The Earth's "Center of Gravity"
Up or Down?
Author unknown
Why was it that at the turn of the century, the Geodetic Survey
Department of both the French and United States governments made
certain tests which upset the Copernican theory, then DECIDED
THAT THEY SHOULD BE KEPT SECRET?
What, actually, were these tests, and should they be repeated
today, under the most severe test conditions?
If you've ever watched a bricklayer at work, you've seen him use a
plumb bob to determine the perpendicular so that his wall will be
erect and straight. A plumb bob is simply a weight suspended on the
end of a cord. It acts on the principle of the attraction of
gravity, or mass, and the weight always points toward the center of
gravity, which in the case of the spherical Earth is its exact
center.
A line formed by the cord of a plumb bob is at precisely a right
angle from the horizontal. It is a division of a plane surface into
two 90 degree angles. By simply laying his bricks parallel to the
line of the plumb bob, the bricklayer builds a wall that is
precisely erect. If he did not use a plumb bob, there would be many
more leaning towers of Pisa in the world.
However, the plumb bob is not used only to erect buildings, but it
is used to measure the distance of the sun. Or any planet. This is
done by measuring a precise horizontal distance on the Earth (which
is naturally a curve, because the Earth is round), and since we know
the circumference of the Earth, the distance around it, thus we can
calculate an exact base for our proposed triangle to be used in
measuring the distance of the sun.
Then, by use of a sectant, we can "shoot the sun" from both ends of
this base line, and get a pair of angles which are slightly less
than 90 degree angles because they are obviously not parallel to the
perpendicular as determined by the plumb bob.
We know that, given one side of a triangle, and two of its angles,
we can calculate the length of the other two sides. Thus, we can
tell how far the sun is from the Earth.
It isn't quite this simple, because we don't know the precise size
of the Earth, (written in 1965), and thus, the difference in
parallelness of the two perpendiculars we have achieved at both ends
of our base line.
It should be obvious to the reader that since the plumb bobs point
AT THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, lines projected TO the center of the
Earth WOULD MEET AT THAT CENTER, and likewise, lines projected into
space would continually move FURTHER APART.
Thus we have a great interest in exactly HOW FAR IT IS TO THE CENTER
OF THE EARTH, in order to be ABSOLUTELY SURE of our two important
angles in FIGURING PLANETARY DISTANCES.
Sometime prior to 1901, the French Government, wishing to determine
more accurately the ACTUAL SIZE OF THE EARTH, so that they could
revise and refine their calculations regarding the DISTANCE TO THE
SUN, hit on a way to measure the difference in distance apart at the
top of two lines perpendicular to the surface of the Earth and the
bottom of those same two lines.
They wanted a pair of lines long enough to give them an appreciable
measurement. Obviously they could not erect two parallel poles a
mile high, but they did feel they could SUSPEND two plumb bobs A
MILE DEEP INTO A MINE SHAFT, and thus be able to MEASURE THE
DISTANCE APART AT THE TOP AND THE DISTANCE APART AT THE BOTTOM,
which WOULD BE SLIGHTLY LESS (at the bottom). They wanted to know
exactly HOW MUCH LESS.
The result of these tests were VERY STRANGE. So strange that the
French Geodetic scientists contacted the scientists of the American
Geodetic Survey and conveyed their results to them, with the request
that similar tests be conducted in this country.
Officially, NOTHING WAS DONE FOR SOME YEARS. But in 1901, one of
the Geodetic surveyors happened to be working in the vicinity of the
Tamarack mines near Calumet, Michigan. He contacted the chief
engineer at Tamarack, and informed him of the information
transmitted by the French government.
Two mine shafts were selected, and plumb lines EXACTLY 4,250 feet
long were suspended IN EACH MINE.
At the end of these lines a SIXTY POUND BOB was hung. In order to
PREVENT MOVEMENT THROUGH A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION, each bob was
suspended in a tank of oil placed at the bottom of the mine shafts.
In this way, it was reasoned, MAGNETIC FORCES COULD NOT AFFECT THEM.
The lines used to suspend the bobs were No. 24 piano wires. For
twenty-four hours the lines were allowed to hang, so that there
would be NO POSSIBILITY OF MOVEMENT from putting them in place still
remaining in the lines. The measurements were begun.
It was then that it was discovered that the French Geodetic
engineers had NOT MADE A MISTAKE. Careful re-checking proved that
the lines, CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS, were FARTHER APART AT THE
BOTTOM THAN AT THE TOP!!
There can be only ONE IMPLICATION to such a strange result - the
center of gravity is not, as previously believed, at the center of
the Earth, but in fact, IT MUST BE ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH,
SOMEWHERE IN SPACE!!!
If these two lines, formed by the suspended plumb lines, were to be
EXTENDED UPWARD, they would MEET SOMEWHERE in the void AWAY FROM THE
EARTH, and that point, BY ALL THE RULES OF GRAVITATIONAL ATTRACTION,
SHOULD BE THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF THIS PLANET!
Greatly puzzled, and not a little disturbed, the Tamarack engineer
sent for Professor McNair of the Michigan College of Mines. With
McNair there to check his results, the experiment was repeated, the
measurements gone over again, and BOTH MEN WERE CONVINCED NO ERROR
HAD BEEN MADE.
Professor McNair suggested that the plumb bobs be changed to a NON-
MAGNETIC metal to overcome ANY POSSIBILITY OF MAGNETIC ATTRACTION OR
REPULSION DUE TO A MAGNETIC ORE BODY NEARBY.
But when this was done, the SAME FIGURES WERE ARRIVED AT. If
magnetic influences had been at work, they would HAVE VARIED WITH
DIFFERENT METALS, BUT T H E Y D I D N O T !!
Now, suggested McNair, it would be a good idea to PREVENT AIR
CURRENTS from traveling up and down the mine shafts which might be
affecting the plumb lines. Thus, both mine shafts were SEALED AT
THE TOP. Once more THE FIGURES REMAINED THE SAME.
After trying many methods to vary the figures AND FAILING, Professor
McNair gave up in COMPLETE BEWILDERMENT.
These series of tests had not gone on in complete secrecy, and it
was inevitable that news of them leaked out. It leaked to a
reporter of the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) SENTINEL, who published the
story.
It stated the crux of the situation as follows :
"The wires were supposed to hang parallel to each other (the
reporter made an error here, THEY SHOULD HAVE HUNG CLOSER
TOGETHER AT THE BOTTOM), but were FARTHER APART BELOW THE
SURFACE than they were AT THE SURFACE and no one has suggested
anything that seems to cover the question."
Professor McNair, when questioned, stated for publication that he
had proved that magnetic attraction from the Earth or the sides of
the shaft DID NOT CAUSE THE STRANGE DIVERGENCE.
Then he went back to the Michigan College of Mines and wiped the
whole thing from his mind. Apparently this is true, for he made NO
EFFORT to contact his colleagues or scientists to call attention to
the fact that WHAT THEY WERE TEACHING about GRAVITATION and plumb
lines DID NOT ACTUALLY HOLD TRUE WHEN PUT TO A CONCLUSIVE FIELD
TEST.
However, we can forgive Professor McNair for his reluctance to
pursue the matter further, because its implications ARE TREMENDOUS
INDEED. They are totally SHATTERING TO OUR CONCEPT OF THE UNIVERSE,
and in fact, if they can be made to hold true, MAKE A SHAMBLES OF
ALL OUR PHYSICAL SCIENCES.
Obviously Professor McNair was unwilling to so upset his daily
routine. Nor were the United States and French governments - for as
the French put it,
".....the value of the franc will remains unchanged, and
bridges and buildings can still be built, SO WHY MAKE AN
ISSUE OF IT??"
However, Professor Hallock of Columbia University was of a different
mind. He heard of the experiment through a professor at the
Michigan College. He held that this actually WAS ATTRACTION UPON
THE PLUMB LINES, and in a very astute article, told how easily the
matter could be settled by USING PHOSPHOR BRONZE WIRES instead of
piano wires, and LEAD BOBS for iron bobs.
The Tamarack engineer, delighted to clear his mind of its confusion,
followed these instructions to the letter - and came up with
PRECISELY THE SAME MEASUREMENTS as before.
When Professor Hallock was informed of this result, he retired into
a dignified and stony silence. Not so the Tamarack engineer. He
had decided that something was causing this phenomena, and he was
going to find out what it was.
Plumb bobs suspended IN A SINGLE MINE gave TOO DELICATE A DIFFERENCE
in measurement, and after all, WERE NOT ACCURATE ENOUGH to give any
reliable figures ON THE AMOUNT OF DEVIATION, (for instance, per
mile), and whether or not the deviation had ANY RELATION TO THE SIZE
OF THE EARTH.
After all, it had originally been the purpose of the French Geodetic
Survey to REFINE THE ACTUAL SIZE OF THE EARTH AS THEN KNOWN (late
1800's) to a more accurate figure. They had something in mind
concerning artillery, as well as astronomy.
A second series of experiments were conducted at Calumet (Michigan).
This time TWO ELEVATOR SHAFTS into the mine were used INSTEAD OF
ONE, those numbered two and five.
These two were 4,250 feet APART, and were also 4,250 feet DEEP.
They were connected at the bottom by a perfectly straight transverse
tunnel.
Now, plumb bobs were hung in each shaft, and measurements were made.
This time it was found that the plumb lines were 8.22 inches FARTHER
APART AT THE BOTTOM of the pit than at the top.
It did not take the Tamarack engineer long to discover that this
figure exactly represents the DIVERGENCE THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO
COMPLETE A 360 DEGREE SPHERICAL CIRCUMFERENCE. (in other words, a
SHELL OF FORCE AROUND THE EARTH)
There was only one difficulty - as expressed by the plumb lines, it
would be the CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE INSIDE OF A SPHERE AND NOT THE
OUTSIDE!!
Further, the center of gravity, as expressed by the angles formed by
the plumb lines, would be approximately 4,000 MILES OUT IN SPACE!!
Obviously THIS COULD NOT BE TRUE, because if the Chinese were to
make calculations based on a similar pair of mine shafts in their
country, on the OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE GLOBE, the center of gravity
would be found to be 4000 miles IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!!
The center of gravity, according to the plumb lines, was a SPHERE'S
SURFACE, some 16,000 MILES IN DIAMETER!!
ANY PLACE, 4,000 MILES UP, WAS THE CENTER OF GRAVITY!!
Can we blame the Tamarack engineer for going down in his mine and
maintaining a grim silence FROM THAT MOMENT ON??
A United States Geodetic Survey crew for two years conducted further
experiments, among them measuring the surface of a long lake in
Florida on the theory that WATER CONFORMS TO THE TRUE CURVATURE OF
THE EARTH'S SURFACE, REGARDLESS OF HOW THE LAND MAY BE, thus giving
A TRUE LEVEL - only to find that WATER CURVED UPHILL IN EACH
DIRECTION RATHER THAN DOWNHILL!!
Can we blame them for deciding that to give these startling figures
to the world would HAVE NO BEARING ON THE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS of
life, and was therefore BEST FORGOTTEN, since an exploration was
BEYOND THEM??
However, others were making similar experiments, among them a mystic
named Koresh (Cyrus Teed), who claimed he was the Christ, come for
the second time. In spite of his mysticism, his scientific
measurements and experiments were NOT IN THE LEAST MYSTIC.
He used the plumb bob to great advantage, for proof that the Earth's
curvature was THE REVERSE of that USUALLY ACCEPTED AS TRUE, and
thus claimed that WE LIVED ON THE INSIDE OF THE GLOBE, RATHER THAN
THE OUTSIDE!!
He accounted for the sun, the planets, the stars, the moon, gravity,
etc. in a very elaborate set of theories, but in spite of this, his
discoveries also went by the board, and are scarecely remembered
today, and NEVER MENTIONED IN SCIENTIFIC CIRCLES.
Yet, the facts remain. Plumb lines are FARTHER APART AT THE BOTTOM
THAN AT THE TOP. What does it mean? What is wrong with our concept
of gravity, mass, electro-magnetism, the Earth's size and shape, our
position in relation to other bodies in space, the VERY NATURE OF
PHYSICAL REALITY?
From this point on, in this article, we will deviate from facts, and
merely theories. We ask no one to take what we say seriously, as
being presented as an explanation.
The statements we will make we make ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
ARGUMENT, and possibly to point a way toward further experiment in
an effort to solve the mystery.
First, the Earth is a sphere (with certain very minor
irregularities). We live on the outside of it.
The Moon circles the Earth, and the Earth circles the Sun. Some
force holds them all in orbit and in their relationships to each
other. It is said that gravitation is that force.
It is said the Moon's orbit is maintained because the attraction of
mass of both bodies is exactly counterbalanced by CENTRIFUGAL FORCE.
The Earth system is maintained in its orbit about the sun by the
same delicate balance.
Could it be that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "ATTRACTION OR MASS?"
Would not such a quality in mass have resulted, eons ago, in the
whole Universe being GATHERED TOGETHER IN ONE CRUSHING SINGLE BODY?
Some scientists say this is what DID HAPPEN, and that there was a
resultant terrific explosion (the Big Bang theory), and that the
Universe is NOW EXPANDING (as proved, they say by the "red shift"
which shows the distant galaxies to be receding in every direction
at a CONSTANTLY INCREASING SPEED, the more distant ones just
recently discovered at something like 90,000 miles per second).
Does not this increasing speed DISPROVE THEIR OWN THEORY, because
shouldn't the speed of RETREAT FROM THE CENTRAL POINT (strangely
enough our own solar system!) DECREASE as greater distances were
reached? (the inverse square law)
If there is no such thing as attraction of mass, then we are not
bothered with any center of it.
Could it be that the presence of mass (regardless of properties)
merely causes A DISTORTION IN ITS IMMEDIATE AREA, such as the
curvature of light noted (as predicted by Albert Einstein) around
the sun during a solar eclipse?
Thus, wouldn't a plumb line be deviated IN PROXIMITY WITH MASS
simply BY REASON OF THE INTENSIFICATION of that mysterious agent of
creation, an ELECTRO-MAGNETIC FIELD? The best theory of creation to
date is the theory of an electro-magnetic field being placed in
rotation, and thus the DRIVING TO ITS CENTER, in a literal
CONDENSATION PROCESS, OF MATTER, to form the central body of a
planet.
Anyone who has watched a whirlpool, or a whirlwind, has noted the
POLAR "HOLES" IN BOTH ENDS. If the Earth was so formed, would it
not be MANDATORY that it have A HOLE AT BOTH POLES, AND POSSIBLY
EVEN BE HOLLOW?
Do all planets have such holes? Do we see evidence of them in the
polar caps (clouds hiding the opening, just as clouds perpetually
shroud our own poles) of Mars, and the mysterious "hole clear
through" Mercury, the mysterious "red spot" of Jupiter, the rings of
Saturn, etc.?
If gravity (as Einstein finally said when he formed his last theory,
the electro-magnetic field theory) is really NOT A THING AT ALL, but
merely manifestations (along with electro-magnetism) of SOMETHING
ELSE (the electro-magnetic FIELD IN MOTION), then can we not account
easily for the experiment of the plumb bobs and its strange result?
Is there actually NO GRAVITY OUT IN SPACE (outside the whirling
electro-magnetic field) and also, NO INERTIAL MASS, so that the
recent proposal to "sail through space" on aluminum sails which
catch the infinitesimal energy of the photon (light particles), and
thus require no engines at all, is reasonable and practical?
Is it not true that the plumb lines are not straight at all, but
FOLLOW A CURVE dictated BY THE LINES OF FORCE of a WHIRLING ELECTRO-
MAGNETIC FIELD?
Is it not true that the sun is seen NOT VIA LIGHT COMING TO US in a
straight line, but actually A GIGANTIC CURVE dictated by the master
vortex of the Solar System's whirling electro-magnetic field? Thus
it would be CONSIDERABLY NEARER than the 93,000,000 miles we believe
its distance to be?
If there is no such thing as a "straight line" (due to the
time/space/gravity curvature) in this sense of the words, then are
not all our measurements of astronomical distances BASED ON INITIAL
ERROR inherent in the incompatibility of angles and lines in a
perpetually WHIRLING "CURVED" ELECTRO-MAGNETIC FIELD?
Are gravity, magnetism and inertia ONLY ILLUSIONS induced AS
PROPERTIES OF ELECTRO-MAGNETIC FIELDS?
Is that why the plumb lines do not behave as they should; why GYRO-
COMPASSES DO NOT WORK WITHIN 150 MILES OF THE "POLE;" why it is
proposed to "sail" the seas of space merely by the propulsive force
of the "wind" of light photons; why we are developing an "ion-
thrust" engine for space travel in spite of the fact that its thrust
is COMPARABLE TO THAT OF A POCKET FLASHLIGHT?
The sun, they say, has a very weak electro-magnetic field. The Moon
none at all. Does this mean NO GRAVITY ON THE MOON? NO INERTIA?
NO MAGNETISM?
A thousand questions arise from the stimulus of these two vexing
plumb lines whose effects have been so disturbing on the minds of
those whose lips remain sealed - because "it will not affect the
value of the franc..."
Anyone with any basis in physics at all will find these questions
thronging through his mind. We present these few only to provide
that "initial thrust" to your thinking, and to challenge the owners
of francs whose value is dubious in any event.
Lastly, might we suggest to the scientists at Vandenburg Air Force
Base, where the polar satellites are launched, that here, in the
doubt cast on the scientific concept of gravity, mass and inertia,
exists perhaps an explanation for six straight failures to even
locate a PERFECTLY LAUNCHED MISSLE AFTER IT PASSES INTO THE
MYSTERIOUS POLAR REACHES.
That failure is due to the INERTIAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM (rotating
gyroscopes) that DEPENDS FOR ITS FUNCTION ON REMAINING IN AN
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC FIELD.
At the poles, might it be that there are "holes" in this field, and
that your rockets are being lost in these holes, propelled by TOO
MUCH rocket thrust (not needed if there is low or no inertia) acting
on little or no mass at all (inertia-wise)?
The whole thing is something to think about, and certainly NOT TO BE
HIDDEN beneath a pile of francs. Would it be too much for us to ask
that a body of recognized savants be assigned the task of conducting
these experiments again, in the light of present-day knowledge and
experience and implements, to correct our impressions concerning
gravity, the true nature of electro-magnetism, and such relatively
simple things as where or not a body of water's level CURVES UP OR
DOWN??
After all, it is our money that is being spent shooting at a target
that may not even be where we think it is? A record of 100% misses
for Vandenburg is subject to questioning and re-evaluation!
[ Physics ][ Sumeria ]