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Flying saucers and jet packs: how US Army has tried to take them beyond sci-fi

The Army often has been inspired by science fiction 鈥� and vice versa. Its Transportation Museum in Virginia displays its own take on the flying saucer and Boba Fett鈥檚 jet pack.

It was back in the 1920s that Buck Rogers, the 25th-century sci-fi comic strip hero, used his own personal rocket belt to jet around. Decades later, the inspired musings of the comics have helped drive the military to explore such technology for itself.聽

At the Army鈥檚 Transportation Museum in Fort Eustis, Va., the service displays its own take on the flying saucer, along with an 鈥渁ir car鈥� that looks remarkably like the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� land speeder used by Luke Skywalker, an elephant-size four-legged cybernetic robot that closely resembles an imperial walker, and the character Boba Fett鈥檚 jet pack.

Indeed, the Army has tried to build its own means of space-inspired futuristic travel, many times. And just as the Pentagon has been inspired by popular culture, a number of US military efforts have been used as templates by the creators of, among other endeavors, the blockbuster 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� series.

Between 1950 and 1970, artists were especially inspired by the military鈥檚 creations. Designer and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie 鈥� an Army combat veteran of the Korean War who survived a bullet wound to the head 鈥� for his part brought the concept of hovercraft, androids, and cybernetic walkers to the George Lucas films.

In real life, though, there have been some scientific hurdles that have kept the designs from coming to fruition. 鈥淢ost of the different kinds of aircraft were thoughts that were good thoughts, but the technology wasn鈥檛 there for the idea,鈥� says Mark Shanks, exhibit specialist at the museum.

They did, however, inspire new ways of thinking about what humans could make.

The goal for the Army鈥檚 version of the flying saucer, for example, was to create a craft with vertical lift that could hover beneath enemy radar and then rocket into the stratosphere at subsonic speeds.

Known as the Avrocar, the craft鈥檚 blueprint promised that it could fly more than 300 miles per hour at an altitude of 10,000 feet. But during flight tests, the craft instead reached speeds of roughly 35 m.p.h., and became unstable at altitudes of more than a few feet.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 overly successful,鈥� Mr. Shanks says. But it鈥檚 a crowd-pleaser. 鈥淓veryone comes here and asks, 鈥榃here鈥檚 the flying saucer?鈥� 鈥� The craft sat outside for 30-plus years and, given the elements, is now in pieces. 鈥淚t鈥檚 literally a boatload of money to put something like that back together.鈥�

Though it was never produced by the Army, the craft helped the military learn about the mechanics of 鈥渁ir-cushioned flight,鈥� Shanks adds. That ambition eventually led to the creation of the Marine Corps鈥� Harrier aircraft, with its jet engine that can come straight off a ship, without need for an aircraft carrier to launch it.

The service put some of what it learned into use in Vietnam, with a vehicle known as the ground effects machine (GEM) hovercraft.聽

鈥淚t was like an alternative to regular cars: You could float around on air and even go out onto the water or cross over a lake,鈥� Shanks says. Six of these hovercraft were produced; the only surviving one is at the transportation museum.

鈥淪ome of them blew up, some of them got shot up,鈥� he says. 鈥淭his is the only one that survived.鈥�

And the fate of the Army鈥檚 jet pack, like one that Boba Fett uses in 鈥淪tar Wars鈥�? It worked 鈥� but only for very short distances. 鈥淵ou can still use them at county fairs,鈥� Shanks says.

The Army envisioned using the jet packs as a way to 鈥減roject a person forward to the front lines so quickly that in mass quantities they would overwhelm the enemy.鈥�

The problem is the mixture of fuels for the jet pack will only be enough to carry a soldier and his gun for one to two minutes, depending on weight.

鈥淭hey work, but for 60 seconds, and after that you better have your feet on the ground,鈥� Shanks says.

Plus, the fuel is 鈥渉ighly volatile,鈥� he adds. 鈥淒o you want to strap that on your back? I don鈥檛.鈥�