The Curious Case of the 300 MPH Personal Jet Submarine

TL;DR

Joseph Papp claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a jet-powered submarine, but his incredible story was later debunked. He also attempted to create a revolutionary engine, but it was proven to be a perpetual motion scam.

Transcript

in the evening of august the 11th 1966 a man is found floating on a small rubber raft off the coast of brest france dressed in a pilot's flight suit and a helmet on being fished from the water the man dazed and nearly incoherent identifies himself as joseph papp a hungarian inventor living in canada asked if he was in a plane crash he says no he ba... Read More

Key Insights

• 😵 Joseph Papp's claim of crossing the Atlantic in a jet-powered submarine was debunked due to lack of evidence and contradictory accounts.
• 🎨 The concept of supercavitation used in Papp's submarine is a valid hydrodynamic principle utilized in later designs.
• ✊ Papp's engine invention was exposed as a perpetual motion scam, relying on external power rather than a revolutionary operating principle.
• 🖐️ Physicist Richard Feynman played a crucial role in debunking both the submarine and engine claims.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Joseph Papp's submarine work?

Papp's submarine utilized the principle of supercavitation, which created a bubble of water vapor around the hull to reduce drag. Small fins protruded through the bubble to provide stability and control.

Q: Why was Joseph Papp's submarine story questioned?

Papp refused to reveal the operating principle of his engine, claiming it used a novel atomic principle. However, his lack of evidence, contradictory accounts, and sightings of him boarding a flight raised doubts about his submarine journey.

Q: What was the controversy surrounding Joseph Papp's engine invention?

Papp claimed to have developed an engine running on a mixture of noble gases, lasting for six months on a single charge. However, physicist Richard Feynman exposed it as a perpetual motion scam, where the power source was simply an electric cord plugged into the wall.

Q: What happened during a public demonstration of Joseph Papp's engine?

During the demonstration, Feynman held the plug from the engine, causing Papp's contraption to explode and injure several people. Feynman concluded that the explosion was engineered by Papp to prevent closer scrutiny of his engine.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Joseph Papp, a Hungarian inventor living in Canada, claimed to have crossed the Atlantic in a homemade jet-powered submarine, but his story was questioned due to lack of evidence.

• Papp's submarine used the principle of supercavitation to reduce drag, but the engine's operating principle was never revealed, leading to skepticism about its capabilities.

• Papp later worked on a revolutionary engine that could allegedly run for months on a single charge, but it was exposed as a perpetual motion scam by physicist Richard Feynman.