Josef Papp

For the theatrical producer and director, see Joseph Papp. For the professional cyclist, see Joseph M. Papp.

Josef Papp (1933?, Tatabánya, Hungary – April 1989, Daytona Beach, Florida) was an engineer who was awarded U.S. patents related to the development of an engine, and also claimed to have invented a jet submarine.

Papp was issued several U.S. patents for these inventions, including his noble gas fuel mixture.

The engine continues to be considered by many scientists as a hoax. Papp's poor physics theoretic background is demonstrated in the abstracts of the patents, which have been criticized by Richard Feynman. Papp presented to an audience, including Feynman, an ill-fated demonstration in 1966, in which his engine exploded, killing one man and seriously injuring two others. Feynman's conclusion was that Papp was a fraudster and the explosion an attempt by Papp to avoid discovery, although he notes that Caltech settled with Papp out of court.

However, recently, Russ Gries, a private researcher who works for the company RWG Research, claims to have replicated the principles of the Papp noble gas engine with positive results.

See also

• List of hoaxes
• History of perpetual motion machines#1951 to 1980

External links

• Papp submarine page in the museum of hoaxes
• U.S. Patent 3,670,494
• U.S. Patent 3,680,431
• U.S. Patent 4,428,193

• (U.S. Patent Nos. 3,680,431, U.S. Patent 4,428,193, and U.S. Patent 3,670,494)
• R. Feynman on Papp perpetual motion engine; Originally published in LASER, Journal of the Southern Californian Skeptics
• "The Dream Machine" By David Ansley San Jose Mercury News (August 27, 1989), p. 8 -- retrieved from http://www.rexresearch.com/papp/1papp.htm#feynman : "Papp became frantic; the engine was running without any controls, he said. Feynman relented and gave up the plug. Papp put it back in the socket right away and the engine blew apart ... A Mattel engineer died"
• Russ Gries on Papp Noble gas single cylinder replication