Reading Room

TO MEMORANDUM OF 7 NOVEMBER 1954

SUBJECT: Schedule of Bench Trial Results, 1 June – 31 October 1954

The schedule of bench trials set forth below is furnished in supplement to the memorandum of 7 November 1954 and is to be treated in accordance with the security provisions governing the program. This Annex is forwarded under separate cover and is not to be associated with the principal memorandum in any file of a classification lower than . The schedule is complete as of the conclusion of the preliminary phase. The complete instrumental record, including the photographic plates and the calibration logs, is retained at the facility and is available to cleared personnel of the Division upon request.

The trials are numbered in the sequence of their conduct. The temporal displacement reported in each instance is the figure derived by the technical group from the instrumental record and is, in the present state of the calibration, subject to a margin of error which Dr. estimates at no greater than three per centum of the figure reported. The duration of displacement, that is to say the interval between the initiation of the displacement and the recovery of the test article, was in each instance approximately four seconds as measured at the apparatus, irrespective of the temporal magnitude of the displacement.

Trial One, conducted 14 June 1954, employed a test article consisting of a steel sphere of one inch diameter, machined to tolerance at the facility. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of eighteen hours in the rearward direction. The article was recovered in apparent good order at a position displaced approximately four inches from the point of initiation in the lateral direction. No alteration of the article was detected upon subsequent examination. The trial was considered a successful demonstration of the operability of the apparatus following reconstruction.

Trial Two, conducted 22 June 1954, employed an identical test article. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of seven days in the rearward direction. The article was recovered in apparent good order at a position displaced approximately eleven inches from the point of initiation. No alteration of the article was detected. The lateral displacement observed in this and in the preceding trial was at the time imperfectly understood and was the subject of considerable discussion within the technical group; it has since been characterized as the positional drift referred to in the principal memorandum.

Trial Three, conducted 6 July 1954, employed a test article consisting of a ceramic disk of two inches diameter. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of thirty days in the rearward direction. The article was recovered in apparent good order at a position displaced approximately fourteen inches from the point of initiation. No alteration of the article was detected.

Trial Four, conducted 19 July 1954, employed a composite test article consisting of a steel sphere as in Trials One and Two and a fragment of seasoned oak of approximately equal volume, the two articles being placed in proximity within the displacement field. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of ninety days in the rearward direction. Both articles were recovered, displaced approximately sixteen inches from the point of initiation. The steel sphere was found to be unaltered. The oak fragment was found to be substantially desiccated and to exhibit a discoloration consistent with prolonged exposure to dry heat, and the mass of the fragment as measured upon recovery was reduced from the pre-trial figure by approximately eleven per centum. This was the first observation of the phenomenon characterized in the principal memorandum as the deterioration of organic materials placed within the displacement field.

Trial Five, conducted 3 August 1954, was designed to confirm the observation of Trial Four. The test article consisted of a fragment of seasoned oak of dimensions identical to that employed in Trial Four. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of ninety days in the rearward direction. The article was recovered, displaced approximately fifteen inches from the point of initiation, and was found upon examination to exhibit deterioration substantially similar to that observed in Trial Four, with a reduction in mass of approximately ten per centum. The phenomenon was thereby confirmed as reproducible.

Trial Six, conducted 17 August 1954, employed a test article consisting of a leaf of common tobacco, freshly cut and of measured mass. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of ninety days in the rearward direction. The article was recovered, displaced approximately fifteen inches from the point of initiation, and was found to be substantially desiccated and to be reduced in mass by approximately forty-three per centum. The disproportionate deterioration observed in this trial as compared with the oak fragments of Trials Four and Five was noted by the technical group and was tentatively attributed to the higher moisture content of the fresh leaf as compared with the seasoned oak. The matter has been reserved for further investigation in a subsequent phase of the program.

Trial Seven, conducted 31 August 1954, employed a composite test article consisting of a steel sphere, a ceramic disk, and a fragment of seasoned oak, the three articles being placed in proximity within the displacement field. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of one year in the rearward direction. All three articles were recovered, displaced approximately twenty-two inches from the point of initiation. The metallic and ceramic articles were found to be unaltered. The oak fragment was found to be reduced in mass by approximately twenty-three per centum, a figure consistent with the proposition that the deterioration of organic materials is a function of the temporal magnitude of the displacement, though the technical group is not at the present time prepared to advance that proposition as established.

Trial Eight, conducted 21 September 1954, was the first trial conducted at a temporal magnitude of substantial antiquity. The test article consisted of a steel sphere of one inch diameter. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of one hundred years in the rearward direction. The article was recovered in apparent good order at a position displaced approximately thirty-eight inches from the point of initiation. The positional drift was noted by the technical group to be of a magnitude requiring particular attention in the planning of any field trial conducted at displacements of substantial antiquity, and the matter was the subject of a separate technical note furnished to the Division on 28 September.

Trial Nine, conducted 12 October 1954, employed a test article consisting of a steel sphere of three inches diameter, the increased mass being intended to afford the technical group an indication of the behavior of the apparatus when employed with articles of significant size. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of five hundred years in the rearward direction. The article was recovered, displaced approximately fifty-one inches from the point of initiation. No alteration of the article was detected. The energy consumption of the apparatus during the trial was reported by the technical group to be within the parameters predicted by Dr. and to indicate that displacement of articles of substantially greater mass would be within the capacity of the apparatus in its present configuration.

Trial Ten, conducted 26 October 1954, was the concluding trial of the preliminary phase. The test article consisted of a composite assembly designed by the technical group to approximate, on a reduced scale, the conditions of a contemplated field trial. The assembly comprised a steel hull section of approximately forty pounds mass, fitted with a quantity of instrumentation of the kind contemplated for the field trial, and was placed within the displacement field together with a quantity of seasoned timber and a small reservoir of water in a sealed container. Temporal displacement was set at a nominal value of one thousand years in the rearward direction. The assembly was recovered, displaced approximately seventy-three inches from the point of initiation. The metallic components and the instrumentation were found upon examination to be unaltered and operative. The timber was found to be reduced in mass by approximately thirty-one per centum. The water in the sealed container was found upon recovery to be reduced in volume by approximately four per centum, the deficit being attributable in the view of the technical group to leakage of vapor from the container under the conditions of the displacement, the seal of the container having been compromised by the trial. The technical group is of the opinion that the deterioration of liquids placed within the displacement field is a question requiring further investigation but that it does not, upon the present evidence, present an obstacle to the conduct of the contemplated field trial.

The technical group draws the attention of the Division to the following considerations arising from the schedule of trials set forth above. First, the positional drift is observed to increase in approximate proportion to the temporal magnitude of the displacement and is to be expected, at the displacement contemplated for the field trial, to be of a magnitude requiring particular attention in the selection of the point of initiation. Second, the deterioration of organic materials is observed to be substantial at displacements of moderate magnitude and is to be expected, at the displacement contemplated for the field trial, to be of such a magnitude as to preclude the use of personnel in the trial and to require careful consideration of the materials employed in the construction of any vessel committed to the trial. Third, no upper limit upon the temporal magnitude of the displacement has been encountered in the course of the preliminary phase, and the technical group is of the opinion that the displacement contemplated for the field trial is within the capacity of the apparatus, though it must be acknowledged that the trial will represent a substantial extrapolation from the magnitudes thus far attained.

Asst. Director, Office of Scientific Intelligence