Disappointingly Practical and Simple EM Propulsion with off-the-shelf Parts.

[rassilon]

Interesting, Dr Brandenburg is from UF. That is close from here. I always wanted to get into a university but my finances disagreed.

There is one major problem with his paper. He assumes the propulsion and energy system can be entirely explained with conventional physics. A lot has happened over the past 20 years which may never be discussed in textbooks. One specific area of science is cold fusion which is slowly gaining acceptance. Why is this relevant? Cold fusion provides a simple recipe involving metals, electricity and hydrogen atoms to create fusion. A sustained fusion reaction by purely electro-chemical interactions, and without millions of degrees in temperature is impossible according to conventional books.  I ask that you shift your perspective just 3 degrees. Don't look at the Bob White object as part of the propulsion system. Look at it as part of a fusion reactor involving aluminum and hydrogen. Everything else will fall into place with this very basic point of view. Electrokinetic propulsion is old tech. What powers it is more important.

At the risk of proposing an alternative model I can also suggest looking at the torroid as plasma in nature. A z-pinch provided by the torroid to the reactor sustains fusion. Flight stability can be a secondary benefit from the torroid further reducing the need for fast rotational speed(gyroscopic balance).   

Notes: the NASA STS video was debunked. Look at the Stephen Michalak UFO case.

[DROBNJAK]

At the risk of proposing an alternative model I can also suggest looking at the torroid as plasma in nature. A z-pinch provided by the torroid to the reactor sustains fusion. Flight stability can be a secondary benefit from the torroid further reducing the need for fast rotational speed(gyroscopic balance).   

do you have any viable links to share explaining this "z-pinch by the toroid to sustain fusion"?

[rassilon]

do you have any viable links to share explaining this "z-pinch by the toroid to sustain fusion"?

Keep an eye out for Sandia Labs and the z-machine.  http://www.sandia.gov/media/z290.htm
By conventional standards, this device is a step closer to fusion due to the heat generated.

Modern science has largely ignored the role of electric currents in space. The establishment claims gravity as the most important force despite evidence to the contrary.  There are observations that support a solar model involving the z-pinch effect and cold fusion reactions. Don't expect to see these topics in any textbook. Study the 'Electric Universe' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgdJcghkri4 ) and 'Birkeland Sun' (http://thesurfaceofthesun.com/model.htm) model for a better understanding.

Someday, the public will harness the power of stars too.   

[DROBNJAK]

Much better candidate for power supply is Lockheed Martin's Compact Fusion reactor:

[TinselKoala]

I don't actually think that any _serious_ UFO researcher believes that Billy Meier's photos are anything more than simple hoaxes.

Some UFO researchers such as Stanton T. Friedman and Jacques Vallée publicly dismiss the Meier case,^[16] while others believe the Meier case to be the most thoroughly researched and validated UFO case in our history. Some critics have provided examples of faked photos similar to what Meier produced^[17] and have pointed out that some of his photos correspond to scenes that were subsequently found in science fiction books, paintings and television programs.^[18] Meier claims that some of his photos were altered by intelligence agencies and slipped into his collection in order to discredit his UFO testimony.^[19] Kal K. Korff has been particularly vociferous in dismissing the Meier case, pointing to proof of Meier's fakery obviated by finding light-direction and focal discrepancies consistent with cut-and-paste and model techniques.^[20]
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Meier's relationship with his wife Kalliope ended acrimoniously and in 1997 Kalliope stated in an interview that the UFO in the photos looked like models that Meier had made himself with items like trash can lids, carpet tacks and other household objects, and that the stories he told of his adventures with the aliens had been entirely fictitious. She agreed when asked by an interviewer that the infamous "wedding cake" UFO looked like the lid to a trash barrel. She has also claimed that one of the pictures taken of an "extraterrestrial female" was actually an acquaintance covered in tanning foil. Also, she claimed that photos of the extraterrestrial women Asket and Nera were really photos of Michelle DellaFave and Susan Lund, members of the singing and dancing troupe The Golddiggers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Meier