Man in the Electric Universe
Wal Thornhill, in his talk “The Long Path to Understanding Gravity,” offered a critique of the conventional understanding of gravity and provided a possible alternative theory based on the Electric Universe.
First the Critique:
Thornhill’s first began to questioning Newton’s laws in light of Velikovsky’s Worlds in Collision. This book suggested that planetary movements were inconsistent with established gravitational theory. (This is indeed the case, there is no correspondence for example, between the mass of the planets and their orbits. The data recently gathered on exoplanets reinforces this.)
The mathematical formulae that are sometimes quoted are merely convenient descriptions of reality. They are not deductive of some law. Additionally, the physics definition of mass (the Higgs Boson explanation) is dubious in the extreme. Einstein’s warping-of-space concept is equally doubtful, as it is essentially a mathematical manipulation which assumes that physical dimensions are somehow mutable.
Thornhill noted that the gravitational constant ‘G’ is the worst-defined constant in physics, with measurements showing variation even with the same equipment. He argues that ‘G’ measured on Earth should not be applied universally. Its application leads to invalid mass calculations for celestial bodies and misinterpretations of their densities (e.g., Comet 67P, Saturn, the Sun’s core composition).
He draws attention to the following:
- Anomalies and “Missing Forces”: He points to several observational anomalies that call Newtonian gravity into question:
- Impossibly huge creatures in the fossil record (like the Ultrasaur) that would be crushed by Earth’s current gravity.
- Anomalies in spacecraft flybys.
- “Non-gravitational forces” observed in comets.
- Reports of “5th” and “6th” forces from gravity measurements in deep mine shafts and up towers, suggesting deviations from Newton’s law.
- The puzzling fact that the Sun pulls on the Moon twice as strongly as the Earth during a new moon, yet the Moon remains in orbit around Earth.
- The Speed of Gravity: Newton’s law of gravity implies instantaneous action, a point always “glossed-over” by mainstream physics. Thornhill cites calculations by Ralph Sansbury and Tom van Flandern suggesting the speed of gravity (or information transfer for gravitational effects) is phenomenally faster than the speed of light, effectively instantaneous on cosmic scales. This makes Einstein’s postulate of the speed of light as the maximum speed for information transfer incorrect and leads to an “unworkable universe” where components wouldn’t know what others are doing in real time.
- Einstein’s Special Relativity: Based on the near-infinite speed of information exchange, Thornhill concludes that Einstein’s special theory of relativity is “discounted immediately,” and that time is universal, independent of clocks, which are merely physical devices affected by their environment.
Then, The Electric Universe Alternative:
Thornhill, following Michael Faraday’s intuition, posits that gravity has an electrical nature. He suggests that mass itself can be understood electrically. He draws a parallel between the inverse-square law of gravity and the electric force (Coulomb’s Law) as we did in the previous article on gravity, noting their similar mathematical form.
He defines energy as “charged matter in motion, relative to the charged matter in the rest of the universe.” The mass of a particle is thus a measure of how much energy is absorbed internally and its deformation. Gravity arises from the alignment of sub-atomic dipoles within matter. In a gravitational field (like on Earth), the heavier atomic nucleus is pulled slightly more than the orbiting electrons, creating a tiny electric dipole within each atom. The sum of all these infinitesimally weak, aligned dipoles produces the “profoundly weak force of gravity.”
He argues that gravity, like a bar magnet, has two poles. Since we live on the surface of Earth, we only experience the attractive pole. However, inside large bodies, the inner poles of these dipoles would face each other, creating a repulsive effect—a kind of “antigravity” inside. This would explain anomalies in deep mine shaft gravity measurements. He further suggests that all stars and planets in the universe actually repel each other with an inverse-square law force, and Newton’s attractive force has a limited sphere of influence.
This concept of repulsive gravity is significant, as it suggests a universe where collisions are avoided, contrasting with the “attractive gravity” model that necessitates explosions and an initial “big bang.” He cites Halton Arp’s observations of intrinsic redshifts in quasars, which led Arp to conclude the universe is fairly static, and therefore required a “pushing gravity” or Le Sage gravity to explain why objects weren’t all collapsing. Thornhill sees this as support for a repulsive component of gravity at large scales.
In the Electric Universe, planets are seen as cathodes in a solar discharge. Electrical currents (Birkeland currents) can transfer electrons between planets, changing their surface charge and, consequently, their mass and gravitational field strength. If a planet’s mass doubles due to an electrical discharge, its orbital radius would also double, causing it to move outwards. This mechanism, he suggests, provides a way for chaotic early solar systems to achieve stability by minimizing charge exchange.
Thornhill discusses Professor Eric Laithwaite’s controversial demonstrations of gyroscopes appearing to lose weight, which mainstream science dismissed as “false conclusions.” He proposes that the Electric Universe model could explain these effects, suggesting that a spinning gyroscope, due to the offset of its atomic nuclei, becomes more strongly influenced by “cosmic attractions” than by Earth’s gravity, perhaps even repelled by the Earth.
Finally, he reintroduces the concept of an “ether” (the medium through which light and electrical forces travel) which Einstein discarded without proper explanation. Thornhill argues that light requires a medium, and the ether-filled vacuum itself is a medium.
It is quite possible that he’s right.