 2 pages of equations claimed this produced zero gravity in the chambers. The wheel may have been mounted on a vertical track that allowed 100 yards of motion also.

Idea number 2: He designed an airplane where some of the engines were thrusting forward instead of back. The exhaust from these engines was supposed to move the air out of the way and allow the aircraft to fly without much friction. He admitted this sounded counter-intuitive but he carefully calculated the thrust of the various engines so there was more forward thrust to overcome the reverse thrust of the backwards engines.

I’d actually like to discuss something tangetially related to the second idea you received, but let me start off by saying I’m not a fool and I promise I’m not trying to revolutionize physics or anything. Pinkie-swear.

I had a situation a bit similar to yours. One of my university pals’ father was a bit around the bend. He swore up and down that he had some awesome new idea that would revolutionize economics! His son had bought into it unquestioningly.

Well, I’m up for learning something new, so I agreed to let him tell me about it. He handed me a tiny booklet typed up on a single sheet of A5. I don’t recall the particulars and I wish I’d kept it. That said, I think I could sum it all up with, “Economics is bad and wrong, my ideas have been proven to work and large companies use my ideas all the time. Just hire me and find out! By the way, my ideas are great.”

He was finding odd jobs as a handyman, so he didn’t have the most impressive resume to back up his claims.

We’ve had a few (at least) on these boards. OTTOMH

-Society is unjust until we introduce suicide booths

-Rather than even sending an unmanned lander to the moon to take pictures, Nasa faked the whole thing moon landing using pictures taken from earth. BUT, examinations of those pictures reveals a technologically advanced lunar civilization.

If you hear from tell him I have a mimeograph machine he can have if he wants to go nationwide.

Mimeograph?" What kind of wizardry is that? Actually I might still have one also.

Good, because I was lying. :smiley: