[Jnana]

Before defending relativity too vigorously, I think one needs to consider how, within conventional physics, enormous craft can be made to hover silently in the sky and then take off silently at incredible speed. Einstein's interpretation of gravity as a curvature of space makes this incredibly difficult if not impossible. Other interpretations of gravity, many of which are based on the existence of some sort of aether, make field propulsion practical and relatively easy. Given that manipulation of gravity by electric fields has been demonstrated (T. Townsend Brown and others), I think it is fair to say that although Einstein's equations provide good predictions, his interpretation of the mechanism of gravity is suspect. Other mechanisms fit these same equations and lend themselves more readily to a unified field theory that makes the engineering of gravity control devices relatively easy.

While I understand how easy it is to conclude that Searl is a nutcase, if you read the rest of the chapter you will find that LaViolette discusses a replication of the Searl device in more detail than Searl's original device. He also discusses a simple motor based on a roller bearing that was demonstrated by a physics student and which explains one aspect of how the Searl device works. To say that LaViolette accepted all of Searl's claims at face value is a bit unfair, although he does repeat some of the claims (e.g., "health benefits") without further comment.

Overall, the book is a pretty good introduction to various aspects of alternative physics and devices based on principles that are inconsistent with standard physics. He also has a bit of background on which companies are doing work in electrogravitics and how the coverup of the associated scientific principles is maintained. Whether LaViolette's own pet theory, subquantum kinetics, eventually proves to have superior predictive ability remains to be seen.