You guys. Why won’t you tell this poor lad the truth?
There are secret gov’t experiments going on in Roswell, not Roswell, NM but Roswell, GA. I should know that is close to where I work. Anyway. Yes, there have been people who have traveled faster than the speed of light, other than those on Star Trek, BTW, the Original Series ships could also travel faster than the speed of light not just the TNG ones.
The question about the headlights came up not long after Einstein developed his theory of relativity. It is not widely known that his brother came up with the term the theory of relativity but it was about kin folk not one object relative to another. Anyway, our gov’t has spent years working on craft that would exceed the speed of light, just to be able to answer the very question of what would the headlights do. There were two groups of scientists, those that believed that the headlight would shine on ahead and those that believed the light would not be able to clear the front of the vehicle. Also, it was pondered, that eventhough Einstein said one could not go faster than the speed of light, that if a craft were going at the speed of light and someone moved from one end to the other then that person would be going faster than the speed of light.
We began developing these space craft that could travel at these great speeds. The first issue to tackle was the great amount of fuel needed. So they decided that they would need to create a fuel replicator that would make the fuel and feed the engines. Since matter cannot be created or destroyed, then, they had to take matter floating outside the ship to convert into fuel. Once this was accomplished they began their mission to determine the answer to their questions. The next problem they encountered is if they tried to stop the craft too quickly, the person would end up a big greasy spot on the windshield of the craft. Due to inertia of course. They decided that they needed inertial dampeners to keep this from happening. The costs of building these things was more than the US gov’t wanted to bear, so they decided to form a secret alliance known as the Federation to fund the ongoing research. After the development of the inertial dampeners, they had to be able to accelerate within a reasonable speed. They decided that the best way to move an object was the repulsion of two opposites. They tried huge magnets, but they could not repel with out tearing the hull apart. They then tried matter and anti-matter. This gave a better repulsion than magnets and since anti-matter does not really exist there was no reaction other than a forward movement, in fact one that went really fast. All they had to do was keep the anti-matter in a position that pushed the matter in the direction they wanted to go. Reverse it to stop.
This was completed some number of years ago. The results of the tests were amazing. It seems that it depend on the headlights used and whether or not the high beams are used. If you use the old headlights, they did not escape the front of the craft. As it turns out the light from these old lights did not travel as as the light from the new halogen bulbs. Also, if the high beams were not used the light did not travel as fast. If, however, the halogen bulbs are used on high beam, then the light does indeed shine out from the space craft, though only about 30 ft. and when you are moving at the speed of light that does not do much to help you see in the darkness of space.
As for the moving faster than the speed of light, it has been documented in secret classified documents that yes, a person walking in the ship that is moving at the speed of light is indeed moving faster than the speed of light, though you cannot see them as the light that travels to your eyes is moving slower than the person, so it looks as if they are moving normally. You just have to believe it and except it on faith. Our gov’t wouldn’t lie.
Jeffery