I have some concerns with Dr Farrell's comments... I'm no debunker (I've seen some crazy things in my time) but I am of the rational/scientific bent.
Problem #1. Bending local spacetime doesn't necessarily impact nuclear yields. If it did, high altitude yields would be different than ground/underground yields (the earth should theoretically bend the hell out of local spacetime compared to a smallish craft using field propulsion technology)...
There is no evidence that I've ever seen to support this position. Operation
Argus detonated a 1.7kt bomb at 540km. Within operational expectations. Of course, this could all be the "power elite" but remember this was a previously secret operation that has since been declassified.
Yeilds:
Test:Argus I
Time:02:28 27 August 1958 (GMT)
06:15 6 May 1958 (local)
Location:South Atlantic; 38.5 deg South, 11.5 deg. West
Test Height and Type:High Altitude Missile, 100 Miles
Yield:1.7 kt
Test:Argus II
Time:03:18 30 August 1958 (GMT)
06:15 6 May 1958 (local)
Location:South Atlantic; 49.5 deg South, 8.2 deg West
Test Height and Type:High Altitude Missile, 182 Miles
Yield:1.7 kt
Test:Argus III
Time:22:13 6 September 1958 (GMT)
06:15 6 May 1958 (local)
Location:South Atlantic; 48.5 deg South, 9.7 deg West
Test Height and Type:High Altitude Missile, 466 Miles
Yield:1.7 kt
... 3 different altitudes, exact same yields.
Operation Argus
Problem #2. "Zero-point" energy is actually the lowest energy state of the empty vacuum of the universe. Extracting energy from this low energy state requires allowing the energy to flow to an even lower energy state. This is usually impossible because it's the lowest energy state... this is like trying to extract the thermal energy from ice while being in a warm room. There is exactly one known way to do this: the Casimir effect. Basically you take two plates that are less than one atom apart, and somehow (maybe piezoelectrically) use the pressure exerted from the base energy state (essentially the creation of virtual particles around the plates) to squish the plates together. Virtual particles can't form between the plates because there isn't enough room.
The problem? Zero point energy extracted from the universe is tentative at best, and at worst is far, far less than the amount of energy in about seven hydrogen atoms per cubic meter of empty space. Since you can easily store about 40x10exp30 atoms of hydrogen in that same cubic volume of space, that's (in technical terms) a crapload more energy to pack around than empty space. Seems more efficient to directly convert mass to energy than trying to farm the nearly zero base energy state of the universe.
Problem #3. The sun doesn't emit more energy than expected. There was a problem with neutrino emission based on the standard model up until about a dozen years ago, but that has since been corrected. From wikipedia:
The
solar neutrino problem was a major discrepancy between measurements of the numbers of
neutrinos flowing through the
Earth and theoretical models of the
solar interior, lasting from the mid-1960s to about 2002. The discrepancy has since been resolved by new understanding of
neutrino physics, requiring a modification of the
Standard Model of
particle physics – specifically,
neutrino oscillation. Essentially, as neutrinos have mass, they can change from the type that had been expected to be produced in the Sun's interior into two types that would not be caught by the detectors in use at the time.
Problem #4: The "Nazi Bell" (one of my favourite speculations, God I wish it was true because it would be so cool!)... just has so little evidence for it I just don't know what to say. I've read the brotherhood of the bell. Sorry, there are problems. Of course the "test rig" turned out to be a cooling tower foundation. Oh, and here's the "discoverer" and only person that's actually read any documentation of the bell from wikipedia, Igor Witkowski:
In 1992 he was the
Editor in chief of the monthly magazine
'Technika Wojskowa' ('Military Technology'), first published in 1991, which in 1992 became
'Nowa Technika Wojskowa' ('New Military Technology') with a new publisher, Magnum-X Ltd. This magazine includes articles on aircraft technology and historical articles on foreign and Polish Air Forces equipment. As of 2003/4 he has authored 15 books and about 100 articles on these subjects.
InThe Truth About The Wunderwaffe (2003), originally published in Polish as Prawda o Wunderwaffe (2000), Witkowski claims to have discovered the existence of the alleged German secret project Die Glocke from transcripts of an interrogation by Polish authorities of former Nazi officer Jakob Sporrenberg. Witkowski claims to have been able to read the transcripts through the help of an unnamed Polish Intelligence officer. No primary documentation, aside from Witkowski's account, exists for the weapon. Jakob Sporrenberg served in the nazi occupation regimes in Poland and Norway. He never served in a scientific or technical capacity with the SS.
A description of Die Glocke, based on Witkowski's account, is also presented in The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology by British author Nick Cook.
Problem #5 The "trillions" that vanished out of the economy in the economic downturn of 2008 didn't "go" anywhere... again, quoting wikipedia:
The bursting of the U.S. housing bubble, which peaked in 2006,[5] caused the values of securities tied to U.S. real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally.[6][7] The financial crisis was triggered by a complex interplay of policies that encouraged home ownership, providing easier access to loans for (lending) borrowers, overvaluation of bundled sub-prime mortgages based on the theory that housing prices would continue to escalate, questionable trading practices on behalf of both buyers and sellers, compensation structures that prioritize short-term deal flow over long-term value creation, and a lack of adequate capital holdings from banks and insurance companies to back the financial commitments they were making.[8][9][10][11] Questions regarding bank solvency, declines in credit availability and damaged investor confidence had an impact on global stock markets, where securities suffered large losses during 2008 and early 2009. Economies worldwide slowed during this period, as credit tightened and international trade declined.[12] Governments and central banks responded with unprecedented fiscal stimulus, monetary policy expansion and institutional bailouts. In the U.S., Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Many causes for the financial crisis have been suggested, with varying weight assigned by experts.[13] The U.S. Senate's Levin–Coburn Report concluded that the crisis was the result of "high risk, complex financial products; undisclosed conflicts of interest; the failure of regulators, the credit rating agencies, and the market itself to rein in the excesses of Wall Street."[14] The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission concluded that the financial crisis was avoidable and was caused by "widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision," "dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions," "a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency" by financial institutions, ill preparation and inconsistent action by government that "added to the uncertainty and panic," a "systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics," "collapsing mortgage-lending standards and the mortgage securitization pipeline," deregulation of over-the-counter derivatives, especially credit default swaps, and "the failures of credit rating agencies" to correctly price risk.[15] The 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act effectively removed the separation between investment banks and depository banks in the United States.[16] Critics argued that credit rating agencies and investors failed to accurately price the risk involved with mortgage-related financial products, and that governments did not adjust their regulatory practices to address 21st-century financial markets.[17] Research into the causes of the financial crisis has also focused on the role of interest rate spreads.[18]
In other words, the money didn't "go" anywhere... the amount you borrowed against your assets (like a house) became a problem when the money you borrowed was more valuable than the asset you borrowed it against... like taking out a $200K line of credit against a house that used to be valued $300K but was suddenly worth $100K.
Problem #6: The LEM launch being "faked" or using antigravity has been debunked so many damn times I just don't know what to say. I mean just think about it. What was the whole damn Saturn V for if we had antigrav? We put less than 1% of the vehicle onto the moon and back... because the rest was basically fuel.
And watch the launch:
Then watch this launch:
It takes off slow... because it's accelerating. You start from zero.
Problem #7: The Van Allen radiation exposure wasn't a huge problem for Apollo. Because they weren't there long enough for it to be... (fun fact: astronauts in orbit actually sometimes see flashes of light when they close their eyes as cosmic rays hit the fluid in their eyeballs!) They did soak up enough for it to increase the risk of some cancers, but the risk was seen to be tolerable. Hell, I'd take the risk for a trip to Mars. This pic is pretty explanatory:
Problem #8: (I think, I'm losing count by now): A plasma scientist in the space program? Fire is plasma... and rockets use fire for propulsion... right?
Problem #9: Google's search engine is helping in the weaponization of space? Huh? My logic system just asploded.
World class research? Man, Chris, I deeply respect you. But I just don't see it.
But these would make some great movies.