Chapter 3

The Hafele-Keating Experiment

I particularly noted a regular practice of not re-examining the
fundamental assumptions underlying a theory once it gained
accepted status, almost no matter how incompatible some new
observation or experiment might be. And I saw powerful vested
interests in a status quo develop around certain accepted
theories.
Tom Van Flandern


Description of the Experiment

The next experiment to be discussed is the Hafele-Keating ("H-
K") experiment of 1971, which was introduced in the first
chapter. In this experiment, the location of the "at rest"
observer (i.e. "at rest" reference frame or coordinate system)
is much more significant than it was in the SLAC. This is
because the velocities of the objects in the H-K are nowhere
near the speed of light, thus unlike the SLAC, the location of
the "at rest" reference frame is very important. In fact, the
velocity of the objects in the H-K is slower than the rotation
velocity of the earth.

Hafele and Keating flew four cesium atomic clocks around the
world in commercial jet airplanes; first all 4 clocks were flown
eastbound around the world, and then they were flown westbound
around the world.

After the experiments, Hafele and Keating published two articles
in the same issue of Science. In the first article, there are
detailed predictions of the time changes in the atomic clocks
due to both kinematic (SR) and gravitational (GR) affects. It
was impossible to make these predictions until after the
experiments were completed because they had no way of knowing in
advance how fast the jet airplanes would be flying or at what
altitudes they would be flying, etc.

In the second article they have the actual data of the
experiments. In this article it was impossible to segregate the
actual time differences in the clocks between gravitational and
kinematic (i.e. velocity and direction) affects because it was
impossible to have separate clocks measuring separate
effects. Thus their predictions include a separation between
the gravitational effects and the kinematic effects, but
their actual data cannot make this separation. Here is the
predicted data, based on the actual jet airplane flight data:

Predicted Data Direction of Airplanes
Effect Eastbound Westbound
Gravitational 144 +/- 14 179 +/- 18
Kinematic -184 +/- 18 96 +/- 10
Net -40 +/- 23 275 +/- 21

The actual data is as follows: the eastbound clocks lost 59 +/-
10 nanoseconds and the westbound clocks gained 273 +/- 7
nanoseconds. The authors felt the experiment was very
successful - and it was.

Note especially that the atomic clocks in the westbound plane
actually operated at a faster rate than the stationary clock due
to kinematic effects, but that the eastbound plane operated at a
slower rate than the stationary clock due to kinematic
effects. Direction had no affect on the gravitational part of
their predictions except that the jets flying westbound must
have flown at a different average altitude (no doubt higher)
than the jets that flew eastbound. Or other factors could have
come into play, such as latitude.

Now let's elaborate on why the rotation of the earth was the
real issue behind the importance of the direction the airplanes
flew.

A drawing in an article by Hafele, which was undoubtedly sent to
the publisher before his experiments were performed in October
of 1971, clearly demonstrates what he meant by his "non-rotating
observer looking down on the North Pole from a great
distance."
[9]
This same drawing explains why direction was so
important. I will describe the same concepts using the center
of the earth as the "at rest" reference point. Actually, any
point on the elongated, imaginary axis of the earth could have
been used as the "at rest" reference point.

If a non-rotating person were sitting at the center of the earth
looking up at the stars (let us assume the earth is hollow), the
person would think he is stationary and that a stationary atomic
clock sitting on the surface of the earth was in motion. From
the North Pole the earth rotates counterclockwise. From the
center of the earth the person would be at the center of a
rotating disk (the equator would represent the edge of the
disk), and the stationary atomic clock would appear to move in a
direction defined to be "east."

For example, using "round numbers (i.e. approximations in order
to focus on concepts), suppose the earth rotated at exactly
1,000 mph on the equator. If a non-rotating person were sitting
at the center of the earth looking up at the stars, a stationary
atomic clock on the equator would appear to be traveling at
1,000 mph eastbound due to the rotation of the earth. It would
look much like a satellite.

Thus, if the westbound jet traveled at 350 mph, on the equator,
then the person at the center of the earth would see the
westbound clock moving at 650 mph eastbound. That is, the earth
would rotate the westbound jet at 1,000 mph eastbound, but the
westbound clock and jet would fly westbound at 350 mph, thus
giving a net velocity of 650 mph eastbound (1,000 mph east minus
350 mph west).

Because the clocks in the westbound plane appear to move slower
than the stationary clock (650 mph eastbound versus 1,000 mph
eastbound), relative to this observer, according to the SR, the
clocks in the westbound plane would operate at a faster rate
(i.e. faster actual time) than the stationary clock. That is
what Hafele and Keating observed.

Likewise, to a person at the center of the earth, the eastbound
plane (i.e. the clocks in the eastbound plane) would appear to
be moving at 1,350 mph (1,000 mph rotation of the earth velocity
plus 350 mph ground velocity, both eastbound). Thus, the
eastbound clocks would operate more slowly than the stationary
clock because of their faster relative velocity. This is also
what was observed.

The SR formulas were applied to 650 mph (westbound plane, the
fastest clock), 1,000 mph (stationary clock) and 1,350 mph
(eastbound plane, the slowest clock). These are my very
simplified numbers, not the actual data as shown above.

What their experiments prove is that a jet airplane's velocity
and direction have a predictable affect on "actual time" changes
recorded by atomic clocks inside of the airplanes. Planes that
fly eastbound decrease their "actual time" and planes that fly
westbound increase their "actual time," both relative to a
"stationary" atomic clock. But remember that the "stationary"
clock is also in motion relative to the center of the
earth. For now I am ignoring the factors that involve general
relativity, namely altitude.

Hafele and Keating applied the special relativity formulas to
two types of coordinate systems. The first type was the non-
rotating "at rest" coordinate system which consisted of a point
on the extended axis of the earth ("a non-rotating point high
above the North Pole"). According to Einstein, the axis of a
rotating disc should be the one and only "at rest" reference
frame of a rotating disc.
[12]
This was not in his original 1905
paper, but it came later. Thus, Hafele and Keating used a point
on the axis of the rotating earth as their "at rest" reference
frame.

The second type of coordinate system was the atomic clocks,
which were part of the experiments. Each atomic clock, even the
stationary clock, was considered to be a coordinate system that
was in motion relative to the "at rest" reference frame, or
reference point to be more accurate. In the original SR there
was only one type of coordinate system, the objects in the
experiment, and the "at rest" reference frame was any of those
objects.


Introduction to Ether and the H-K

If we consider Michelson's model of ether drag, since all of the
ether inside the ether drag is at rest, and does not rotate with
the earth, the axis of the rotating earth is at rest because it
is not in motion relative to the ether drag. In other words,
the axis of the earth is not spinning with the earth (it is the
center of a rotating disc), thus it is not in motion relative to
ether drag. Thus, the velocity of all objects relative to the
stationary ether in the ether drag has the same velocity (of
these objects) relative to the axis of the rotating
earth. Thus, the special relativity "at rest" reference frame
is effectively the same as the ether drag "at rest" reference
frame (i.e. the ether drag itself). In fact, Hafele and Keating
could have used either the PRM (Photon/Relativity Model) "at
rest" reference frame or the "bubble" of ether drag and the
velocity of the objects in their ambient ether.

If ether causes resistance to the SLAC electrons, it also caused
resistance to atoms inside of the atomic clocks. Exactly how
the ether might affect the frequency of the atomic clocks is not
known, but most likely it has to do with resistance to the
cesium atom electrons (which would be more affected by the ether
than the very heavy nucleus). The velocity of an atomic clock,
relative to the stationary ether, will have a direct affect on
how much resistance is experienced by the cesium atoms. Thus,
if the jet goes "relatively" faster in the ether drag (i.e.
faster in the ambient ether) the atoms will be affected by
additional resistance and the frequency change will cause
"actual time" to slow down. It the airplane goes "relatively"
slower in the ether drag the clocks will speed up because of
lessened resistance.

The H-K experiment is very similar to the SLAC experiment, in
the sense that ether is causing resistance to electrons, but
there are two differences. The first difference is that in the
H-K each electron is part of an atom. The second difference is
more complex and needs some explanation.

In the SLAC, the velocity of the electrons could be controlled
by human beings by simply increasing or decreasing the amount of
energy that was applied to the electromagnets. When an electron
is attached to an atom, that is not possible to do in the same
kind of way.

When an electron is attached to an atom, it is generally assumed
by scientists that the electrons in atoms move at the same
velocity at all times. Suppose an electron has resistance
applied to it. In order for this electron to maintain the same
velocity in the atom, there must be something in the atom
that detects the change in resistance and there must be some
mechanism in the atom that can physically change the energy to
the electron so that the electron can maintain a constant
velocity. The energy must be added, if resistance is increased,
or must be reduced, if resistance is reduced.

For example, let us suppose one person spins a globe. Suppose
another person pushes their hand against the globe causing
resistance to the globe's surface. In order for this globe to
continue spinning at a constant velocity the resistance must
first be detected and then another force must offset the
resistance to the globe's surface. The same thing must happen
in an atom if an electron is to spin at a fixed velocity. But
there is nothing in an atom to detect a change in resistance and
there is nothing, which we know of, that can adjust the energy
to the electron so that it will spin at the same velocity.

The only logical conclusion to draw is that when the resistance
to electrons increases or decreases, the electrons physically
slow down or speed up, respectively, and the "time" measured by
the atomic clock slows down or speeds up, respectively.

Even if an airplane were flying such that the ambient ether wind
was zero (i.e. it was flying westbound at the exact rotation
speed of the earth), ether would still be surrounding each atom
and would still be providing resistance to the electrons. In
other words, ether is always applying resistance to electrons,
even if the atoms are "at rest" relative to their ambient ether.

However, if one airplane is flying slower than another airplane,
relative their ambient ether, the slower plane (i.e. the atoms
in the slower plane) will experience less resistance due to the
ether than the faster plane. This means that its electrons will
be moving faster and its time will measure time faster. Note
that the electrons in human bodies experience resistance to
ether, thus "actual time" as measured by human beings would also
speed up and slow down, though such a change could not be
measured at the velocities of jet airplanes.

In summary, if there are three planes, and they are all moving
at different velocities, relative to their ambient ether, they
will measure time differently. The slowest plane, relative to
ambient ether, will measure the fastest time and the fastest
plane, relative to ambient ether, will measure the slowest time.

(Note: In this book I talk about electrons physically "speeding
up" and "slowing down." This is based on the model of atoms
currently in use. Should the model of atoms change, such as the
discovery of "ether drag" at the atomic level, or the discovery
of some new type of substance that surrounds each atom and
stores the energy in atoms, the concept of "speeding up" and
"slowing down" could very easily become outdated.)

(Note: I should also mention that it has been shown that all
atomic clocks on the surface of the earth experience the same
"actual time," even for atomic clocks at different
latitudes. In simplistic terms, the gravitational differences
on the surface of the earth offset the kinematic differences on
the surface of the earth due to latitude.
[18]
)

As mentioned in Chapter 1, the concept of "relative reference
frames," that every reference frame can be considered to be "at
rest," is false (i.e. it is false to claim that every reference
frame can be considered "at rest" relative to any other
reference frame). Every reference frame must be compared to its
ambient ether, which is essentially a local URF or local
ARF. Ether, of course, is not uniformly stationary throughout
the universe, thus the concept of "ambient ether" has yet to be
well understood.

In the "old SR" any two moving reference frames could
be directly compared to each other. In the ether theory, two
reference frames can only be compared to each other indirectly,
meaning each reference frame must first be compared to its
ambient ether and then it can be calculated how the two
reference frames relate to each other indirectly. It is a two
step process. First, determine how each reference frame
compares to its ambient ether, and then step two is to compare
the two reference frames indirectly to each other. Thus the
ether theory has no problems with the "clock paradox" or the
"twin paradox."

(Note: What if the ether surrounding an atom was removed
(physically or effectively) and the atom was sitting in an ether
vacuum? Would its electrons spin so fast that they would
literally fly off of the atom or would the electrons collapse
into the nucleus? This, and many other questions, is very
interesting to think about with respect to ether.)

(Note: It is also possible that it is the ether that
is causing the electrons to spin in the first place, either
directly or indirectly, by applying energy to the atom. I have
often wondered how electrons get their energy. In other words,
why is it that electrons can continuously spin around a nucleus
for billions of years? Where does their energy come from,
meaning how does an electron spin at roughly the same speed for
billions of years? The answer is certainly not inertia. It is
not likely that a nucleus contains enough energy to support its
electrons for that length of time. Something from outside of
the atom probably supplies the energy to either the nucleus or
to the electron during the lifetime of an atom. It is very
logical to think that this outside energy source is ether. This
would imply, and ponder this carefully, that the ether might be
an energy source! Alternatively, it is possible some source of
energy elsewhere in the universe is transmitting energy through
the medium of ether. It has been stated by multiple people that
in a vacuum, even the size of a coffee cup, there is an enormous
amount of energy. It is clear that Tesla tapped into that
energy source, though to what degree this is true is not clear.)


What is the Direction of the Ether Wind?

In this first example imagine you are sitting on a flatbed train
car. Suppose there is no wind and you are sitting perfectly
still. Suppose the train, and you, is facing east and that the
train is moving at 60 kmph. You will feel a 60 kmph wind in
your face. Now let us suppose the train, and you are facing
east, but the train is not moving. In what direction would the
wind have to move in order for you to have exactly the same wind
in your face? The answer, of course, is westbound. If both you
and the train are facing eastbound and are stationary, and if a
60 kmph wind is moving to the west, you will have the same
feeling on your face as if there were no wind and the train was
moving eastbound at 60 kmph.

In this second example remember that with ether drag, the earth
rotates underneath the ether in the ether drag. Let us compare
this second example to the first example. The motionless wind
in the first example is equivalent to the motionless ether in
the second example. Suppose you are facing east in both
examples. Now let us compare the moving train in the first
example to the rotating (surface of the) earth in the second
example. In other words, just as the moving train pushes you
trough the motionless air, the rotating earth is pushing us
through the motionless ether because the earth rotates
underneath the motionless ether. If you could feel the ether
wind (which you can't), and you were on the equator, you would
feel it hit your face at a 1,600 kmph clip. Therefore, in what
direction does the ether wind effectively move? Just as in the
first example, it effectively moves westbound.

Even though the ether is motionless, or almost motionless, the
rotation of the earth through this ether has the same effect as
if the earth was stationary and the ether was moving at 1,600
kmph westbound on the equator.

Now let us consider the jet airplanes in the H-K. The westbound
flights would have been flying in the same direction as the
ether wind, causing less resistance (than a stationary clock)
and would measure faster time (than a stationary
clock). Likewise, when the flights were headed eastbound, they
would have been flying into the ether wind, thus causing more
resistance and slowing time down.

Since we are assuming that the earth rotates at exactly 1,000
mph at the equator, an atomic clock on the equator would have
the equivalent of a 1,000 mph ether wind applied to it. The
westbound clock would be flying with the ether wind, thus its
speed relative to ambient ether would be 650 mph (1,000 mph
minus 350 mph since both the wind and plane are moving in the
same direction). The eastbound clock would be flying into the
ether wind, thus its speed relative to ambient ether would be
1,350 (1,000 mph plus 350 mph because they are moving in
opposite directions). These are the same simplified numbers we
calculated above.

Thus the ether theory makes exactly the same predictions as the
SR as to whether the clocks speed up or slow down relative to a
stationary clock, and by how much. This should not come as a
surprise because both the H-K "at rest" reference frame and the
ether drag reference frame generate exactly the same coordinate
system.

Assuming the ether drag theory, the H-K proves the existence of
the ether wind and it proves that the earth rotates underneath
the ether drag as stated by Michelson!