Hutchison effect

The Hutchison effect is a name given to a collection of alleged natural phenomena that John Hutchison claims to have discovered in 1979.

Nature of the effect

Purported photograph of a butter knife embedded in a metal plate. This photograph can be found on Hutchison's website

Hutchison claims that while trying to duplicate experiments done by Nikola Tesla, he discovered a number of strange phenomena, including:

1. levitation of heavy objects
2. fusion of dissimilar materials such as metal and wood
3. the anomalous heating of metals without burning adjacent material
4. the spontaneous fracturing of metals
5. changes in the crystalline structure and physical properties of metals.
6. disappearing metal samples

Hutchison and his supporters surmise that these phenomena arise from zero-point energy.

Scientific opinion

None of Hutchison's claims have ever been taken seriously by the mainstream scientists. In a recent posting to the newsgroup sci.physics.research, Marc Millis, who formerly ran the now defunct Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program for NASA, wrote:

Indeed, Marc Millis remarks that Hutchison himself appears unable to reproduce his earlier alleged experiments. Hutchison also claims to have invented over-unity batteries, which he calls Q Cells or Hiroshima cells and which, he says, obtain energy from the vacuum using the Casimir effect. Mainstream physicists are quick to point out that over-unity is just another word for a perpetual-motion machine. They add that the Casimir effect, while a genuine physical effect, has often been invoked by people seeking an energetic "free-lunch", in defiance of the laws of thermodynamics.

Another problem with Hutchison's effect is that many of the effects shown, such as the levitation and heating of objects, can be produced by other physically established laws, such as the Lorentz force and acoustic levitation (which uses ultrasonic waves to levitate objects of up to ten kilograms, and can work on any material, including water, wood, metal and stone) [Theoretical and experimental examination of near-field acoustic levitation] [Acoustic radiation pressure][Magnification of Transportation Range Using Non-Contact Acoustic Levitation by Connecting Vibrating Plates]

Furthermore, the actual creator of his effect is in dispute, as Mel Winfield (Mel Winfield) claims that it was solely through his theories that The Hutchison Effect came into being. He has published evidence including signed contracts, letters, and communications from John Hutchison himself on his website.

Media coverage

The Hutchison effect has been featured in television programs aired on The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and Nippon Television.

Hutchison and his effect have been discussed in various fringe science newsletters and websites, such as

1. [American Antigravity], a fringe website devoted to commercial antigravity research and products,
2. the [UFO Resource Center], a website devoted to ufology,
3. [Space Telescopes], a website which features a mixture of writings including such topics as the Hubble observatory and the Hutchison effect
4. [World Mysteries], one of many websites which discuss a wide range of fringe, new age, and paranormal topics.

Charges of fakery

Hutchison previously sold (for about one hundred fifty dollars each) videos illustrating his "effect", and has released some shorter video clips online.[Hutchison's old website][Video clip of a "levitating" toy UFO] Videos of his effect are now sold exclusively by Gryphon Productions[Video section of Hutchison's site].

When skeptics pointed out that, in one of these videos, a string is clearly visible at the edge of the frame which appears to be holding a small toy "UFO", Hutchison explained:

Hutchison later admitted to being "creative" with the footage, citing pressure from the Discovery Channel to create material for the show and an inability to reproduce the original effect, according to Tim Ventura of American Antigravity.[Blog comment by Tim Ventura]

Hutchison admits that he hasn't actually reproduced his effect since approximately 1991. The earlier levitation footage from the 1980s is genuine, he says. But this footage has been characterized as looking like it was taken in a booth with an upside-down camera.[The Ultimate Hutchison] Hutchison continues to reject charges of fakery, and maintains that his "effect" has been demonstrated many times in the presence of scientists and, he says, members of the US Army Intelligence and Security Command.

Hutchison claims to have reproduced the effect in his Ash St. apartment as recently as March 2006 for National Geographic, as well as for author Harold Berndt, whose [film] of the event can be found on the American Antigravity website, which promotes Hutchison's claims.

See also

• John Hutchison
• Mel Winfield
• Pseudoscience

References

External links

Pro-Hutchison:

• [Hutchison's current website]
• [a previous Hutchison website]
• [Hutchison Effect] from Space Telescopes
• [Hutchison Effect] from American Antigravity
• [Hutchison Effect] from World Mysteries
• [The Philadelphia Experiment and the Hutchison Effect] Alleged connection between the Philadelphia Experiment and the Hutchison Effect
• [The Ultimate Hutchison] (PDF) — An account of a visit by Tim Ventura of American Antigravity to John Hutchison
• [Video demonstration] of Hutchison Effect
• ["John Hutchison on TechTv"], another video
• [Video archive maintained by Hutchison]

• [post by Marc Millis] in sci.physics.research
• [The Discovery Channel is bogus] — A criticism of the purported antigravity videos (and [part 2])

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