Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions (Listed by Publication Date)

Most of these items are linked to information about similar real-life inventions and inventors; click on an invention to learn more about it.

Date	Device Name (Novel Author)
1726	Laputa - a floating island (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1726	Bio-Energy - produce electricity from organic material (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1726	Knowledge Engine - machine-made expertise (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1726	Geometric Modeling - eighteenth century NURBS (from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift)
1828	Barrels of Air (from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century by Henry Loudon)
1828	Steam-Propelled Moving Houses (from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century by Henry Loudon)
1828	Stage Balloon (from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century by Henry Loudon)
1828	Mail-Post Letter-Ball (from The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century by Henry Loudon)
1866	Paper Steel (from Robur-the-Conqueror by Jules Verne)
1867	Weightlessness - true science fiction discovery (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Retro-Rockets - Verne invented them! (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Light Pressure Propulsion - first use of this idea (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Water-Springs (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Spashdown - the original idea (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Launching Facility - in Florida (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Projectile-Vehicle - Verne's spacecraft (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Free Return Trajectory - first mention (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Communicate with Extraterrestrials - first use of concept (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1867	Columbiad - 900 foot cannon (from From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
1869	Flywheel Launcher (from The Brick Moon by Edward Everett Hale)
1875	Nautilus - Captain Nemo's ride (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875	Diving Apparatus - scuba diving in the 19th century (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875	Electrify the Rail - repel boarders! (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875	Leyden Ball - grandfather of the taser (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)
1875	Undersea Mining (from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne)

...

via Science Fiction Timeline of Inventions (Listed by Publication Date).

Many more at the link.

Review: Source Code + Official First 5 Minutes [HD]

YouTube - Source Code - Official First 5 Minutes [HD].

"Source Code" is an ingenious thriller that comes billed as science fiction, although its science is preposterous. Does that matter, as long as everyone treats it with the greatest urgency? After all, space travel beyond the solar system is preposterous, and yet we couldn't do without "Star Trek." The "science" in this case is used to prop up an appealing story of a man who tries to change the past.

His name is Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal). That he is sure of. That's why it's strange when he finds himself on a Chicago commuter train talking to Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), a woman he's never met. It's even stranger when he goes into the toilet and sees a face in the mirror that doesn't belong to him. - rogerebert

I enjoyed this movie, but I don't think anyone needs to see the scene that shows the partial remains of the dead soldier with exposed intestines.  Gratuitously gross.

Hobbit filming finally under way

Filming on the two Hobbit movies has begun following months of delays caused by funding problems, a row over actors' wages and surgery for its director.

Filming is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

Production on the films, starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, is expected to take up to two years. The first is due out in late 2012.

In January, director Peter Jackson had surgery for a perforated ulcer.

Studios Warner Bros and New Line had previously considered taking the production away from New Zealand after acting unions threatened to boycott the films in protest over payments.

The unions had complained of inconsistencies in the terms and conditions of New Zealand actors and other production workers compared with their overseas colleagues.

In an open letter written at the time, Jackson warned that shifting the entire project to eastern Europe "could so easily happen".

"Seriously, if the Hobbit goes east - eastern Europe in fact - look forward to a long, dry big-budget movie drought in this country," he said.

After the studios threatened to leave, thousands of people took to the streets up and down New Zealand to demand that the production remained in the country.

But at the end of October, the New Zealand government passed legislation to change labour laws and improve tax breaks to ensure production remained in the country.

The changes mean actors and others working on the films will be hired as contractors not employees. ...

via BBC News - Hobbit filming finally under way.

Wizard Death Match: Vote for who would win: Gandalf or Dumbledore or Obi-Wan

Dumbledore	Gandalf	Obi-Wan
+ Defeated Grindelwald, the 2nd most dangerous Dark Wizard of all time. Had him imprisoned. Worried Voldemort, but never battled him directly.	++ Defeated a friggin' Balrog in hand to hand combat, and then defeated Saruman, the 2nd most dangerous Evil Wizard, who was then killed. Worried Sauron, but never  battled him directly.	++ Brutally maimed Vader, a former friend and 2nd most powerful Sith Lord. Also killed countless Imperial troopers. Did the Evil Emperor even know about him?
- No known sword skills	+ Does a lot of sword fighting as well as using staff.	++ Most powerful sword of the three.
- Stayed dead, no advice from the grave	++ Came back from the dead as Gandalf the White	+ Stayed dead, but could offer advice from the grave.
++ Can teleport(!) himself with magic.	-- Rides a horse, for days and days and days....	+ Flies in space ships, can probably levitate himself with great effort.
++ Faster at magic and does it frequently.	- Needs a staff to do magic	- Almost no magic, only limited telekinesis.

Imagining all three of them in a fair fight where they all had some prep time, I give Dumbledore the win due to speed, more magic, creativity, ability to control time, advanced planning and deviousness.  Of course, Obi-Wan could do a lot of damage with blasters from a space ship... If there was no foreknowledge and you just stuck them all in a room and told them to kill or be killed, ready GO! Would Gandalf's staff survive a direct hit with a light saber? I think not. Obi-Wan is fast, but with a small flick of his wand, Dumbledore would immobilize the other two. I may be missing some important deciding factors, however.

Cast your vote. Write in candidates allowed.

[polldaddy poll=4601936]

Middle-earth according to Mordor

Laura Miller - Well, there's two sides to every story, or to quote a less banal maxim, history is written by the winners. That's the philosophy behind "The Last Ringbearer," a novel set during and after the end of the War of the Ring (the climactic battle at the end of "The Lord of the Rings") and told from the point of view of the losers. The novel was written by Kirill Yeskov, a Russian paleontologist, and published to acclaim in his homeland in 1999. Translations of the book have also appeared in other European nations, but fear of the vigilant and litigious Tolkien estate has heretofore prevented its publication in English.

That changed late last year when one Yisroel Markov posted his English translation of "The Last Ringbearer" as a free download. ...

In Yeskov's retelling, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men!" He's in cahoots with the elves, who aim to become "masters of the world," and turn Middle-earth into a "bad copy" of their magical homeland across the sea. Barad-dur, also known as the Dark Tower and Sauron's citadel, is, by contrast, described as "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic." ...

The protagonist of "The Last Ringbearer" is a field medic from Umbar (a southern land), who is ably assisted by an Orocuen -- that is, orc -- scout, who is not a demonic creature like the orcs in "The Lord of the Rings," but an ordinary man. They're given the task of destroying a mirror in the elf stronghold of Lorien before the elves can further use it to infect Middle-earth with their alien magic. Meanwhile, the remnants of Mordor's civilization fight a rear-guard guerrilla campaign to sustain the "green shoots of reason and progress," in opposition to the "static" and "tidy" pseudo-paradise of Middle-earth under the elven regime.

Some of the supporting characters from "The Lord of the Rings" -- such as Faramir and Eowyn -- get more attention and and even a bit more respect in "The Last Ringbearer." Others, like Aragorn -- depicted by Yeskov as a ruthless Machiavellian schemer who is ultimately the puppet of his wife, the elf Arwen -- have been completely transformed. (Still others, like the hobbits, don't even exist.) Nevertheless, the primary characters are entirely Yeskov's inventions, presented in a radically rethought version of Tolkien's world. The novel is clearly dependent on Tolkien's creation, but it's also original and ingenious. ...

via Middle-earth according to Mordor - Laura Miller - Salon.com.

More than 15 years ago Russian scientist Kirill Yeskov tried to settle certain geographical problems in Tolkien's fantasy world. One thing led to another, and he tackled a bigger project - what if we assumed that it's no less real than our world? His conclusion was that in such a case, the story of the Ring of Power is most likely a much-altered heroic retelling of a major war - but what was that war really about?

The result of this re-appraisal was the publication in 1999 of The Last Ring-bearer - a re-thinking of Tolkien's story in real-world terms. Dr. Yeskov, a professional paleontologist whose job is reconstructing long-extinct organisms and their way of life from fossil remnants, performs essentially the same feat in The Last Ring-bearer, reconstructing the real world of Tolkien's Arda from The Lord of the Rings - the heroic tales of the Free Men of the West written in that world. We have a pretty good idea how well heroic tales map to reality from our own world...I was impressed enough by this work to spend a few dozen lunch hours translating it to English. (Reportedly, some publishing houses have considered a commercial translation of this book, which had been published in several major European languages, but abandoned the idea out of fear of the Tolkien estate, which doesn't countenance any derivative works, especially in English. Witness the history of its relationship with New Line Cinema. This translation is non-commercial.) I have been fortunate to establish communication with the author and have the translation vetted (and much corrected) by him. I now offer this work for your perusal. At 139,000 words, this 1 Mb PDF is about 80% of the length of The Fellowship of the Ring. Suggestions for corrections will be appreciated. Please mention how you heard about this translation when commenting. Errata will be published here soon. - ymarkov

I've read the Tolkien books three or four times from start to finish. I'm looking forward to reading the Last Ringbearer, thanks to Laura Miller's review ... when I get done with my year long project of getting my 100 or so songs recorded.

Free Music MP3 - Major Tom Saves The Earth

There are several songs I like about a character named Major Tom, the first was by David Bowie and then the one by Peter Schilling, called Major Tom Returns.

[Major Tom Returns by Schilling] is ...  a follow-up to David Bowie's 1969 song "Space Oddity," and continues the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who cuts off communication with Earth and floats into space.  ...

Bowie released his own sequel to "Space Oddity" in 1980 called "Ashes To Ashes," where Major Tom reestablishes communication with Earth.  - songfacts

My song "Home to You" is another adventure of Major Tom.

It is the year 3066. The Major has survived in top health as part of a human regeneration experiment.  As the most experienced person for the job, he is sent in an experimental ship to divert a solar flare which is about to destroy the earth. While on the mission, he is virtually projected at the same time so he is with his wife in the underground bunker waiting for the end. He saves the earth, but there is a problem and he gets thrown back in time to an earth with dinosaurs.

Download: Home to You (Major Tom Saves The Earth) by Xeno.

Another weird reason I wanted to write this song is that David Bowie and I share the same birthday with Elvis (Jan 8th).

If anyone can reach David Bowie, I'd love to thank him for the inspiration have him hear the song. I couldn't find his email address. Perhaps one of you who is already a premium member of his site could pass on a link to this blog entry.

Eerily Specific Inventions Predicted in Science Fiction

The first manned spaceship was launched during the month of December, by the United States from a base in Florida. The ship was made up mostly of aluminum, weighed 19,250 pounds, and cost what would now be about $12.1 billion to build. After three of the astronauts completed their moonwalk, they returned to Earth. Their capsule splashed down into the Pacific Ocean and was recovered by a U.S. Navy vessel.

Why are we boring you with history? Actually, we're not -- this is the plot of an 1865 novel by Jules Verne, whose frighteningly accurate visions of space travel lead us to conclude that he had to be some kind of time-traveling space-wizard.

via 6 Eerily Specific Inventions Predicted in Science Fiction | Cracked.com.

He was born in the harbour city of Nantes in Western France. The oldest of five children, he spent his early years at home with his parents. The family spent summers in a country house just outside the city, on the banks of the Loire River. Verne and his brother Paul, of whom Verne was very fond, would often rent a boat for a franc a day.^[2] The sight of the many ships navigating the river sparked Verne's imagination, as he describes in the autobiographical short story "Souvenirs d'Enfance et de Jeunesse". When Verne was nine, he and Paul were sent to boarding school at the Saint Donatien College (Petit séminaire de Saint-Donatien). As a child, he developed a great interest in travel and exploration, a passion he showed as a writer of adventure stories and science fiction. At twelve, he snuck onto a ship that was bound for India, the Coralie, only to be caught and severely whipped by his father. He famously stated, "I shall from now on only travel in my imagination."

via Wiki

Eerily Specific Inventions Predicted in Science Fiction

The first manned spaceship was launched during the month of December, by the United States from a base in Florida. The ship was made up mostly of aluminum, weighed 19,250 pounds, and cost what would now be about $12.1 billion to build. After three of the astronauts completed their moonwalk, they returned to Earth. Their capsule splashed down into the Pacific Ocean and was recovered by a U.S. Navy vessel.

Why are we boring you with history? Actually, we're not -- this is the plot of an 1865 novel by Jules Verne, whose frighteningly accurate visions of space travel lead us to conclude that he had to be some kind of time-traveling space-wizard.

via 6 Eerily Specific Inventions Predicted in Science Fiction | Cracked.com.

He was born in the harbour city of Nantes in Western France. The oldest of five children, he spent his early years at home with his parents. The family spent summers in a country house just outside the city, on the banks of the Loire River. Verne and his brother Paul, of whom Verne was very fond, would often rent a boat for a franc a day.^[2] The sight of the many ships navigating the river sparked Verne's imagination, as he describes in the autobiographical short story "Souvenirs d'Enfance et de Jeunesse". When Verne was nine, he and Paul were sent to boarding school at the Saint Donatien College (Petit séminaire de Saint-Donatien). As a child, he developed a great interest in travel and exploration, a passion he showed as a writer of adventure stories and science fiction. At twelve, he snuck onto a ship that was bound for India, the Coralie, only to be caught and severely whipped by his father. He famously stated, "I shall from now on only travel in my imagination."

via Wiki

Battle: Los Angeles (Trailer)

Read about the real Battle of Los Angeles which remains to this day unexplained.  Be sure to understand the context: This was just weeks after the attack at Pearl Harbor and 5 years before Roswell.

Aug 27, 1939: He 178: First turbo jet aircraft engine and jet plane by German design.
Dec 7, 1941:  Pearl Harbor: The Japanese Navy strikes the United States naval base, killing 2,459 people.
Feb 24/25, 1942:  Battle of LA, at least 6 people died on the ground due to falling shells which did not damage the UFO.
Apr 30, 1945: Berlin overrun by Soviet forces, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker.
May 2, 1945: German General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to the Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.
Aug 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM: America's 509th bomb group bombs Hiroshima using a B-29 bomber, instantly killing an estimated 80,000 people.
Jul 5, 1945: UFO crash at Roswell, NM, the new home of America's atom bomb and the 509th bomb group.
Dec 31, 1946: Operation High Jump: US military Antarctic expedition includes flagship USS Mount Olympus, the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, thirteen US Navy support ships, six helicopters, six flying boats, two seaplane tenders and fifteen other aircraft.

A huge ship of some kind, assumed to be an enemy aircraft, was fired upon by dozens of Army anti-aircraft batteries which used nearly of 1,400 rounds of 12 pound high explosive shells... but the slow moving craft suffered no damage. This took place over Cluver City and Santa Monica in view of hundreds of thousands of residents.

During the night of 24/25 February 1942, unidentified objects caused a succession of alerts in southern California. On the 24th, a warning issued by naval intelligence indicated that an attack could be expected within the next ten hours.

That evening a large number of flares and blinking lights were reported from the vicinity of defense plants. An alert called at 1918 [7:18 p.m., Pacific time] was lifted at 2223, and the tension temporarily relaxed.

But early in the morning of the 25th renewed activity began. Radars picked up an unidentified target 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Antiaircraft batteries were alerted at 0215 and were put on Green Alert—ready to fire—a few minutes later.

The AAF kept its pursuit planes on the ground, preferring to await indications of the scale and direction of any attack before committing its limited fighter force.

Radars tracked the approaching target to within a few miles of the coast, and at 0221 the regional controller ordered a blackout.

Thereafter the information center was flooded with reports of "enemy planes, " even though the mysterious object tracked in from sea seems to have vanished. At 0243, planes were reported near Long Beach, and a few minutes later a coast artillery colonel spotted "about 25 planes at 12,000 feet" over Los Angeles. At 0306 a balloon carrying a red flare was seen over Santa Monica and four batteries of anti-aircraft artillery opened fire, whereupon "the air over Los Angeles erupted like a volcano."

From this point on reports were hopelessly at variance. ... - – The Army Air Forces in World War II, prepared under the editorship of Wesley Frank Craven, James Lea Cate. v.1, pp. 277-286, Washington, D.C. : Office of Air Force History : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1983 - wiki

Caught by the searchlights and captured in photographs, was an object big enough to dwarf an apartment house. Experienced lighter-than-air (dirigible) specialists doubted it could be a Japanese blimp because the Japanese had no known source of helium, and hydrogen was much too dangerous to use under combat conditions. Whatever it was, it was a sitting duck for the guns of the 37th. Photographs showed shells bursting all around it. A Los Angeles Herald Express staffer said he was sure many shells hit it directly. He was amazed it had not been shot down. The object that triggered the air raid alarm had drawn 1430 rounds of ammunition from the coast artillery, to no effect. When it moved at all, the object had proceeded at a leisurely pace over the coastal cities between Santa Monica and Long Beach, taking about 30 minutes of actual flight time to move 20 miles; then it disappeared from view. -  By Paul T. Collins, Fate Magazine July, 1987

The ONLY description in the LA Times of the UFO, and a sense of the energy and emotion of that night, was found in this small sidebar article written by Times staff writer the day after the event:

Chilly Throng Watches

Shells Bursting In Sky

By Marvin Miles

Explosions stabbing the darkness like tiny bursting stars... Searchlight beams poking long crisscross fingers across the night sky...Yells of wardens and the whistles of police and deputy sheriffs...The brief on-and-off flick of lights, telephone calls, snatches of conversation: 'Get the dirty...' That was Los Angeles under the rumble of gunfire yesterday.

RESIDENTS AWAKENED

Sleepy householders awoke to the dull thud of explosions... "Thunder? Can't be!" Then: "Air Raid! Come here quick! Look over there...those searchlights. They've got something...they are blasting in with anti-aircraft!" Father, mother, children all gathered on the front porch, congregated in small clusters in the blacked out streets -- against orders. Babies cried, dogs barked, doors slammed. But the object in the sky slowly moved on, caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.

SPECULATION RIFE

Speculation fell like rain. "It's a whole squadron." "No, it's a blimp. It must be because it's moving so slowly." "I hear planes." "No you don't. That's a truck up the street." "Where are the planes then?" "Dunno. They must be up there though." "Wonder why they picked such a clear night for a raid?" "They're probably from a carrier." "Naw, I'll bet they are from a secret air base down south somewhere." Still the firing continued. Like lethal firecrackers, the anti-aircraft rounds blasted above, below, seemingly right on the target fixed in the tenacious beams. Other shots fell short, exploding halfway up the long climb. Tracers sparked upward like roman candles. Metal fell. It fell in chunks, large and small; not enemy metal, but the whistling fragments of bursting ack-ack shells. The menacing thud and clank on streets and roof tops drove many spectators to shelter. ....

WATCHERS SHIVER

The fire seemed to burst in rings all around the target. But the eager watchers, shivering in the early morning cold, weren't rewarded by the sight of a falling plane. Nor were there any bombs dropped. "Maybe it's just a test," someone remarked. "Test, hell!" was the answer. "You don't throw that much metal in the air unless you're fixing on knocking something down." Still the firing continued, muttering angrily off toward the west like a distant thunderstorm. The targeted object inched along high, flanked by the cherry red explosions. And the householders shivered in their robes, their faces set, watching the awesome scene.

Well, here it is. Same shape, 20 to 22 years later (from old UFO photos). I'm told these are just models and hoaxes, that the Nazi's never created any such craft.

June 16, 1963  -  Albuquerque, New Mexico, US

1964  -  United States

 

Heavily Armed Flight Gyro
Diameter: 26.3m/ 32.0 m Do-Stra
Drive: Thule Tachyonator (Thule Triebwerk) 7c
Control: Mag Field Impulser 4a
Speed: 6,000 km/h (theoretically up to 21,000 km/h)
Armament: 6 x 80 mm KSK in 3 rotating turrets
1 x 110 mm KSK in 1 rotating turret
Armor: Triple Victalen
Crew: 9 (with room for up to 20 people)
Quiet flight: 19 minutes
All weather, day and night, capable
Employment fitness: 100%
First flight: 1942
Available for service: 1944

 

The existence of such a device is disputed by both physicists and historians and is widely regarded as a myth and a symptom of the Nazi escapism in post-WWII Germany and Austria. ^[1] According to this Nazi mythology, the SS E-IV (Entwicklungsstelle 4) which was a development unit of the SS occult “Order of the Black Sun” was tasked with researching alternative energies to make the Third Reich independent of scarce fuel oil for war production. Their work included developing alternative energies and fuels.

This group supposedly developed by 1939 a revolutionary electro-magnetic-gravitic engine which improved Hans Coler’s free energy machine into an energy Konverter coupled to a Van De Graaf band generator and Marconivortex dynamo (a spherical tank of mercury) to create powerful rotating electromagnetic fields that affected gravity and reduced mass. It was designated the Thule Triebwerk (Thrustwork, a.ka. Tachyonator-7 drive) and was to be installed into a Thule designed disc.

Since 1935 the Thule Gesellschaft (Society) had been scouting for a remote, inconspicuous, underdeveloped testing ground for such a craft. Thule found a location in Northwest Germany that was known as (or possibly designated as) Hauneburg. At the establishment of this testing ground and facilities the SS E-IV unit simply referred to the new Thule disc as a war product- the “H-Gerät” (Hauneburg Device).

For wartime security reasons the name was shortened to Haunebu in 1939 and was briefly designated RFZ-5 along with Vril‘s machines once the Hauneburg site was abandoned in favor of the more suitable VrilAradoBrandenburg aircraft testing grounds. The early Haunebu I craft of which two prototypes were constructed were 25 meters in diameter, had a crew of eight and could achieve the incredible initial velocity of 4,800 km/h, but at low altitude. Further enhancement enabled the machine to reach 17,000 km/h. Flight endurance was 18 hours. To resist the incredible temperatures of these velocities a special armor called Victalen was pioneered by SS metallurgists specifically for both the Haunebu and Vril series of disc craft. The Haunebu I had a double hull of Victalen. This name, Victalen, was first used by Obersturmbandführer of the SS Kapitän Blaubär by combining the english word for "Sieg Heil", "Victory Hail" and the German word for "for everybody", "allen". Some sources however claim that he was inspired by the prostitute Alexandrina Victoria from the city of Talinn.

... It is believed that all of the mysterious Haunebu craft were evacuated to a sanctuary outside of Third Reich borders; to Neu Schwabenland, Antarctica - Base 211, constructed during the war. - wiki

Someone posted the entrances to Base 211 on google earth.

How strong would the imaginary Victalen metal have to be with withstand those anti-aircraft shells? If a modern armored helicopter went back in time to 1942, could it withstand 15 minutes of shelling by the batteries of that time? Answer, yes, no problem.

All of the A-10's glass is bulletproof and the cockpit itself is surrounded by a heavy tub of titanium. Titanium armor protects both the pilot and critical areas of the flight control system. This titanium "bathtub" can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high explosive projectiles up to 37mm in size. The front windscreen can withstand up to a 23mm projectile. Fire retardant foam protects the fuel cells which are also self sealing in the event of puncture. - globalsecurity

______________________________________

WWII: Anti-aircraft gun (image left). Caliber: 20 mm (.78 in) - wiki

______________________________________

Method for Manufacturing Titanium and Alloys Thereof Titanium, Patent 2,205,854. In 1932, Luxembourg (Germany) native William Kroll invented a process to produce metallic titanium. He combined titanium tetrachloride with calcium to produce ductile titanium. By 1938, Kroll had produced 50 pounds of titanium using his process, later named the "Kroll Process". - invent.org

______________________________________

Jet Engines:  The first prototype 004A, which was constructed to run on Diesel fuel, was first tested in October 1940, though without an exhaust nozzle. It was benchtested at the end of January 1941 to a top thrust of 430 kgf (4,200 N; 950 lbf), and work continued to increase the output, the RLM contract having set a minimum of 600 kgf (5,900 N; 1,300 lbf) thrust. - wiki

Seems to me the Battle of LA craft could have survived if it was made of titanium and powered by jet engines (mass production of jet engines started in 1944). Here is a lightweight armor patent that mentions Nitinol the memory metal that returns to its original shape if bent. Conspiracy theories about Nazi technology are just irresponsible speculation.  It is much more likely that aliens are coming to eat you.

 

 

Battle: Los Angeles (Trailer)

Read about the real Battle of Los Angeles which remains to this day unexplained.  Be sure to understand the context: This was just weeks after the attack at Pearl Harbor and 5 years before Roswell.

Aug 27, 1939: He 178: First turbo jet aircraft engine and jet plane by German design.
Dec 7, 1941:  Pearl Harbor: The Japanese Navy strikes the United States naval base, killing 2,459 people.
Feb 24/25, 1942:  Battle of LA, at least 6 people died on the ground due to falling shells which did not damage the UFO.
Apr 30, 1945: Berlin overrun by Soviet forces, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker.
May 2, 1945: German General Helmuth Weidling unconditionally surrendered Berlin to the Soviet General Vasily Chuikov.
Aug 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM: America's 509th bomb group bombs Hiroshima using a B-29 bomber, instantly killing an estimated 80,000 people.
Jul 5, 1945: UFO crash at Roswell, NM, the new home of America's atom bomb and the 509th bomb group.
Dec 31, 1946: Operation High Jump: US military Antarctic expedition includes flagship USS Mount Olympus, the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, thirteen US Navy support ships, six helicopters, six flying boats, two seaplane tenders and fifteen other aircraft.

A huge ship of some kind, assumed to be an enemy aircraft, was fired upon by dozens of Army anti-aircraft batteries which used nearly of 1,400 rounds of 12 pound high explosive shells... but the slow moving craft suffered no damage. This took place over Cluver City and Santa Monica in view of hundreds of thousands of residents.

During the night of 24/25 February 1942, unidentified objects caused a succession of alerts in southern California. On the 24th, a warning issued by naval intelligence indicated that an attack could be expected within the next ten hours.

That evening a large number of flares and blinking lights were reported from the vicinity of defense plants. An alert called at 1918 [7:18 p.m., Pacific time] was lifted at 2223, and the tension temporarily relaxed.

But early in the morning of the 25th renewed activity began. Radars picked up an unidentified target 120 miles west of Los Angeles. Antiaircraft batteries were alerted at 0215 and were put on Green Alert—ready to fire—a few minutes later.

The AAF kept its pursuit planes on the ground, preferring to await indications of the scale and direction of any attack before committing its limited fighter force.

Radars tracked the approaching target to within a few miles of the coast, and at 0221 the regional controller ordered a blackout.

Thereafter the information center was flooded with reports of "enemy planes, " even though the mysterious object tracked in from sea seems to have vanished. At 0243, planes were reported near Long Beach, and a few minutes later a coast artillery colonel spotted "about 25 planes at 12,000 feet" over Los Angeles. At 0306 a balloon carrying a red flare was seen over Santa Monica and four batteries of anti-aircraft artillery opened fire, whereupon "the air over Los Angeles erupted like a volcano."

From this point on reports were hopelessly at variance. ... - – The Army Air Forces in World War II, prepared under the editorship of Wesley Frank Craven, James Lea Cate. v.1, pp. 277-286, Washington, D.C. : Office of Air Force History : For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1983 - wiki

Caught by the searchlights and captured in photographs, was an object big enough to dwarf an apartment house. Experienced lighter-than-air (dirigible) specialists doubted it could be a Japanese blimp because the Japanese had no known source of helium, and hydrogen was much too dangerous to use under combat conditions. Whatever it was, it was a sitting duck for the guns of the 37th. Photographs showed shells bursting all around it. A Los Angeles Herald Express staffer said he was sure many shells hit it directly. He was amazed it had not been shot down. The object that triggered the air raid alarm had drawn 1430 rounds of ammunition from the coast artillery, to no effect. When it moved at all, the object had proceeded at a leisurely pace over the coastal cities between Santa Monica and Long Beach, taking about 30 minutes of actual flight time to move 20 miles; then it disappeared from view. -  By Paul T. Collins, Fate Magazine July, 1987

The ONLY description in the LA Times of the UFO, and a sense of the energy and emotion of that night, was found in this small sidebar article written by Times staff writer the day after the event:

Chilly Throng Watches

Shells Bursting In Sky

By Marvin Miles

Explosions stabbing the darkness like tiny bursting stars... Searchlight beams poking long crisscross fingers across the night sky...Yells of wardens and the whistles of police and deputy sheriffs...The brief on-and-off flick of lights, telephone calls, snatches of conversation: 'Get the dirty...' That was Los Angeles under the rumble of gunfire yesterday.

RESIDENTS AWAKENED

Sleepy householders awoke to the dull thud of explosions... "Thunder? Can't be!" Then: "Air Raid! Come here quick! Look over there...those searchlights. They've got something...they are blasting in with anti-aircraft!" Father, mother, children all gathered on the front porch, congregated in small clusters in the blacked out streets -- against orders. Babies cried, dogs barked, doors slammed. But the object in the sky slowly moved on, caught in the center of the lights like the hub of a bicycle wheel surrounded by gleaming spokes.

SPECULATION RIFE

Speculation fell like rain. "It's a whole squadron." "No, it's a blimp. It must be because it's moving so slowly." "I hear planes." "No you don't. That's a truck up the street." "Where are the planes then?" "Dunno. They must be up there though." "Wonder why they picked such a clear night for a raid?" "They're probably from a carrier." "Naw, I'll bet they are from a secret air base down south somewhere." Still the firing continued. Like lethal firecrackers, the anti-aircraft rounds blasted above, below, seemingly right on the target fixed in the tenacious beams. Other shots fell short, exploding halfway up the long climb. Tracers sparked upward like roman candles. Metal fell. It fell in chunks, large and small; not enemy metal, but the whistling fragments of bursting ack-ack shells. The menacing thud and clank on streets and roof tops drove many spectators to shelter. ....

WATCHERS SHIVER

The fire seemed to burst in rings all around the target. But the eager watchers, shivering in the early morning cold, weren't rewarded by the sight of a falling plane. Nor were there any bombs dropped. "Maybe it's just a test," someone remarked. "Test, hell!" was the answer. "You don't throw that much metal in the air unless you're fixing on knocking something down." Still the firing continued, muttering angrily off toward the west like a distant thunderstorm. The targeted object inched along high, flanked by the cherry red explosions. And the householders shivered in their robes, their faces set, watching the awesome scene.

Well, here it is. Same shape, 20 to 22 years later (from old UFO photos). I'm told these are just models and hoaxes, that the Nazi's never created any such craft.

June 16, 1963  -  Albuquerque, New Mexico, US

1964  -  United States

 

Heavily Armed Flight Gyro
Diameter: 26.3m/ 32.0 m Do-Stra
Drive: Thule Tachyonator (Thule Triebwerk) 7c
Control: Mag Field Impulser 4a
Speed: 6,000 km/h (theoretically up to 21,000 km/h)
Armament: 6 x 80 mm KSK in 3 rotating turrets
1 x 110 mm KSK in 1 rotating turret
Armor: Triple Victalen
Crew: 9 (with room for up to 20 people)
Quiet flight: 19 minutes
All weather, day and night, capable
Employment fitness: 100%
First flight: 1942
Available for service: 1944

 

The existence of such a device is disputed by both physicists and historians and is widely regarded as a myth and a symptom of the Nazi escapism in post-WWII Germany and Austria. ^[1] According to this Nazi mythology, the SS E-IV (Entwicklungsstelle 4) which was a development unit of the SS occult “Order of the Black Sun” was tasked with researching alternative energies to make the Third Reich independent of scarce fuel oil for war production. Their work included developing alternative energies and fuels.

This group supposedly developed by 1939 a revolutionary electro-magnetic-gravitic engine which improved Hans Coler’s free energy machine into an energy Konverter coupled to a Van De Graaf band generator and Marconivortex dynamo (a spherical tank of mercury) to create powerful rotating electromagnetic fields that affected gravity and reduced mass. It was designated the Thule Triebwerk (Thrustwork, a.ka. Tachyonator-7 drive) and was to be installed into a Thule designed disc.

Since 1935 the Thule Gesellschaft (Society) had been scouting for a remote, inconspicuous, underdeveloped testing ground for such a craft. Thule found a location in Northwest Germany that was known as (or possibly designated as) Hauneburg. At the establishment of this testing ground and facilities the SS E-IV unit simply referred to the new Thule disc as a war product- the “H-Gerät” (Hauneburg Device).

For wartime security reasons the name was shortened to Haunebu in 1939 and was briefly designated RFZ-5 along with Vril‘s machines once the Hauneburg site was abandoned in favor of the more suitable VrilAradoBrandenburg aircraft testing grounds. The early Haunebu I craft of which two prototypes were constructed were 25 meters in diameter, had a crew of eight and could achieve the incredible initial velocity of 4,800 km/h, but at low altitude. Further enhancement enabled the machine to reach 17,000 km/h. Flight endurance was 18 hours. To resist the incredible temperatures of these velocities a special armor called Victalen was pioneered by SS metallurgists specifically for both the Haunebu and Vril series of disc craft. The Haunebu I had a double hull of Victalen. This name, Victalen, was first used by Obersturmbandführer of the SS Kapitän Blaubär by combining the english word for "Sieg Heil", "Victory Hail" and the German word for "for everybody", "allen". Some sources however claim that he was inspired by the prostitute Alexandrina Victoria from the city of Talinn.

... It is believed that all of the mysterious Haunebu craft were evacuated to a sanctuary outside of Third Reich borders; to Neu Schwabenland, Antarctica - Base 211, constructed during the war. - wiki

Someone posted the entrances to Base 211 on google earth.

How strong would the imaginary Victalen metal have to be with withstand those anti-aircraft shells? If a modern armored helicopter went back in time to 1942, could it withstand 15 minutes of shelling by the batteries of that time? Answer, yes, no problem.

All of the A-10's glass is bulletproof and the cockpit itself is surrounded by a heavy tub of titanium. Titanium armor protects both the pilot and critical areas of the flight control system. This titanium "bathtub" can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high explosive projectiles up to 37mm in size. The front windscreen can withstand up to a 23mm projectile. Fire retardant foam protects the fuel cells which are also self sealing in the event of puncture. - globalsecurity

______________________________________

WWII: Anti-aircraft gun (image left). Caliber: 20 mm (.78 in) - wiki

______________________________________

Method for Manufacturing Titanium and Alloys Thereof Titanium, Patent 2,205,854. In 1932, Luxembourg (Germany) native William Kroll invented a process to produce metallic titanium. He combined titanium tetrachloride with calcium to produce ductile titanium. By 1938, Kroll had produced 50 pounds of titanium using his process, later named the "Kroll Process". - invent.org

______________________________________

Jet Engines:  The first prototype 004A, which was constructed to run on Diesel fuel, was first tested in October 1940, though without an exhaust nozzle. It was benchtested at the end of January 1941 to a top thrust of 430 kgf (4,200 N; 950 lbf), and work continued to increase the output, the RLM contract having set a minimum of 600 kgf (5,900 N; 1,300 lbf) thrust. - wiki

Seems to me the Battle of LA craft could have survived if it was made of titanium and powered by jet engines (mass production of jet engines started in 1944). Here is a lightweight armor patent that mentions Nitinol the memory metal that returns to its original shape if bent. Conspiracy theories about Nazi technology are just irresponsible speculation.  It is much more likely that aliens are coming to eat you.

 

 

'Star Trek' Inspires Cremation Urns

This certainly gives new meaning to the phrase "the final frontier."

"Star Trek" fans worldwide -- and there are millions of passionate "trekkers" out there -- now have a chance to boldly go into the afterlife by purchasing a new line of "Star Trek" cremation urns for themselves or their loved ones.

Eternal Image, a manufacturer of brand-name memorial products, has created two cube-shaped, "Trek"-themed urns with separate themes: "To Boldly Go" and "The Voyage Continues."Not that your remains will end up in outer space, like the ashes of the late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and "Trek" actor James "Scotty" Doohan, which were launched into space.

Eternal Image CEO and President Clint Mytych told AOL News why his company came up with a "Star Trek" design. "We hope that it makes the process of picking out funeral products a little bit easier -- it's already a painful process to go through," he said. "Nothing seems to come close to 'Star Trek' in terms of staying power and worldwide appeal."

The urns are made of a composite of minerals and metals, and, according to Mytych, "the box itself actually has white speckles in it, and it kind of resembles a star field."

via 'Star Trek' Inspires Cremation Urns.

Movie Review: Inception

See the movie inception, you'll have more vivid dreams. That's what it did for me. I had a dream about a guy in a yellow jump suit trying to sell me something as my girlfriend and I got off of a tram. This was not a scene in the movie, and that is what makes this a great science fiction film: inception successfully plants the idea, or rather reminds us of the fact, that we are the architects of our dream worlds, which are amazing and paradoxical places.

The biggest problem with the movie is that time perception in a dream is no different from waking. Experiments with lucid dreamers have shown this. Your mind may see you without a beard ... and then with one, so you think weeks have passed, but your actual experience is the same amount of time. This is a major flaw in the plot, and this movie will thus spread a common misconception, but hey, it is only a movie.

Are you missing some fun every night?

Frankly, I-robot is more memorable and a better film in terms of visuals, but inception goes a level deeper.

Inception gave me the intention to remember my dreams again.

( We all dream every night, roughly every 90 minutes while asleep, and each dream is a little longer. After 8 hrs we can have 30 to 45 minute long dreams.)

I've been avoiding lucid dreams because there are things in my mind I do not want to face. Inception nails it: disappointment. It is funny that my real subconscious demons are not monsters, deformed beasts, people with guns, or nuclear war, but, this: I've been let down. Big time. I've let people down. Big time. Letting that go means accepting things I do not want to, at my core, accept: That my parents are imperfect, that I sometimes repeat the same stupid mistakes, that I'm not always true to my ideals, and so on.

Accepting this and speaking the truth to the projections of people in dreams can set you free.

Or are you still just dreaming? Does the top fall at the end? I'd vote no.

Found: Star Trek Ergonomic Advice in Berkeley Bathroom

Found: Star Trek Ergonomic Advice in Berkeley Bathroom | Gadget Lab | Wired.com.

Every Lightsaber Ignition & Retraction

Trekkers offered cave tours in Klingon

The Jenolan Caves near the Blue Mountains west of Sydney is about to become possibly the first tourist attraction in the world to launch tours in the fictional Star Trek language of Klingon.

The link between the world's oldest dated limestone cave system and the fictional Star Trek language is through a spaceship, the USS Jenolan, which featured in an episode of the Next Generation series.

Earlier this month two Klingon scholars from the United States flew to Australia to tour the caves and finalise the translation of a self-guided tour.

They have recorded it at a Sydney studio and the commentary will be available late next month on a digital audio device.

Jenolan Caves tours will also be available in 10 other more commonly-spoken languages.

via Trekkers offered cave tours in Klingon - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

X files, seasons 7 & 8

I picked up the x-files seasons seven and eight at the Green Apple Bookstore in SF for $24 each tonight. I'm starting to watch them. Okay, you can't translate ancient Navaho letter for letter into English, that's absurd... (see The Sixth Extinction) but good weird fun, nevertheless.

UFO Hoaxer 'TFH' Creates Shockingly Realistic CGI Videos of UFOs and Disasters

A shaky camera turns on, out of focus in haste to capture something of terrible importance. The camera zooms in, and the image emerges in awful clarity: the space shuttle, destroyed and coasting in helpless orbit, the astronauts almost certainly dead. The impact debris coasts alongside the ruined shuttle in a funeral procession of atmospheric flotsam.

The most disturbing thing is that no story is explained. We see the destruction like a live news feed, without context, without explanation, and our imaginations paint the back story with our deepest fears: collision, terrorism, tragic accident.



With no commentary except the occasional audio interruption of the NASA controllers, the video feels like the pause in a historical retrospective, the quiet stillness between scripted voice-overs that lets the audience reflect on the tragedy. A moment of silence for the dead.The man who created the videos is known online as The Faking Hoaxer (TFH for short), and he has a talent for creating footage that earns the rarest of compliments: It feels real.

In an age where special effects are getting cleaner and more elaborate, this one steals their thunder by slipping past our increasing skepticism with decidedly low-tech methods.

The camera mimics the rushed fumbling of amateur news footage: It zooms in, focuses, zooms out, focuses again. We see it as we've seen so much disaster footage: shaky, perspective changing, nervous and painfully immediate, before it's cleaned up and boiled down. It feels raw.



In one video, a badly damaged shuttle wing rotates slowly in orbit, partly blackened with scorch marks and punched through with jagged holes. The torn wing floats in contrast to the blue Earth in the background. Unlike the fertile oceans beneath, it's become as silent and lifeless as space itself.

In another video, crash footage of Air Force One is displayed on a live news feed, depicting the presidential airplane down in a waterway, sitting silently with massive blast holes in it. While the video pans across the plane, talking heads fill the background with informational noise that doesn't ever completely explain the situation.



The Faking Hoaxer says he imagines the scenarios and then works on them one by one, with very few tools: a Nikon D40 for the photos, a Canon HV30 for video elements, Autodesk 3D Studio Max for 3D modeling and Adobe Creative Suite 4 to put it all together.

Each video is created individually, but how long it takes depends on complexity. "It all depends how long or CGI intensive it is," TFH says. "I can create a simple UFO hoax in less than an hour, but other more cinematic videos can take a few days."

Themes typically revolve around flight: airplanes, UFOs, space shuttles and extraterrestrial exploration.

Especially with the more cinematic CGI videos, TFH says that music is a major part of how the video is crafted. "I search film soundtracks for the right piece or sometimes I hear a piece first and I create a video for it. The music I choose is because I like the style and it fits in with what I do and how I think."

He doesn't have any specific rules for the videos he creates, but he does have a rule not to create any video that is too graphic for people to watch.
"I always try to make my videos look real and not CGI, but I am starting to go more cinematic and hopefully this will lead to a short film."While he seems a perfect fit for Hollywood, TFH is currently unemployed, taking a career break to look for something new and more creative and rewarding. Although his specialty has been UFOs and disaster footage, he doesn't consider it his only talent.

"I have been doing FX for about two years now. I have always been a keen artist, and now I have moved into the 'video art' side," he told AOL News. "It's just part of what I do. It's kind of cool to see what hasn't been seen before in real life."



He's still sensitive of his work being promoted as real, even though the full video always bears his moniker and his "TFH" watermark clearly visible in the videos. In one he even made his full name visible on the wing of the space shuttle. ...

via UFO Hoaxer 'TFH' Creates Shockingly Realistic CGI Videos of UFOs and Disasters.

Nice resume. Someone should hire him.

Sam Raimi will reboot the Wizard of Oz for Disney.

It's official! There are no sacred cows left in Hollywood. Deadline Hollywood reported yesterday that Spider-Man's Sam Raimi will direct a prequel to 1939's iconic The Wizard of Oz, and that Robert Downey, Jr. will maybe/probably star. - newsweek

Sam Raimi has signed to direct Oz, the Great and Powerful for Disney, according to Deadline. The 3-D prequel to the original Wizard of Oz (it's kind of hard to write that, actually) will start with the character in his pre-wizarding days, when he's just a circus performer who suddenly gets whisked away in a hot air balloon by a tornado to the land of Oz and ... well, you can figure out the rest, right?

Raimi apparently beat out candidates like Sam Mendes, Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and even Guillermo del Toro for the job. Robert Downey Jr. has been heavily rumored to star in the film but has not confirmed his involvement yet. A source told Deadline, "They are going to develop [the movie] for him, if things go right. The script will be rewritten."

Which might not be the worst idea in the world, according to The Playlist, which got hold of a draft of the script and found it, shall we say, lacking. But with Downey facing a pretty busy year anyway, with Sherlock Holmes 2, Gravity and The Avengers all coming up, this might give Raimi a chance to give the screenplay a long, hard look and get it into better shape than it's apparently in now.

Oz is Raimi's first official project since leaving the Spider-Man franchise behind, and his involvement also throws the future of the World of Warcraft adaptation—which he was supposed to direct—into doubt. It also all but takes him out of the running to direct The Hobbit. Harry Potter director David Yates is still the front-runner for that.

The bigger question is, even if you think Raimi could do a good job, does the world want a prequel to The Wizard of Oz? Or is this Hollywood thinking at its most desperate?

via Sam Raimi will reboot the Wizard of Oz for Disney. Really. | SCI FI Wire.

Star Trek fans set to beam up to Canada

Fewer than 2,000 people live in the small prairie town of Vulcan in Alberta, Canada.

But the town sees its population swell every June as it trades on its name and its association with Vulcan, the home planet of Mr Spock in Star Trek.

Fans in costume, or wearing Spock's signature pointy ears, come from around the world for Vulcan's annual three-day Star Trek convention: the "VulCON Spock Days Galaxyfest".

Hard-core enthusiasts, or Trekkies, admire the town and its replica of the USS Enterprise. Vulcan even has a tourism centre designed to look like a spacecraft coming in to land.

"The whole community gets involved," says Cricket Courtney, who travelled from the US and dressed as a Klingon, the villains of the show, for last year's Galaxyfest.

"We went to the bakery where the baker was wearing his Spock ears. The mayor dresses up in a Star Trek uniform, people come and talk to you on the street, take your picture. I feel like you come home to Vulcan."

'Dream come true'

And in April, Mr Spock did just that: he "came home" to Vulcan. The actor Leonard Nimoy visited the small prairie town where he was greeted by hundreds of fans.

"We have welcomed him and he has a key now, and he can come home whenever he wishes," says Vulcan's mayor, Tom Grant. "It is just so great that he participated in this."

"I think Leonard Nimoy coming home to Vulcan was probably the biggest event in Vulcan's history, and it certainly is a dream come true," says Dayna Dickens, Vulcan's tourism co-ordinator.

"It has been something people have been dreaming of for years and years."

Mr Nimoy has developed a relationship with the residents of Vulcan in the last year. Thanks to his efforts, 300 residents were taken to Calgary to see a preview screening of Star Trek XI.

The town had bid to host a premiere screening, but was turned down - partly because it does not have a cinema.

When Mr Nimoy heard about the failed attempt, he called Paramount Studios and organised a private screening.

"I thought it was only appropriate, since the town of Vulcan has been so supportive of Star Trek and I thought it was about time Star Trek did something for the town of Vulcan," he said.

Dayna Dickens believes the actor's endorsement of Vulcan helped double visitor numbers to about 23,800 last year. She thinks they will rise even further because of the international attention Mr Nimoy's visit brought to the town.

Vulcan has been declared "Official Star Trek Capital of Canada" by CBS Consumer Products, which handles Star Trek series merchandise for CBS Entertainment.

Ancient history

The Star Trek connection has been a success for the community, but the town's name has nothing to do with the show.

"No, we weren't named after Mr Spock's home planet," explains Dayna.

"We were actually named Vulcan back in 1910 by a Canadian Pacific Railway surveyor who had a fascination with Roman Mythology, and of course Vulcan is the Roman god of fire in the forge.

"And when he was laying rails in the area he thought that would be a fun name for this community."

She added: "Fifty-six years later, when Star Trek hit the airwaves, our local sports team started to be teased about the size of their ears. And from there on our coincidental association with Star Trek just grew and grew." ...

via BBC News - Star Trek fans set to beam up to Canada.

That secret Abrams/Spielberg movie? It's Super 8

Contrary to previous reports, the mystery J.J. Abrams movie for which a trailer is premiering tonight with prints of Iron Man 2 is going to be that sci-fi project he's collaborating on with Steven Spielberg after all!

According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog, the movie, called Super 8, has been written and will be directed by Abrams, with Spielberg producing. It will be shot this fall on a budget of around $45 million to $50 million and will be released via Paramount next summer.

Hitfix broke the story about the "mystery" project earlier this week, reporting that the trailer would run in front of Iron Man 2 and that the movie was possibly linked to Cloverfield, the monster movie shot on hand-held video, which Abrams' Bad Robot company released in January 2008 after a similar campaign of secrecy.

Just a few days before, however, word came that Abrams and Spielberg would collaborate on a film that was described as Abrams' tribute to Spielberg classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws. While it was initially assumed that the two projects were separate, it's now confirmed that they are one and the same. (Abrams also discounted any connection with Cloverfiled.)

So what is Super 8 all about? Abrams is keeping the plot under wraps, but it's based on an idea about kids playing around in 1979 with Super 8 movie cameras and accidentally capturing something frightening on film. Heat Vision says the concept is based on Abrams' and Spielberg's own childhood experiences of experimenting with Super 8 gear as fledgling filmmakers.

As for what's in the 90-second teaser trailer itself, which Abrams also directed, no one's officially giving anything away. But if this report at Film Popper is true, it has to do with something being shipped aboard a train from Nevada's infamous Area 51 to a secure facility somewhere else ... and never getting there (we won't spoil it any more than that).

Alien monsters running loose on Earth, from the minds of Abrams and Spielberg? Summer 2011—which already has Thor, Transformers 3, Captain America: The First Avenger and more on the schedule—just got a whole lot more interesting!

via That secret Abrams/Spielberg movie? It's Super 8 | SCI FI Wire.