Free Energy Pioneer- John Worrell Keely

by Theo Paijmans

  Thanks to the diligence of several ufologists, the 19th century airship wave is well documented, and we now have hundreds of pages at our disposal, rescued from slowly deteriorating microfilm.1 Notwithstanding all the reports and all that has been written about it, the wave has never been explained and has remained a ufological enigma. It is not the intention to document this wave, as others have done so.2

  It is however, significant that the airship wave occurred at a time when Keely was involved in his antigravity research and had actually built several devices for his proposed system of aerial navigation. But before we jump to conclusions, it must be taken into account that from the documentation that is at hand, news about Keely's inventions and news about the airship wave were treated by the contemporary press as two separate events; nowhere in those accounts did I find a reference to each other, either by way of explanation or otherwise.

  Moreover, the 19th century airship wave was not the first time that inexplicable sightings occurred. As far back as the 1880s, UFOs were seen that were described as "electric balloons," it is also suggested that in 1892 a similar wave struck Poland.3 The American airship wave of 1896 had its precedents, but not on such a grand scale.

  Various explanations have arisen, such as misidentifications of the planet Venus, hoaxes, the doings of secretive inventors and a massive wave of UFO activity. Undoubtedly, the airship wave consists of all of these components. It has also been pointed out that the 19th century climate helped, too; man dreamt of achieving flight, writers of fiction often used airships in their stories, and there are accounts of dozens of inventors, Keely amongst them, who were working on plans, schemes and designs of airships.

  Daniel Caulkins, for instance, published his Aerial Navigation: The Best Method at his own expense in Toledo in 1895, a year before the airship wave started. In Caulkins' book is to be found, or so the author states, a "concise description of a new airship which the author believes will be the accepted plan for successful aerial navigation (including) an entirely new motor and new application of wings." Caulkins describes himself on the title page as "the discoverer of the circulation of the nerves and the inventor of the electro-magnetic circular power."

  Many eyewitnesses saw strange aeroforms in the years and months leading up to the wave, but the consensus is that the airship wave started on the night of November 17, 1896, with a sighting of an object over Sacramento that was described as having the "shape of a balloon," and having a bright, white electrical arc light. The object was seen by hundreds of people. Human voices were distinctly heard coming from the object.4

  A few days after the remarkable incident, a letter to a newspaper recounted the astonishment and excitement that was felt: "This is truly an age of invention. ...These navigators of the ethereal regions must have had an experience far more interesting than that of Dr. Nansen in his search for the north pole. "5

  Almost from the beginning, the general opinion was that an unknown inventor had solved the problem of aerial navigation. As a newspaper at that time wrote: "The opinion of the masses is...that some lucky inventor, having solved the mystery of aerial navigation, is, with his companions, testing his invention in secret, with no intent of allowing a curious public to view it until his rights are fully protected by letters patent."6

  William Jordon surely thought so. In a letter to a newspaper, he recounted an incident that allegedly had taken place in August, while he was out hunting in the Tamalpais mountain range. Chasing a deer, he stumbled upon a "circular brushpile about ten feet in height" in a region of the mountain that "was seldom visited even by hunters." There he discovered to his amazement a "perfect machine shop and an almost completed ship," on which six men worked. "I was sworn to secrecy and have kept it till this moment," Jordon wrote.7

  Perhaps this general view prompted a San Francisco attorney, George D. Collins — five days after an airship startled the residents of Sacramento — to come forward with a fantastic tale. Collins asserted that yes indeed, the airship existed, and that its inventor was his client. "I have known the affair for some time and I am acting as an attorney for the inventor. He is a very wealthy man, who has been studying the subject of flying machines for fifteen years, and who came here seven years ago from Maine in order to be able to perfect his ideas away from the eyes of other inventors. During the last five years he has spent at least $100,000 on his work. He has not yet secured his patent, but his application is now in Washington. .. .I saw the machine one night last week at the inventor's invitation. It is made of metal, is about 150 feet long, and is built to carry fifteen persons. There was no motive power as far as I could see; certainly not steam." According to Collins, the airship was built on "the aeroplane system" and was equipped with two "canvas wings eighteen feet wide and a rudder shaped like a bird's tail."

  Collins also witnessed a test run of the device: "The inventor climbed into the machine and after he had been moving some of the mechanism for a moment I saw the thing begin to ascend from the earth, very gently. The wings flapped slowly as it rose and then a little faster as it began to move against the wind. The machine was under perfect control all the time. When it got to a height of about ninety feet the inventor shouted to me that he was going to make a series of circles and then descend. He immediately did so, beginning by making a circle about 100 yards in diameter, and gradually narrowing in till the machine got within thirty feet of the ground. It then fell straight down, very gracefully and touched the earth as lightly as a falling leaf."

  This remark is similar to Bloomfield-Moore's descriptions of Keely's model-airship that also was able to rise or descend or remain stationary midway with a motion that was "as gentle as thistledown floating in the air." Collins, however, did not elaborate on the propulsion and from his statements alone it is impossible to ascertain if he was perhaps subconsciously referring to Keely's alleged antigravity experiment. The only thing Collins ever stated about the method of propulsion was that he believed that "as near as I can recollect the propelling power is compressed air,"8 in connection with which veteran UFO-researcher John Keel remarked that, "a few years previously," Keely built "a strange contraption which could bend bars of steel, and do other things considered impossible for ordinary machines of the period. Detractors claimed that the Keely engine really operated on compressed air."9

  Collins also confided that the unnamed inventor had "forsaken the ideas of Maxim and Langley entirely in building the machine, and has constructed it on an entirely new theory."10 A statement that is analog to that of theosophist Scott-Eliott when he published his opinion of Keely the same year concerning vril that "more nearly approached that which Keely in America is learning to handle than the electrical power used by Maxim."

  Collins also stated that the airship was also able to "rise to any altitude desired, describe circles or take an abrupt angle,"11 remarkable flight-characteristics that once again bring to mind Bloomfield-Moore's description of Keely's experiment with a model airship.

  The only problem that was left to the inventor to solve was the wave-like motion of the ship that made him seasick. But, Collins confidently concluded, "In another six days the trouble will be done away with, and it is then his intention to immediately give the people of San Francisco a chance to see his machine."12

  Collins intimated that none of the larger parts of the airship were made in California; instead they were manufactured in various parts of the East and shipped to Oroville and Stockton, where they were gradually assembled. Naturally I am forced to think of that intriguing mention of Keely having constructed a secret "device for lifting heavy weight's for a person in California."

  When a reporter asked Collins how the inventor could hide an object of 150 feet long in a barn in the vicinity of Berkeley or Oroville, where it was guarded by "three men," Collins answered that the barn was "tacked on to an old dismantled two-story dwelling. The partitions have been knocked out, making the place practically one long room."13

  Finally Collins provided some lea
ds as to the identity of the inventor, and reporters soon thought they had discovered him in the person of one Elmer H. Benjamin. In the end, however, Benjamin turned out to be a dentist and not the airship inventor after all.

  In the meantime, residents from Oroville did recall that "parties residing about three miles east of the town and in a thickly wooded section not traversed by roads, have been experimenting with different gases for some time past. One man, who is an expert chemist here, was heard to let slip a word or two about parties who were experimenting with a new and very light gas which would supersede the one now in use for balloons. It is impossible however, to get more than rumors, mere whispers, and it is impossible to say whether they are pure fabrications. It is asserted by more than one person that comparatively unknown parties with abundant means have been experimenting for some weeks with different gases, and that they were sanguine of having solved the problem of aerial navigation. The form of the airship they are supposed to have constructed is a matter of uncertainty. No one can say how the vessel is regulated or what means are used to govern its speed. It is rumored that such a vessel has been constructed near here by Eastern people, who desired to escape prying eyes and sought seclusion. It is evident that more than one man was engaged in the project, but it is impossible to learn any more of the names or give any details about the vessel itself."14 A rumor this may be, but as we will see, one that has a significant twist to it.

  Another story is also significant because of one detail: George Carleton, a city electrician, singer and pioneer of Oakland told a reporter that he heard the name of the inventor through a friend of his. How did this come about? "I heard the story last night of a friend of mine who is also a member of my lodge of masons. It was he who talked with the man who saw the machine, and I was told the name of the inventor by my friend. As I understand it, the trip was made near Oroville. The inventor made an ascension of several hundred feet, flew off four or five miles, circled around a few times and landed as nicely as could be. This my friend's friend saw." But Carleton was not going to give any name. In a curious reference to freemasonic ritual, Carleton said: "I was pledged not to divulge them, and I'd saw my leg off first."15

  While Collins alleged that the mysterious airship was guarded by three men, which could very well be a reference to the freemasonic societies, we could further speculate that Collins meant that the airship was not so much guarded by three persons, but by an esoteric order, possibly modeled after a Masonic institution. While this is speculation, we have already seen the deep-rooted interest of several orders with avant-garde technology. Also, Carleton's Masonic friend could have had a conversation with Colville, who was also a freemason and who had visited California as early as 1886.

  Throughout mis part of the airship wave, reporters would unsuccessfully try to hunt down the elusive inventor. All that Collins ever said about his identity was that he was "a resident of Oroville, and a man of wealth, about 47 years of age, and a fine looking fellow. "16 And to add to the high strangeness of it all, Collins would change his story considerably. At first he claimed to have seen the ship itself, then he would suddenly state that, "I have not seen the new wonder. "17 In the end he would even say that he was " sorry to see that the newspapers have been attributing to me such an extensive knowledge relative to this airship. In truth I know very little about it. ...I know nothing of the airship. I do not know what it is made of, what power propels it, nor where its inventor now is. I am just as skeptical and incredulous regarding it as anybody can be."18

  What then was Frederick Bradley, an old friend of Collins, to make of what Collins had told him? According to Bradley, Collins confided to him that he had seen a "wonderful airship invented by a client of his." Collins also told Bradley that "a man whom he had never seen before had come into his office... and said that he desired to get a patent on an airship." When Collins pressed for details, the mysterious stranger invited him to take a look at his invention: "They went, taking the Oakland ferry and then the train. Collins told me just the place, that I do not like to state. They walked some distance after leaving the train and stopped finally at an old barn. It was locked, but Collins' client had the key." Inside the barn, Collins saw what he described as "a strange-looking affair made of white metal," which, he was told, was aluminum. Aside from the wings and the rudder, Collins also noted a "big light forward, like a searchlight," and some sort of cabin. Collins' reaction was also recorded for posterity: "Bradley must have been drinking to have imagined I told him all such rubbish."19

  Not that Collins' withdrawal mattered: A new person cropped up that would take his place. His name was William Henry Harrison Hart, former attorney general of the State of California. Hart met with Collins and talked with him about the discovery. At that time Hart emphatically stated that he had no doubt that the affair was "bona fide." "I have seen the thing in the air myself, and believe the idea of this Oroville inventor has proved to be practicable."20

  Hart, we learn, took Collins' place since the unknown inventor had decided that Collins talked too much. But what a poor choice Hart would prove! While admitting that he had not seen the airship himself, he made the sensational announcement that the airship was to be used in the service of the Cuban insurgents and he intimated that Havana was to be the first point of attack.

  Reporters learned through other sources that the name of the alleged inventor was Catlin, and that he was assisted by Benjamin and George Applegate. Hart also confided that there were two airships, "... and they are very much alike. One was perfected in the East and the other in California. I have been concerned in the Eastern invention for some time personally." Hart stated that the aim was now to consolidate both interests. "I have seen the machine invented in the East and I am convinced that it will work all right, and from what I have been told I don't see any reason why the machine invented in California cannot be worked. ...The whole trouble in the problem of aerial navigation has been a question of motive power." But, according to Hart, the California invention had "the right motive power," which was generated through electric storage batteries.

  But when Hart's statement is looked upon more closely, it only adds to the mystery, for it appears that he stated that the Eastern invention "will work." Did he mean then that he had seen a device that still "had to be perfected," as Keely had claimed a year earlier concerning his aerial propeller?

  Hart stated that the machine, which was tested in California since the climate was of "favorable character," had one drawback: "that is that the inventor cannot cause it to stand still; it must be kept moving like an arrow. Otherwise it is under perfect control. ...It can be made to rise from a dead standstill. I cannot go into details about its construction, but will admit that it is of cylindrical shape, is built of aluminum and has wings."21

  Hart also explained that it was his interest in storage batteries that brought him and the Eastern inventor together. The only things Hart ever said about this Eastern inventor were that he worked in the vicinity of New Jersey, was a foreigner, "an Italian, I should judge, from his appearance,"22 a personal friend of the inventor of the Fargo storage battery,23 and in the end would even identify the mysterious inventor as being "a cousin of John Linn, the electrician of the Cuban patriot general, Antonio Maceo. ... The inventor is not a Californian."2 and "a man of dark complexion, dark eyed and about 5 feet 7 inches in height and weighed about 140 pounds."25 Nevertheless, the mysterious inventor has never been identified.

  Hart did tell the reporter more about the two airships. "I will say to you frankly that I believe the Californian invention is better than the Eastern invention. The only trouble with the airship in New Jersey is that it will not stay in the air.

  It moves through the air, but its course is towards the ground. The Californian inventor has a machine that will stay in the air. The appliance that keeps it in the air is a great parachute that opens automatically when the ship descends and closes automatically when the ship ascends. ...This hat shaped parachute keeps the
ship in the air and makes the descent very gentle when the ship comes to the ground. It seems, however, to impart the ship with a wavering motion as it leaves the ground, upward bound. This is a defect to be remedied. This parachute is the principal advantage that the Californian invention has over the New Jersey invention. But the New Jersey man has so constructed his ship that should it drop into the sea it becomes a water boat. The Californian airship has not this advantage. ...The thing necessary to send up an airship is sufficient power. Heretofore this power could not be obtained without overweighing the airship. Storage batteries were too heavy. Compressed air could not be used satisfactorily. Now light and powerful storage batteries can be obtained. That solves the problem. No gas is used. Gas would require a material used in construction that would expand. This is not a balloon. The material of which the airship is made is aluminum. The motive power is electricity in storage batteries."26

  Hart's allegations of the New Jersey device, meaning the Eastern invention, being able to be used as a seaworthy vessel is remarkably similar to Colville's statements on Keely's airship, which he wrote down two years before: Keely's proposed airship could "travel to other planets in this system as easily as the same ship could navigate the depths of the ocean."

  Not only that, Hart's descriptions of the "wavering motion" and his emphasis on "light and powerful storage batteries" also have its parallels. For this we must turn to a passage in Astor's novel. "For flying" Astor fantasized, "we have an aeroplane that came in when we devised a suitable motor power. This is obtained from very light paper-cell batteries that combine some qualities of the primary and secondary type, since they must first be charged from a dynamo, after which they can supply full currents for one hundred hours — enough to take them around the globe — while partly consuming the elements in the cells. The power is applied through turbine screws, half of which are capable of propelling the flat deck in its inclined position at sufficient speed to prevent its falling. The moving parts have ball bearings and friction rollers, lubrication being secured automatically, when required, by a supply of Vaseline that melts if any part becomes hot. All the framing is of thin but very durable galvanized aluminum, which has superseded steel for every purpose in which weight is not an advantage, as in the permanent way on railways. The airships, whose length varies from fifty to five hundred feet, have rudders for giving a vertical or a horizontal motion, and several strengthening keels that prevent leeway when turning. They are entirely on the principle of birds, maintaining themselves mechanically, and differing thus from the unwieldy balloon. Starting as if on a circular railway, against the wind, they rise to a considerable height, and then, shutting off the batteries, coast down the aerial slope at a rate that sometimes touches five hundred miles an hour. When near the ground the helmsman directs the prow upward, and, again turning on full current, rushes up the slope at a speed that far exceeds the eagle's, each drop of two miles serving to take the machine twenty or thirty; though, if the pilot does not wish to soar, or if there is a fair wind at a given height, he can remain in that stratum of the atmosphere by moving horizontally. He can also maintain his elevation when moving very slowly, and though the headway be entirely stopped, the descent is gradual on account of the airplane's great spread, the batteries and motors being secured to the under side of the deck. The motors are so light that they develop two horsepower for every pound of their weight; while, to keep the frames thin, the necessary power is obtained by terrific speed of the moving parts, as though a steam engine, to avoid great pressure in its cylinders, had a long stroke and ran at great piston speed, which, however, is no disadvantage to the rotary motion of the electric motor, there being no reciprocating cranks, etc., that must be started and stopped at each revolution. To obviate the necessity of gearing to reduce the number of revolutions to those possible for a large screw, this member is made very small, and allowed to revolve three thousand times a minute, so that the requisite power is obtained with great simplicity of mechanism, which further decreases friction. The shafts, and even the wires connecting the batteries with the motors, are made large and hollow. Though the primary battery pure and simple, as the result of great recent advances in chemistry, seems to be again coming up, the best aeroplane batteries are still of the combination-storage type. These have been so perfected that eight ounces of battery yield one horsepower for six hours, so that two pounds of battery will supply a horsepower for twenty-four hours; a small fifty-horsepower aeroplane being therefore able to fly four days with a battery weight of but four hundred pounds. "27