Evgeny Podkletnov

Evgeny Podkletnov is a physicist who conducted experiments in anti-gravity and gravity shielding. The results of the experiments were reported by Podkletnov and his coworkers in 1992 and 1995.

According to the results of the experiments, when a ceramic superconductor was magnetically levitated and rotated at high speed in the presence of an external magnetic field, objects placed above the rotating disc changed weight. Weight reductions of 0.3 to 0.5% were obtained, and when the rotation speed was slowly reduced from 5000 revolutions per minute to 3500, a maximum weight loss of about 2% was achieved for about 30 seconds.9 5% weight reductions have been recorded, though not with the same repeatability.

The 2% weight loss Podkletnov says he has achieved with his superconductor apparatus is about 10 billion times greater than allowed for in general relativity theory. Off the record, Podkletnov has claimed that if the superconductors are rotated 5 to 10 times faster than the usual speed of about 5000 rpm, the disc experiences so much weight loss that it takes off.

Other investigators have found the Podkletnov experiment extremely difficult to duplicate in its entirety (Podkletnov has not revealed the exact recipe for making his superconductors), but stripped-down versions have produced small effects (on the order of one part in 104). From 1995 to 2002 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center attempted a full experimental replication of the Podkletnov configuration, but ran out of resources. A privately funded replication was completed in 2003, but found no evidence of a gravity-like force. NASA has concluded that this approach is not a viable candidate for breakthrough propulsion.

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