Only the Vampire Priests understand the Blood Moon Prophecy: “A drop of His blood fills the cup and brings the Blood Moon Dawn.”
The Hole Inside the Earth is a multi-genre tale, spanning from the ancient past to the far future, whose genre strands gradually converge into an epic battle to save Earth.
“Lots of cool action and drew me well in.” – AHF Magazine.
I have been reading The Hunt for Zero Point by Nick Cook and I am more convinced than ever that The Skunk Works have used technology from the Nazi secret project Die Glocke (The Bell) during WWII to power the new project Aurora spy plane.
Another view of the possible SR-91 Aurora (Astra)
Read more about my views on German technology in an interview I did on the Alternative History Fiction website.
The extraordinary Die Glocke is reputed to have used anti-gravity technology, though it is likely to have caused many deaths, directly, and indirectly when the SS murdered all the scientists working on the project.
December Radio cover
If you are interested in secret aviation technology, you might like one of my Wartime aviation novels.
Screaming Angels explores the causes of the MiG-15s superiority at the beginning of the Korean War and includes a chapter about the De Havilland Mosquito.
Attack Hitler’s Bunker! is about a raid using composite Hawker Hurricane and Short Stirling aircraft in a daring raid on Hitler’s Bunker in Berlin.
December Radio is about secret German technology during WW2 and features detail on Eugen Sanger’s Orbital Bomber, sometimes called the Amerika Bomber, which could skip along the Earth’s atmosphere to reach New York and reach Japan, making it the forerunner of the American Space Shuttle.
Explore these books under the main menu item Wartime (Aviation) Series.
Or read about Die Glocke (the Nazi Bell) which used the prototype technology for Project Aurora, in my subscription novel Rip.
1st Place, with 6 votes: Focke-Achgelis_Fa_223 – A dual rotor helicopter
When Otto Skorzeny was planning his raid to abduct captured Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from the Albert Rifugio hotel on the Gran Sasso in September 1943, his original choice of aircraft was a Fa 223.[14] The Fa 223 would be able to land directly in front of the hotel.[14] However, the chosen aircraft broke down while en route, and Skorzeny instead was forced to use a Fieseler Fi-156.[14]
The Drache could transport cargo loads of over 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) at cruising speeds of 121 km/h (75 mph) and altitudes approaching 2,440 m (8,010 ft)
The Silverbird Orbital Bomber
2nd Place, with 5 votes, Silverbird
The design was a significant one, as it incorporated new rocket technology, and the principle of the lifting body, foreshadowing future development of winged spacecraft such as the X-20 Dyna-Soar of the 1960s and the Space Shuttle of the 1970s. In the end, it was considered too complex and expensive to produce. The design never went beyond mock up test.
The Silbervogel was intended to fly long distances in a series of short hops. The aircraft was to have begun its mission propelled along a 3 km (2 mi) long rail track by a large rocket-powered sled to about 800 km/h (500 mph). Once airborne, it was to fire its own rocket engine and continue to climb to an altitude of 145 km (90 mi), at which point it would be travelling at some 5,000 km/h (3,100 mph). It would then gradually descend into the stratosphere, where the increasing air density would generate lift against the flat underside of the aircraft, eventually causing it to “bounce” and gain altitude again, where this pattern would be repeated. Because of aerodynamic drag, each bounce would be shallower than the preceding one, but it was still calculated that the Silbervogel would be able to cross the Atlantic, deliver a 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) bomb to the continental United States, and then continue its flight to a landing site somewhere in the Empire of Japan–held Pacific, a total journey of 19,000 to 24,000 km (12,000 to 15,000 mi).
An alleged photograph of the inner workings of Die Glocke from Igor Witkowsk’s book.
In 3rd Place, with 4 Votes, Die Glocke
Die Glocke is described as being a device “made out of a hard, heavy metal” approximately 2.7 metres (9 ft) wide and 3.7 to 4.6 metres (12 to 15 ft) high, having a shape similar to that of a large bell. According to an interview of Witkowski by Cook, this device ostensibly contained two counter-rotating cylinders which would be “filled with a mercury-like substance, violet in color”. This metallic liquid was code-named “Xerum 525” and was “stored in a tall thin thermos flask a meter high encased in lead”. Additional substances said to be employed in the experiments, referred to as Leichtmetall (light metal), “included thorium and beryllium peroxides”. Witkowski describes Die Glocke, when activated, as having an effect zone extending out 150 to 200 meters. Within the zone, crystals would form in animal tissue, blood would gel & separate while plants would decompose into a grease like substance. Witkowski also said that five of the seven original scientists working on the project died in the course of the tests. Based upon certain external indications, Witkowski states that the ruins of a concrete framework—aesthetically dubbed “The Henge”—in the vicinity of the Wenceslas mine (50°37′43″N 16°29′40″E) may have once served as a test rig for an experiment in “anti-gravity propulsion” generated with Die Glocke. However, the derelict structure itself has also been interpreted to resemble the remains of a conventional industrial cooling tower.
Maybe you don’at agree with the result? Discuss!
You will be able to read more about Die Glocke in a subscription publication I am planning for 2016. Join my Newsletter to keep up to date.
Christmas build-up this year is getting far too frenzied for my liking, rabid, venal. I have seen a set of adverts during a programme which show you all the amazing, mega-fatty food you can buy at Christmas and inserted between them is an advert showing you how you can avoid indigestion! Will companies stop at nothing to flog us their wares for Christmas? Oh well, at least it’s still magical for kids.
For us oldies, let’s take a break from it. I know War is not to be glorified and I don’t, but it’s still interesting to remember some of the ingenious devices invented during the conflict, some of which we are still benefiting from now, in peacetime. Also, I have a new book, December Radio out in the New Year so I wanted to get the theme of WWII up and running before the Christmas Turkey gobbles up all other thoughts. And while we are voting, let’s remember that in December 1944, most allied soldiers still hoped the war would be over before Christmas. Let’s remember how they suffered in freezing conditions to give us the freedom to celebrate Christmas as we pleased (but not by spending more than we could afford and getting stressed about it!)
Here are my top 10 devices (in no particular order). Please comment (or tweet me @Lazlo_F or FB me at facebook.com/lazloferran) to add your own nominations before Thursday 10 December. I will add them and then we vote!
Die Glocke – German project to build an anti-gravity craft in the shape of a bell
Krummlauf – an insane German device for shooting round corners
Silverbird – an orbital bomber, precursor to the Space Shuttle and able to ‘skip’ along the Earth’s atmosphere (in theory) to New York and on to Tokyo. Read more about it in December Radio
The Bouncing Bomb – Designed by Barnes Wallis to be used by 617 Squadron to successfully attack the Rhein dams
The Horten flying Wing – only one remains – locked away in an American hangar
Focke-Wulf Triebflügel – A Vertical Take off and Landing aircraft. Despite what this article says, I have seen grainy photos of one finished and which I believe flew twice, killing its pilot.
Fritz X – the first guided missile (by radio), designed in Germany
The TDR-1 Assault Drone – this amazing USA device was not only a guided bomb but it could also be carried by a gliding drone, as in this grainy photograph. More info half way down the page here: http://www.tfcbooks.com/special/missiles.htm Its bigger brother used a B-17 or B-24 bomber guided using television
The Nazi Nuclear Bomb – that might have worked. It used an ingenious method to create fission according to this source (unverified). Read more about it in December Radio
December Radio cover
And if you are wondering what December Radio will look like, here is a preview of the cover.
