The 1958 Boat Anchor that was The Avrocar...
I hesitate to even write this article because writing it gives yet one more bit of attention to an unworthy subject that remains stuck to the UFO topic like dog poo you can’t scrap off your shoe. However, it must be written about to clear the air about what this project really was and as to why this project may have been created in the first place.
Why do we keep seeing this "saucer-shaped" craft that the United States Air Force was working on in conjunction with Avro Canada Corporation in the 1950s in nearly every UFO documentary film ever created? What relevance does it really have to the UFO phenomenon (if any)? Why are we always left with the impression that it was a viable explanation for some UFO sightings?
Avrocar Project/Project 1794
These are questions that intelligent people should be asking when they see that failed project plugged into yet another UFO documentary. I have a great deal of trouble understanding why no one has bothered to ask those questions or point out the failure of documentary creators to properly frame what this project actually means to the UFO topic. It is a subject that needs serious scrutiny. Read on to find out why.
First, let’s cover a little background on the project and get familiar with it:
“The Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar was a [vertical take-off & landing] (VTOL) aircraft developed by Avro Canada as part of a secret U.S. military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. The Avrocar intended to exploit the Coandă effect to provide lift and thrust from a single “turbo-rotor” blowing exhaust out of the rim of the disk-shaped aircraft. In the air, it would have resembled a flying saucer. [This is true, but in profile only. In all other respects, it did not resemble any flying saucer on record.]
Originally designed as a fighter-like aircraft capable of very high speeds and altitudes, the project was repeatedly scaled back over time and the U.S. Air Force eventually abandoned it. Development was then taken up by the U.S. Army for a tactical combat aircraft requirement, a sort of high-performance helicopter. In flight testing, the Avrocar proved to have unresolved thrust and stability problems that limited it to a degraded, low-performance flight envelope; subsequently, the project was cancelled in September 1961.
Through[out] the history of the program, the project was referred to by a number of different names. Avro referred to the efforts as Project Y, with individual vehicles known as Spade and Omega. Project Y-2 was later funded by the U.S. Air Force, who referred to it as WS-606A, Project 1794 and Project Silver Bug. When the U.S. Army joined the efforts to develop it, it took on its final name ‘Avrocar’, and the designation ‘VZ-9’, part of the U.S. Army’s VTOL projects in the VZ series.“
~Wikipedia
The main take-a-way from the Wikipedia description above is this: “In flight testing, the Avrocar proved to have unresolved thrust and stability problems that limited it to a degraded, low-performance flight envelope…” Meaning it could NOT fly more than approximately 3ft above the ground without becoming so unstable that it became uncontrollable. Nor could it fly fast. Intelligently—the project was cancelled in 1961.
Translation: In 1961, we (humanity) did not possess the technology nor the ability to reproduce the flight and performance characteristics of true UFOs —which may still be true today— as described by reliable, unimpeachable witnesses. This USAF/Avro Canada Corp. project literally never got off the ground.
No version of this project was ever able to successfully fly the craft more than a few feet off the ground. Though it could get off the ground, it was still too unstable to work even as a hover car because the entire project was eventually scrapped which indicates that the entire engineering concept was unsound.
Something that stands out to me which is never discussed when adding footage of this project, or referring to this project directly, is the problem with the noise the Avrocar generated. The noise level this machine produced was nearly equivalent to a jumbo jet during take-off. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the average sound level of a commercial jet takeoff is around 120 dBA at a distance of 200 feet from the runway. A jet aircraft taking off is one of the loudest sounds that can be heard in everyday life. To put it into perspective, a typical conversation is around 60 dB, while a lawnmower is around 90 dB. A rock concert can reach up to 120 dB, which is the same level as a jet at takeoff.
Something else that is also never mentioned is that of the problem with dust and debris generated during flight. It scatters dust and debris in every direction making it mostly useless in regions where there is not a clean solid surface to land and take off from. I have studied the UFO topic for over 50 years and report that I have never come across a description of a UFO that included noise equivalent to a jet at take off, or any description of a UFO creating a storm of debris as it passed.
There are many, many UFO documentaries that use short clips of this craft during the Avrocar Project's experimental testing phase. It is astounding that they almost never mention the utter failure of the project. The selected clips of this farce-of-a-project are mostly used as a backdrop during narration in a given documentary, but almost always without the original sound and zero disclaimers stating the project failed. Many UFO documentaries use footage of this vehicle when a narrator or spokes person is speaking about classified military projects as well. Yes, it was a classified military project, but the design was flawed, and the entire project was scrapped. Not much worth hiding if you ask me. The USAF classifying this project is nearly the same as any average person slapping a classified label on their daily garbage.In fact, there are several disclaimers that should be made concerning this project if the video footage is ever used in future UFO documentaries:
● The project failed to produce a craft that could actually fly because it became completely unstable if more than a few feet off the ground.
● The machine was nearly as noisy as a jumbo jet. (UFOs are nearly always described as silent or very, very, quiet)
● The machine produced a lot of debris during testing and very obviously caused dust and debris to be ejected from under the craft during flight. (another aspect that is not shared with UFOs)
● The project copied the profile of a UFO but not the sleek design of real UFOs as described by reliable witnesses. Most UFOs have been described as without any obvious nuts, bolts, or rivets – smooth design as if made from a single sheet of molded metal or shining so brightly so as to make details indistinguishable.
Why do we keep seeing this "saucer-shaped" craft that the United States Air Force was working on in conjunction with Avro Canada Corporation in the 1950s in nearly every UFO documentary film ever created?
Many reasons exist for this question, and I will attempt to cover the much of those. I find it disturbing that in the past, UFO documentary creators and/or producers used clips and images of this failed attempt by the USAF to mimic the look and performance of UFOs which was ultimately built with vastly inferior technology and NOT explain within the documentary that the Avrocar Project or Project 1794 was a COMPLETE failure and that it could not represent even a single UFO sighting. By not displaying any disclaimers at all, the documentary creators are actually leading the general public to believe that it is possible that UFO sighting witnesses may have just been witnessing this classified craft in the air. To leave Project 1794/Avrocar Project as an open-ended possibility for some UFO sightings is disingenuous, intellectually dishonest, and disgraceful. Not to mention, assisting the CIA and other agencies with the UFO disinformation campaign that has been attached to the topic since the beginning.
The following videos are the top 5 of this craft being tested that I could find on the internet and only (1) has the original sound and it is not the National Archives footage!
The Federal File (YouTube video)
Example #1: (The original sound of the machine is removed – Music/sound effects added) - Link
NoPlanesNoBrains (YouTube video)
Example #2: (The original sound of the machine is removed – Music added) - Link
gamellamanet (YouTube video)
Example #3: - Link
footagefarm (YouTube video)
Example #4: (The original sound of the machine is highly muted – Narration added) - Link
US National Archives (YouTube video)
Example #5 (National Archives Footage): (The original sound of the machine is removed – Narration added) - Link
The videos above refer to the Avrocar Project/Project 1794 as a 'flying saucer'. Below is a perfect example of the point I am trying to illustrate: There are even some written articles that refer to this project as a flying saucer as well! And another article here that does the same. This machine was NEVER a "flying saucer", considering that the concept was flawed from the outset!
Avrocar Project/Project 1794
The multitude of articles like this one puts on display the absolutely dishonest reporting and portrayal of what project 1794 represents. This also puts on display the fact that the mainstream media and other authoritative sources were likely already in the employ of government covert agencies, such as the CIA and NSA, working to spread disinformation in the early years of the UFO problem.
You can browse images of the actual article recovered from the internet trash bin below:
There is high probability that the true reason this project was created was to give credence to the idea that the military had this and other similar projects that did look like flying saucers in operation (actually flying though). In essence, to allow for the idea that these pesky UFOs were actually our military secret projects being tested and, in fact, this hypothesis is touted at every opportunity, ad nauseum, by the debunking and dis-info crowd even today.
Are we to believe that engineers back then were not as smart as the engineers are today? I think this is an absurdity. Wouldn’t they have known that real UFOs (that were silent and could outmaneuver any and all military jets) could not possibly be relying upon archaic technology such as this? I believe they did know. Understanding this facet of the Averocar story lends credence to the idea that the entire project was disinformation, and its sole purpose was to mislead the public into thinking that we (the U.S. Military) had secret projects that could be misidentified as UFOs.
The real truth is that project 1794 was scrapped because it was a flawed engineering concept from the outset. No follow up projects picked up the pieces of this project and carried the torch across the finish line either, which is strong confirmation that the concept was flawed and not worth pursuing, or that it was never meant to go any further than what was needed to communicate the idea that we had classified projects that could account for the UFO sightings.
If it is true that this was nothing more than a disinformation campaign designed to bend the thinking of the general public in a particular direction, it puts on display the reality that our government is absolutely willing to manufacture an entire story line complete with a backstory and all the engineering as proof (in short—a complete and total fiction) to convince us and use our tax dollars to construct that false narrative regardless of the expense. From the point of view of a UFO history buff, I wonder why our government would go to such extremes to convince the public of a false narrative. What is the truth about the UFO subject that requires it to remain hidden from the public? Could it be that the extraterrestrial hypothesis is actually true?
Avrocar Project/Project 1794
In summation, the final word on project 1794 (Project Avrocar) should be this:
The vehicle has never once been mistaken for a UFO because it was never able to fly. It was able to hover a few feet off the ground but no more than that.
The project was an utter failure because the entire concept was scrapped.
Any use of clips of the testing of this vehicle should use the original soundtrack without reduced volume and a prominent disclaimer explaining that it was a FAILED PROJECT and that it could NEVER have been mistaken for any UFO, or better yet, just stop using video clips of this failed project in UFO documentaries altogether because, at best it was just an engineering failure, and at worst it is a tool STILL being used as disinformation (making you an accomplice to keeping the disinformation alive).
If video clips of this project are used, it should be explained that it may look like a UFO in profile but not in detail because engineers failed to design the outer skin as a smooth single sheet of metal without riveting or nuts and bolts, and it never ever glowed even a little bit.
Make sure to point out the debris it throws in every direction.
In my opinion the Project Avrocar (Project 1794) should NEVER be used in UFO documentaries because it gives the false impression that we (the human race) were making machines comparable to UFOs at that time in history. That is simply false. That machine in no way compares to any UFO ever recorded. There should be zero doubt that we (humans) never saw this machine in the sky, and mistook it for a UFO. It never happened. Let’s please leave the Avrocar on the trash pile of history where it belongs.