The energy wheel

CHAPTER FOUR

Basic Description:

The "energy wheel" is a small "wheel" or concentrically balanced object made from extremely light material. This is balanced horizontally on the sharp point of a needle or pin held in a vertical position by a suitable base plate. The operator places the device on a table, sits down, and places both hands cupped horizontally around the en­ergy wheel. The objective is to "think" the lightweight

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wheel into rotating in the desired direction (clockwise or counterclockwise), to make it stop, or to make it stop and change direction without any visible physical contact with the wheel. The hypothesis of operation is often said to be telekinesis or the ability to change the physical position or motion of a material object by "thought waves" alone. However, there may be other factors at work, too.

Historic Background:

Apparently, the first device similar (but perhaps differing in construction) to the energy wheel was called a "Biometre" and was developed by a Dr. Hippolyte Baraduc of France (no biographical data can be located). It consisted of a copper needle suspended horizontally by a thread from the top center of a glass dome. Beneath the dome was a horizontal dial marked off in circular de­grees. The operator would cup both hands around the glass dome and, by "concentrated thought," rotate the needle left or right to the number of degrees marked on the dial.

A. M. O. R. C. (Ancient and Mystical Order of the Rose Cross, otherwise known as the Rosicrucian Brotherhood) developed a similar device consisting of a needle floating on water.

On page 222 of the 30 July 1922 issue of the famed British medical journal, The Lancet, Dr. Charles Ross authored an article entitled "An Instrument Which

The Energy Wheel

Figure 4-1: An early version of the energy wheel was the sthenometer.

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Is Set In Motion by Vision or by Proximity of the Human Body. " This device was also called a "sthenometer. " It consisted of a balanced needle suspended by a thread inside a surrounding transparent shield, preferably made of quartz (although glass was believed to be useable, too). A horizontal dial marked off in degrees was placed below the horizontally-suspended needle. The basic sthenometer is shown in Figure 4-1. It was claimed by Dr. Ross that the needle would respond instantly to the visual stimulus of a gaze or to the proximity of a human body. Why this device, described so carefully and completely in a re­spected medical journal, was not investigated further is unknown.

A Czech engineer, Robert Pavlita, developed a large number of similar "psychotronic generators" oper­ating on "shaped power" following World War II. The Czechs have been very quiet about these devices and have revealed or published little that can be evaluated prop­erly.

Flanagan (see previous chapter) combined his experiences in pyramid research with the devices of Ross and Pavlita to produce a "pyramid psychotronic genera­tor" shown in Figure 4-2 and 4-2a.

Zenith TV engineer Gerald Loe developed a com­mercial version of these devices, calling it the "Energy Wheel®. " This little gem was introduced to me by Tag Powell in about 1980. The rotor consisted of a cross stamped from thin aluminum foil shown in Figure 4-3.

The Energy Wheel

Figure 4-2: Flanagan's "pyramid psychotronic generator," a version of the energy wheel. Depend­ing upon how the paper template is folded, the generator can have a left- or right-handed twist.

Author's Experience:

The author first heard of the energy wheel device in about 1955 from John Woods Campbell, Jr. (1910 -1971), then editor of Astounding Science Fiction magazine published at that time by Street & Smith. Campbell's name will appear often herein because he was a techni­cally-trained man who'd attended MIT and graduated

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Figure 4-2A: Dimensioned template for cutting

and folding a Flanagan "pyramid psychotronic

generator" from a sheet of paper.

with a degree in physics from Duke University. Campbell was interested in everything in the Universe, including things that were unexplained by science such as some of the machines described in this book. The Campbell

The Energy Wheel

version of the energy wheel utilized a folded paper rotor similar to the one fully described below as the experimen­tal device of this chapter.

The author's experiences with the Campbell energy wheel in 1955-1956 were mixed. Sometimes I could get it to work. Other times, I could not. The reactions of my friends and colleagues working in the rocket and guided missile area at White Sands missile testing range were also mixed. Therefore, I didn't pay much attention to this device again until Tag Powell gave me one of his energy wheels in 1980 (Fig. 4-3). I discov­ered I could cup my hands around the device and make it spin in both directions, stop, and reverse directions with great reliability and repeatability.

During a visit to my home by Tag Powell in 1983, we spent most of a day conducting various experiments with the energy wheel. The one we used is shown in Figure 4-3. If you don't want to make an energy wheel, you can buy the one shown. It's commercially available from Powell Productions, 11701 Belcher Road South, Suite 123, Largo, Florida 34643-5117.

We discovered that both of us could make it work equally well if we placed it under an inverted water glass, thereby shielding it from any air currents, including subconsciously-directed breathing, that might cause it to change its motion. But it would not work as well if placed under an inverted drinking container made of clear

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Figure 4-3: A commercially available Energy Wheel®.

polystyrene plastic. Both Powell and I could improve our capability to make the energy wheel move as desired if we coated our hands with a thin layer of Johnson's Baby Oil. It therefore appears that there's something that makes the energy wheel device operate, but further quan­titative testing has not been done by the author. How­ever, enough empirical testing was carried out to qualify it for consideration in this book.

The Energy Wheel

Instructions for Fabrication

It's ridiculously simple to make an energy wheel.

However, the device uses a very sharp needle pointing vertically upwards. It's possible to impale one's hand on this very sharp needle. WARNING: Extreme care should he taken to insure that you don't impale part of yourself on the needle! Do not leave the energy wheel assembled with the needle vertical and the wheel itself removed. In fact, once you've finished working with the energy wheel each time, disassemble it completely and put the needle in a safe place. Or place a rubber stopper, cork, or piece of clay atop the vertical needle point. Don't take chances and get stuck with the needle.

Obviously, don't leave the energy wheel assembled where small children may get to it, possibly play with it, and possibly get hurt by the sharp needle point.

The following materials are required to make an energy wheel:

1. A piece of writing or typewriter paper three inches square. The paper should be as thin and light as possible. Ordinary note paper is sufficient. Anything between 15-pound and 20-pound paper, as it is techni­cally known, will work. Tissue paper is not recom­mended because it may be too thin to permit it to be folded or to retain its shape when folded.

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Figure 4-4: Energy wheel template. Make from light-weight typing paper.

Figure 4-5: Folding the energy wheel template.

Fold A-B and C-D down in the same direction

to make a tent-like shape as shown.

The Energy Wheel

Figure 4-6: Drawing of the completed simple energy

wheel. For ease of operation, you may want to set it

atop an inverted water glass.

2. A sewing needle about two inches long. The reason for using a needle is to have a sharp, low-friction needle-point bearing upon which the energy wheel can rotate.

3. A base to hold the needle vertical. You can use a kneaded rubber eraser, a lump of plasticene modelling clay, or a small block of balsa wood 1/2-inch thick and about 2 inches square.

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Other items you will need in order to conduct experiments include a glass drinking tumbler and plastic drinking tumbler, (both large enough to fit over the energy wheel), some baby oil, and a notebook and pencil with which to record the results of your experiments.

Cut the paper into a square three inches on each side. (Fig. 44) It doesn't have to be precisely square, but it will look better and balance better if it is. Use scissors, a single-edge razor blade, or a modelling knife along with a metal straight edge to insure straight cutting.

Fold the paper diagonally as shown (Fig. 4-5), then unfold it and fold it again from the two other opposed corners. Make both folds in the same direction so that you end up with a tent-shaped, partially-flattened pyramidal shape with a peak in the middle as shown.

Carefully insert the needle perpendicularly through the eraser or base piece until about 1.5 inches of the pointed end sticks out. Or mold a chunk of plasticene modelling clay around the eye end of the needle to hold it vertically.

Gently place the folded paper square on the point of the needle with the point nestled in the apex of the folds at the center of the square.

Your energy wheel is now completed(Fig. 4-6).

The Energy Wheel Operating Instructions:

Find a quiet spot and place the energy wheel on a table. Make sure it's not in the draft of an air condition­ing unit, window, or heater. Avoid any air currents be­cause they make the experiments more difficult.

Sit down at the table facing the energy wheel. Cup both hands around both sides of it about a half-inch away from it. Keep your hands steady by resting your elbows and forearms on the table top. Look at the unit and think of it revolving. At first it may wobble. It may revolve first in one direction, then stop and start rotating in the opposite direction. Concentrate on movement in one direction.

Some people can make the energy wheel operate immediately. Others require a learning period ranging from several minutes to several weeks with regular ses­sions of five to fifteen minutes daily. (Other people can't make it work at all.) Don't be discouraged if you can't get it to rotate. If you finally give up, try it on your friends. They might surprise you.

Experiments:

There are several impromptu empirical experi­ments that you can conduct with the energy wheel once you learn to make it rotate.

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If there is any question in your mind concerning whether or not air currents are causing it to rotate, place an inverted glass drinking tumbler over it. Cup your hands around the glass and make it rotate in the enclosed space.

Once you have gained operational experience or taken experimental data with the energy wheel enclosed under an inverted glass tumbler, replace the glass unit with the polystyrene plastic one. Cup your hands around the plastic tumbler and make the energy wheel rotate.

The condition of the skin on your hands and palms may be a contributing factor in whatever causes the energy wheel to rotate. Try coating your palms with a thin layer of baby oil. Then remove the oil by thor­oughly washing your hands and try again. Note any differences.

Try the energy wheel on several people, and keep accurate experimental notes on who can make it rotate, stop, and change directions best, and how long it took them to learn how to do it.

How do you learn how to do it? Nobody knows. You just have to keep trying until it happens (or doesn't).

There are many additional experiments that can and should be carried out with the various forms of energy wheels. The precise physical conditions of the environment and the subject should be instrumented, measured, and monitored for changes. These might in­clude ambient air temperature near the energy wheel

The Energy Wheel

(perhaps also above and below it), deep body tempera­ture of the subject, surface temperature of both palms, the galvanic skin resistance of both palms, and the elec­tric field present between the palms. Instruments to measure these parameters to great accuracy are available, but their cost may be beyond the means of the amateur experimenter. But the measurements need to be taken, the professional bioelectronic engineers apparently haven't done it, and therefore it's probably going to be up to the amateurs to forge ahead.

What If It Doesn't Work?

You may not be able to get the energy wheel to do anything you want it to do. It may not rotate at all. It may rotate erratically. You may not have any conscious con­trol over it at all.

I'll repeat what I've already said numerous times in this book: Some people can make it work, and some people can't. (Some people can play the trumpet, and others can't.) We don't know why this is so. But if some people can make it work (and this can be demonstrated repeatedly), we should try to find out why, shouldn't we?

Hypotheses:

The first hypothesis that comes to mind concern­ing what makes the energy wheel rotate is: "thought waves," or psychokinesis, or telekinesis. One of the rea-

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sons why the rotating element of the energy wheel was originally fabricated with such low mass was the belief that such mental energy must be quite small and, since we couldn't move things that were obviously massive, perhaps "thought waves" could have some affect on bodies of extremely low mass. But just because someone can hang a name on a phenomenon doesn't mean that it's understood or that it really operates by something related to parapsychology (although it may, and that cannot be completely ruled out).

However, one of the basic principles of scientific investigation is called "Occams' Razor." This is a philo­sophical statement of natural law that comes from Wil­liam of Ockham (c. 1280 -1349), an English schoolman who proposed the dictum pluralites non est ponenda sine necessitate ~ " multiplicity ought not to be posited without necessity. " In other words, choose the simplest possible solution or, in modern parlance, K. 1. S. S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid.)

In applying Occam's Razor to the hypothesis that the action of the energy wheel is the result of psychokinetics or "thought waves," it must be pointed out that this hypothesis is complex because nobody yet knows what thought waves are or how they can be measured. Or can even agree that such things exist, much less on the reality of some attempts at detection and measurement of these phenomena. Therefore, until psychotechnology progresses to the point where we can hang numbers on

The Energy Wheel

things and get everyone to agree on the basis of repeat-able experimentation, we'd better see if we can find other hypotheses with simpler explanations based on what­ever part of the Universe we do indeed already under­stand well enough to have measured accurately.

This, in turn, brings up another principle of science: If you're going to propose a new theory, it must not only account for newly observed phenomena but must also allow for the existence of things that are already known. In addition, it must also predict phenomena that are totally new and unsuspected.

With these concepts in mind, let's look at some other hypotheses that might account for the action of the energy wheel. This may not be the only possible one nor the only one that meets the qualification of William of Ockham, but it's a point of departure that may make the energy wheel a little less hokey.

The hypothesis that the wheel is being uncon­sciously turned by selective unconscious direction of the operator's breath is put to rest by the experiment in which the rotor is operated while enclosed in an inverted glass water tumbler.

On the basis of results of experiments conducted by the author, the following hypothesis is put forward as a point of departure. It may not be correct. But it offers somewhere to start and something to be proven or disproven... or replaced by a better hypothesis.

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As discussed in the previous chapter, the planet that we live on functions because of electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (and these three things are separate phenomena; see any elementary physics text). The planet Earth has an electrostatic field along with a magnetic field. So does every living creature on Earth.

A human being exhibits a change in electrical resistance of the skin which can be measured and which has been previously correlated with emotional states and action of the nervous system.

A human being is a complex electronic system with a skin that has a definite dielectric constant, which in turn can change because of emotional state (although there has been little work done and reported concerning this factor).

A human being also has an electrostatic field that is only partially the result of the body's immersion in the Earth's electric field.

Since it is already known that the voluntary (and involuntary) actions of the nervous system can alter the electric and magnetic characteristics of the human body in a highly localized manner - i.e., the galvanic skin resistance can be different at different parts of the body - it therefore follows that it is possible to voluntarily alter the electric charge on each hand or on different parts of a single hand.

One of the first experiments in electricity that a freshman physics student sees or carries out has to do with the electrostatic attraction of oppositely-charged bod-

The Energy Wheel

ies and the mutual repulsion of bodies with the same electrostatic charge. We experience it daily with some plastic films that cling tenaciously to foods and other materials, including themselves; with dust and dirt that is electrostatically attracted to the front of a television set; with electrostatic dust precipitators both in homes and on factory chimneys; and with any cat that has had its fur rubbed vigorously.

It does not take much energy in the form of an electrostatic charge to make its presence known beyond the shadow of a doubt. And our own personal experi­ence indicates that electrostatic forces, even small ones, can exhibit pronounced physical effects.

The energy wheel may function because of the operator's unconscious (but also, strangely, willed) abil­ity to alter the electric field at different points of the palm of the hand or both hands. This should not appear to be a fantastic hypothesis since it is already well-known that a person can willfully alter the galvanic skin resistance and, therefore, the body's electric field.

Thus, the energy wheel could be nothing more than the bio-electric analog of the common, garden-vari­ety, everyday electric motor. The common squirrel-cage induction motor used in fans and most small appliances is in itself an impossible device unless one understands alternating current theory. And it's interesting to note that alternating current theory and therefore the squirrel-cage induction motor depends entirely on a mathemati-

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cal concept known as "i" which is the square root of minus-1. This is a totally imaginary number that does not and cannot exist in the real Universe! Yet it is abso­lutely necessary in order to provide a theoretical founda­tion for the electrical power of alternative currents that today run our world.

The energy wheel may not have anything to do with "thoughtwaves," butonly the mind's natural ability to alter the electrical characteristics of the skin. This hypothesis (which, by calling it a hypothesis, means that it is, at best, only an educated guess waiting to be tested and proved) satisfies the requirement that we continually wield Occam's Razor.

Viewed from the standpoint of an electrical phe­nomenon, the operating principle behind rotation of the rotor is straightforward in nature. The rotor is at all times at negative potential or charge, resting on an extension of the surface of the negatively-charged Earth. The rotor has four points or corners at which its negative electric charge is concentrated. If an operator can alter the elec­tric field of one palm to make it positive while the fingers on the same hand are negative, the difference in electric charge would cause the rotor to turn.

This hypothesis can be checked by experimenta­tion and measurement.

All rotors of all energy wheel devices seen by the author to date have been in cruciform (cross) shape or possessed some sharp points around their peripheries.

The Energy Wheel

A critical experiment (the reader is invited to try it) is to determine whether or not a circular rotor (i.e., one with­out sharp corners) can also be made to rotate. The author has tried it and challenges the reader to perform the same experiment.

But why does a regular energy wheel appear to work well under a glass tumbler and not under a tumbler made of polystyrene plastic? Obviously, glass has a differ­ent dielectric constant than does polystyrene plastic. Can glass be given an electric charge more easily than plastic? The author hasn't investigated these areas yet. They are ripe for amateur experimentation.

From the professional or semi-professional sci­entific research standpoint, the human operator should be instrumented to measure galvanic skin resistance, skin temperature, and electric field potential and gradi­ent at several locations on the skin, including critical points on the hands and palms. Solid-state electronic devices available today make such measurements pos­sible where they were patently impractical if not impos­sible a mere twenty years ago. Such experimentation and measurement would serve to answer the question of how a person manages to operate an energy wheel and reveal the physical factors involved, but it will not answer the question of how a human being actually manages to change the electrical characteristics of the skin.

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Conclusions:

The energy wheel is a simple device to make and, for some people, a simple device to operate. Its simplicity may mask a complex set of reasons why it works. How­ever, its very simplicity permits a wide variety of experi­mentation by amateur scientists and offers professional researchers an opportunity to test and measure some physical factors that may be involved in its mode of operation. In the long run, both sorts of experimenta­tion may reveal a great deal about the human mind and body that is currently either unknown or assigned to the realm of the fantastic or the province of charlatans. However, the simple fact that a large number of other­wise ordinary people can make this simple device operate indicates that it is not mystical in nature. Modern scien­tific procedures and instrumentation can be applied in an attempt to learn the mechanics of operation. Further­more, proto-sciences such as parapsychology need not be invoked to provide an explanation of why it works.

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