Scared the public for 'a kick’

Press, 9 May 1978, Page 31

Scared the public for ' a kick’

Mr Searl says that many of the U.F.O. sightings in England in recent years have probably been his levity discs. In the early days, financed by wealthy people who “wanted a kick out of life,” he launched the craft to scare unsuspecting members of the public. Some of the earlier craft, he says, disappeared into space. Others were dismantled so that the technology would not be copied. Three of them, one 116 m and the other two 6m in diameter, “are stored under cover in Archangel, in the Ural mountains.”

Now that he is getting public support from New Zealand Mr Searl sees a lifetime’s ambition, to build and pilot the world’s first manned flying saucer, coming close to reality. Not far from his home is Blackbushe airfield, where he hopes to build a small factory and provide a base for his craft He has used about $4500 of his funds from New Zealand to leam to fly and a one-hour flight in a single-engine Cessna

over the Berkshire countryside certainly proved that he is well on his way to becoming a competent pilot.

The rest of the money, raised in New Zealand by Mrs V. M. Comer, of Orakei, has been spent, he says, on legal inquiries, research, and ex-, perimentation. The three-seater levity disc for New Zealand will be about 27m in diameter and about 7.5 m high at its centre. It will need sophisticated electronic equipment which Mr Searl believes British firms will provide free in return for information on its performance and the publicity which will be associated with the project.

Each time he was asked to provide positive proof of the existence of operational levity discs, Mr Searl appeared to be evasive.

Could he name hamradio operators in New Zealand who had helped to guide the craft? — I don’t want to do that because it would prejudice future legal operations. Did he have any films or photographs of the

craft in flight? — In the early days, many people took cine films. But they are hanging on to them, hoping to make some money out of them. As for photographs, we have hundreds but they are being stored and kept dry at the moment

Why would he not release photographs to help prove his point? — People won’t believe something until they have seen it for themselves. That being the case, it is much better to press ahead with constructing the craft as quickly as possible. Also, the law says that you should not reveal something you want to patent. A spokesman at the Ministry of Defence in London said that Mr Searl had approached the Ministry’s inventions unit with data on his levity discs. “We like to look over new inventions just in case there is something in them,” he said. “Our people regarded Mr Searl’s project as a curiosity more than anything else. “They asked him one or two questions but there is no question of the Ministry following it up.