(Return to Index) by by T. Townsend Brown
Notes relating to this phenomenon have been taken more or less regularly since it was first observed almost 60 years ago (1926) in the X-ray Laboratory of Bethesda Hospital, Zanesville, Ohio (attested by Dr. Maurice Lobel, Clifford A. Beale, and Townsend Brown). As the result of an informal "hunch" expressed by Prof. Paul Alfred Biefeld, Director of Swazey Observatory - Denison University (close friend and classmate of Einstein - Polytechnium, Zurich, before coming to the U.S.), an experiment was performed to measure the suspected variable (basic) resistance of a capacitor at 150 KV DC. (Fernando Sanford - Phys. Rev.). The results of the experiment were positive, but considered too controversial to be published at that time. Several years later, Townsend Brown (then a member of the American Physical Society (since 1926) and protege of Biefeld, wrote a brief report to "Letters to the Editor," but was rejected. See letter from "Physical Review," dated 1/19/31 (enclosed). During the years between 1926 and 1931 I continued the studies with personal funds at Denison University, Granville, Ohio and private laboratory near my home at Zanesville, Ohio. About $50,000 was expended at this time, assisted by the Brown and Townsend families. It is worth noting here that Dr. Biefeld had been interested in the subject of gravitation for many years. This interest probably coincided with his friend's interest in the "Unified Field Theory" and in the new concept of "Relativity" which was gaining recognition at that time. In any event, Biefeld believed in the possibility of some connection with gravitation. As he expressed it - "I am constantly on the 'look-out' for something that might represent an 'electrodynamic-gravitational' coupling." I recall asking Dr. Biefeld at one point - "If a coupling did exist, what (physical) instrumentality might it resemble?" He thought for a few minutes and then answered (without equivocation) "the capacitor." I have thought of this many times in the course of out investigations with capacitors, but have failed so far to discover any connection readily discernable. In high vacuum tests (10-6 Hg) there appears to be a second-order effect in the so-called "Biefeld-Brown Effect," but this has never been confirmed. Distraught and discouraged by the lack of progress and continuing depth of depression, I joined the Naval Service at age 25. By a stroke of good fortune I was accorded the status equivalent to junior physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. and provided my own laboratory room and research facilities. In 1931, with no relief from the stress of the depression, the Zanesville laboratory was formally closed and sold to the Batelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio. The remaining high-voltage equipment (cost approx. $20,00) which could not be sold, was donated and transferred to Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. In 1932, selected as the representative of NRL, I accompanied Dr. F. A. Vening Meinez (Netherlands Geodetic Commission) aboard the U.S. Submarine S-48 throughout the West Indies on a gravity-measuring cruise, estimated 3,000 miles submerged - following a suspected "crack" in the crust of the Earth. In collaboration with the U.S. Naval Observatory, I assisted in making the computations of the anomalous values of "g" and corrections due to topography and iso-static compensation of several thousand gravity readings taken during the expedition. The work was published by the Government Printing Office. In 1933, The Smithsonian Institute "borrowed" me from the Navy Department to serve as physicist on the "Johnson-Smithsonian Deep Sea Expedition'" to study the deepest parts of the Atlantic. This expedition used the Yacht Caroline. The results were published by the Smithsonian (the region has become known as the "Brownson Deep"). Work on the capacitors was resumed in 1936 when the Navy recording equipment (at NRL) was moved from Washington, D.C. to Zanesville, Ohio where an underground shielded vault had been constructed. Continuous strip-chart record of radiation intensity was obtained for the full year 1937 from this station. In 1938, the recorders were installed in a (shielded) basement vault under the Randall Morgan Laboratory of Physics, University of Pennsylvania, founded by the Townsend Brown Foundation, under the direct supervision of Dr. Gaylord P. Harnwell (Dept. Head), Enos Witmer (theoretical physicist) and William Sidle. Continuous record for the year 1939 was obtained but the detailed charts were so voluminous that they have been only partly analyzed. The onset of World War II terminated this effort.
DURING WORLD WAR II During the war, no studies of the so-called petrovoltaic effect were made. I (then a Lieutenant Commander) recall several instances when mysterious phantoms and fade-outs were observed. No formal study was ever conducted. My activities during the war were largely as follows: Following World War II, all high voltage and recording equipment was moved from the Naval Operating Base (NOB) at Norfolk, VA to Laguna Beach, Calif. where the "Temple Hills Radiation Laboratory" was established in 1950 by the Brown Foundation to continue the studies.
NOTEBOOKS Formal laboratory notebooks were started in 1955 and for over 30 years have continuously maintained. To date there are 7 bound books comprising 1050 pages, 434 sections or entries of experiments performed, experiments contemplated, "hair-brained" ideas and theoretical concepts good and bad. See Table of Contents at flyleaf of each volume. Most entries are signed, some are witnessed, all are dated for patent protection if such should ever be needed. Needless to say, the accumulation of this vast amount of technical information, valid or invalid, has been expensive. It is estimated that, over a period of 60 years, the costs have exceeded half-million dollars.
