Lester Hendershot

Lester Jennings Hendershot (June 3, 1898 - April 19, 1961) was an American inventor who drew press attention for his fuelless motor during the late 1920s.

Reading

 * "The fuel-less motor, which is by most persons considered a dream, or a swindle, associates most with the name of John Worrell Keely, though there have been other experimenters, or impostors, or magicians. The earliest fuel-less motor 'crank' of whom I have record is John Murray Spear, back in the period of 1855, though of course various 'cranks' of all ages can be linked with this swindle, dream, or most practical project. The latest, at this writing, is a young man, Lester J. Hendershot, of Pittsburgh, Pa. I take data from the New York Herald Tribune, Feb. 27-March 10, 1928. It was Henderson's statement that he had invented a motor that operated by deriving force from 'this earth's magnetic field.' Nobody knows what that means. But Hendershot was backed by Major Thomas Lanphier, U. S. Army, commandant of Selfridge Field, Detroit. It was said that at tests of Selfridge Field, a model of the 'miracle motor' had invisibly generated power enough to light two 110-volt lamps, and that another had run a small sewing machine. Major Lanphier stated that he had helped to make one of these models, which were of simple construction, and that he was sure that there was nothing fraudulent about it. This espousal by Major Lanphier array, considering that to orthodox scientists it was the equivalence of belief in miracles, seem extraordinary: but it seems to me that the attacks that were made upon Hendershot were more extraordinary--or significant. It would seem that, if a simple, little contrivance, weighing less than ten pounds, were a fraud, the mechanics of Selfridge Field, or anywhere else, could determine that in about a minute, especially if they had themselves made it, under directions. If the thing were a fraud, it would seem that it would have to be obviously a fraud. Who'd bother? But Dr. Frederick Hochstetter, head of the Hochstetter Research Laboratory, of Pittsburgh, went to New York about it. He hired a lecture room, or a 'salon,' of a New York hotel, telling reporters that he had come to expose a fraud, which would be capable of destroying faith in science for 1,000 years. If so, even to me this would not be desirable. I should like to see faith in science destroyed for 20 years, and then be restored for a while, and then be knocked flat again, and then revive--and so on, in a healthy alternation. Dr. Hochstetter exhibited models of the motor. They couldn't generate the light of a 1-volt firefly. They couldn't stitch a fairy's breeches. Dr. Hochstetter lectured upon what he called a fraud. But the motive for all this? Dr. Hochstetter explained that his only motive was that 'pure science might shine forth untarnished.' It was traveling far, and going to trouble and expense to maintain the shine of a purity, the polish of which was threatened by no more than a youngster, of whom most of the world had never heard before. What I pick up is that there must have been an alarm that was no ordinary alarm, somewhere. I pick up that at tests, in Detroit, in Hendershot's presence, his motors worked; that, in New York, not in his presence, his motors did not work.  Then came the denouement, by which most stories of exposed impostors end up, or are said to end up. Said Dr. Hochstetter--dramatically, I suppose, inasmuch as he was much worked up over all this--he had discovered that concealed in one of the motors was a carbon pencil battery.  Just about so, in the literature of Taboo, end almost all stories of doings that are 'alarming.' There is no chance for a come-back from the 'exposed impostor.' He is shown as sneaking off-stage, in confusion and defeat. But some readers are having a glimmer of what I mean by taking so much material from the newspapers. They get statements from 'exposed impostors.' They ridicule and belittle, and publish much that is one-sided, but they do give the chance for the come-back.  Came back Hendershot: That Dr. Hochstetter was quite right in his accusation, but only insofar as it applied to an incident of several years before. In his early experiments Hendershot, having no assurance of the good faith of visitors, had stuck into his motor various devices 'to lead them away from the real idea I was working on.' But, in the tests at Selfridge Field there had been no such 'leads,' and there had been no means of concealments in motors that mechanics employed by Major Lanphier had made.  Two weeks later, Hendershot dropped out of the newspapers. Perhaps a manufacturer of ordinary motors bought him off. But he dropped out by way of a strange story. It is strange to me, because I recall the small claims that were made for the motor--alleged power not sufficient to harm anybody-- only enough to run a sewing machine, or to light lamps with 220 volts. New York Herald Tribune, March 10, 1928--that Lester J. Hendershot, the Pittsburgh inventor of the 'miracle motor,' was a patient in the Emergency Hospital, Washington, D. C. It is said that, in the office of a patent attorney, he was demonstrating his 'fuel-less motor,' when a bolt estimated at 2,000 volts shot from it, and temporarily paralyzed him.  It was Hendershot's statement that his motor derived force from 'this earth's magnetic field.' It is probable that, if the motor was driven by his own magic, he would, even if he knew this, attribute it to something else. It is likely that spiritualistic mediums--or a few of them--have occult powers of their own: but they attribute them to spirits. Probably some stage-magicians have occult powers: but, in a traditional fear of persecutions of witchcraft, they feel that it is safer to say that the hand is quicker than the eye. 'Divine healers' and founders of religions have been careful to explain that their talents were not their own."

Press Coverage

 * "Major Thomas G. Lanphier, flight commander at Selfridge field, told The Associated Press today that experiments are being made at the field with an airplane motor operated electro-magnetically without fuel, but that nothing definite as to its practicability had been developed. The flight commander said that the motor invented by Lester J. Hendershot, a Pittsburgh electrical engineer, 'may or may not amount to anything,' depending upon future tests. Major Lanphier also was authority for the statement that Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh witnessed an experiment with the motor yesterday in a hangar at the field but he declared that Lindbergh merely was an 'interested spectator,' and had no connection with the invention. The major, who said he also witnessed the test of the motor, appeared enthusiastic over it but declined to discuss the possibility of it revolutionizing automotive power. He refused to discuss details of the motor, but William B. Stout, president of the Stout Air Service, Inc., who said he viewed the model in Pittsburgh three weeks ago, declared it draws its energy directly from electrical currents in the air or ground. Stout said the demonstration he saw was very impressive, and 'actually uncanny' and said he would like to see a large model operated."
 * "Although his 'fuelless' motor has been characterized as impractical and 'not a motor at all' but a generator, Lester J. Hendershot, of West Elizabeth, Pa., today stood by his assertion that it works. The motor, described by the twenty-nine-year-old inventor as deriving its power from the magnetic fields of the earth, was said by F. W. Hochstetter, of the Hochstetter research laboratories here, to be a 'generator and not a motor at all,' obtaining 'its electricity from a concealed carbon pencil battery.' When informed of the statement of Hochstetter, Hendershot said he had used carbon pencil cells while experimenting in an effort to take electricity from the air, but that the present motor utilized 'the magnet field set up by the earth' and no other power."
 * "An associate of Lester J. Hendershot, young inventor in a hospital here, now claims that the motor which the latter had evolved is not 'fuelless' at all. 'The nearest definition that I can give for the motor,' says J. Barr Peat, business partner of the twenty-nine-year-old inventor, 'is that it is uncanny in operation.' Reports that the motor was capable of operating without fuel he terms as 'the bunk.' Hendershot, injured last week while he was believed to have been experimenting with the contraption, is recuperating in the hospital from an electric shock. Barr also denies that Colonel Lindbergh has been approached regarding the invention and says he intends to make an announcement some time soon, at the same time answering the rebuke to backers of the motor by Porter Adams, president of the National Aeronautic association, who said it was 'regrettable' that no definite statement had been made regarding it."
 * "Hendershot insists that the principle of terrestrial magnetism is still workable &mdash; but usable for no mechanism larger than that found in an ordinary clock. He clings to the notion that the furore over his invention came, not from his own enthusiasm, but from 'the extravagant ideas of others.' 'I still maintain that the device can develop power in minute quantities. Of course, I used a small battery. That's how I got my power. A six-volt battery would agitate the magnet and develop say 25 or 30 volts &mdash; step it up, that's all I did.'"
 * "Although his 'fuelless' motor has been characterized as impractical and 'not a motor at all' but a generator, Lester J. Hendershot, of West Elizabeth, Pa., today stood by his assertion that it works. The motor, described by the twenty-nine-year-old inventor as deriving its power from the magnetic fields of the earth, was said by F. W. Hochstetter, of the Hochstetter research laboratories here, to be a 'generator and not a motor at all,' obtaining 'its electricity from a concealed carbon pencil battery.' When informed of the statement of Hochstetter, Hendershot said he had used carbon pencil cells while experimenting in an effort to take electricity from the air, but that the present motor utilized 'the magnet field set up by the earth' and no other power."
 * "An associate of Lester J. Hendershot, young inventor in a hospital here, now claims that the motor which the latter had evolved is not 'fuelless' at all. 'The nearest definition that I can give for the motor,' says J. Barr Peat, business partner of the twenty-nine-year-old inventor, 'is that it is uncanny in operation.' Reports that the motor was capable of operating without fuel he terms as 'the bunk.' Hendershot, injured last week while he was believed to have been experimenting with the contraption, is recuperating in the hospital from an electric shock. Barr also denies that Colonel Lindbergh has been approached regarding the invention and says he intends to make an announcement some time soon, at the same time answering the rebuke to backers of the motor by Porter Adams, president of the National Aeronautic association, who said it was 'regrettable' that no definite statement had been made regarding it."
 * "Hendershot insists that the principle of terrestrial magnetism is still workable &mdash; but usable for no mechanism larger than that found in an ordinary clock. He clings to the notion that the furore over his invention came, not from his own enthusiasm, but from 'the extravagant ideas of others.' 'I still maintain that the device can develop power in minute quantities. Of course, I used a small battery. That's how I got my power. A six-volt battery would agitate the magnet and develop say 25 or 30 volts &mdash; step it up, that's all I did.'"
 * "An associate of Lester J. Hendershot, young inventor in a hospital here, now claims that the motor which the latter had evolved is not 'fuelless' at all. 'The nearest definition that I can give for the motor,' says J. Barr Peat, business partner of the twenty-nine-year-old inventor, 'is that it is uncanny in operation.' Reports that the motor was capable of operating without fuel he terms as 'the bunk.' Hendershot, injured last week while he was believed to have been experimenting with the contraption, is recuperating in the hospital from an electric shock. Barr also denies that Colonel Lindbergh has been approached regarding the invention and says he intends to make an announcement some time soon, at the same time answering the rebuke to backers of the motor by Porter Adams, president of the National Aeronautic association, who said it was 'regrettable' that no definite statement had been made regarding it."
 * "Hendershot insists that the principle of terrestrial magnetism is still workable &mdash; but usable for no mechanism larger than that found in an ordinary clock. He clings to the notion that the furore over his invention came, not from his own enthusiasm, but from 'the extravagant ideas of others.' 'I still maintain that the device can develop power in minute quantities. Of course, I used a small battery. That's how I got my power. A six-volt battery would agitate the magnet and develop say 25 or 30 volts &mdash; step it up, that's all I did.'"