UNITEL received a generic patent for a unique supercrystalline laser lens which they hope will bring quantum tunneling to the real Macroscopic world opening up applications in quantum computing, interstellar travel, and cellular regeneration & repair. Their problems have been as much in the theoretical side as in the materials sciences arena (where only a handful of labs are equipped to do molecular beam epitaxy on Type II semiconductor materials).

In their zeal to create, engineers do not often exhibit or practice the "purest" science. In UNITEL's case, their theories were often dismissed by "professional" physicists because of what appeared to be misused concepts. Although most of these cutting-edge physical effects are well-documented (e.g., Lamb Shift), they are rarely used in combination with one another as in the UNITEL proposals. As such the UNITEL designs still rest largely "on paper" awaiting $10MM funding to start the ~2-year construction of the 5-foot diameter, 1- molecule thick laser lens at the University of Chicago's MicroPhysics Lab (formerly operated for the US Army by Northrop-Grumman)

But some progress has been made as new experiments have validated several of UNITEL's central premises:

(1) <= the Scientific American article on "Extreme Light" which explains UNITEL's proposal to use "Chirp Pulse Amplification" of lasers to create a plasma field that will induce gravitation and possibly "fold" space

(2) <= a critical review of UNITEL's "Quantum Electromagnetic Laser Propulsion" book by physicist Ed Halerewicz, Jr. which explains the complicated process in simple terms as a 'tractor beam in reverse'. Sample excerpt: "The UNITEL craft projects a monochromatic beam of light which has a magnetic charge. This attracts the spacecraft and propels it forward. The beam is actually a 'white' laser powered by a high- energy supercounducting state, similar in nature to a Bose-Einstein condensation. The magnetic charge of the beam is then derived through the color force. It is also proposed that interstellar travel may be possible by treating spacetime as a potential well. Through an entangled electron field surrounding the spacecraft they hope to make it appear as a 'giant electron' and have it tunnel through spacetime. In short they propose a revolutionary new form of technology based upon some obscure but tested notions in physics

(3) <= a consultant physicist's simplified mathematical analysis of some core UNITEL concepts regarding monopoles, Bose-Einstein Condensates, and magnetic fields. [note: as in any mathematical derivation, assuming the math is correct the witnessed results are only as good as the assumptions made in the model. No matter how elegant the theory, the jury is still out on room-temperature superconductors, Higgs particles, and Kaluza-Klein "extra" dimensions.]

and maybe most importantly ^Å

(4) <= the 1981 Eugene, Oregon UFO incident that started it all. Excerpted from their book-in-progress, "Flying Colors" describes the event that was witnessed by thousands of citizens and police officers and started engineer Larry Maurer and physics sage Michael Miller on a decade- long quest to replicate what they feel certain was deliberately "demonstrated" for them. They don't know why it was done for them. Nor do they understand the purpose of the strange maneuvers they witnessed. While acknowledging he's heard of the other disc-shaped objects that are so predominant in UFO folklore (e.g., Lazar's "Sport Model", the Tremonton-Utah saucer, etc.), Maurer has consistently only talked about the cigar-shaped ("mothership") and orbiting teardrop-shaped craft they personally witnessed. He has never offered any opinion as to the nature of these other craft so often reported. Neither Maurer nor Miller have seen other UFOs before-or-since.

This also explains why their design concepts have been rigorously critiqued. They are essentially back-engineering from an observation-demonstration and are sorting through all known-and- postulated physics (no matter how obscure) to arrive at a model which fits what they saw perform. (Not unlike cosmological models that attempt to reconcile all astronomical discoveries with appropriate lab experiments.

Other companies have similar notions concerning laser- based "gravitational wave" propulsion systems. Check out Transdimensional Technolobies (http://www.tdimension.com) of Huntsville, AL. They sell military-oriented products and have some partnerships with NASA. One of their research projects is an "Asymmetric Gravitational Wave Propulsion System"

. UNITEL's Maurer contacted them to see if they would be interested in adapting their technologies for use in a "hover mode" in the UNITEL craft. But he was adamant that UNITEL's revolutionary RF-activated superlattice laser was a quantum leap up over any others including Transdimensional's dye-based laser, and the UNITEL laser would be used for all sub-lightspeed and hyperspatial travel

Additional UNITEL-related documents/e-mails/magazine articles are stored at along with Word-versions of UNITEL's previous website (while it's being reconstructed)