Ning Li was a Chinese-American physicist who made breakthroughs in anti-gravity research, only to vanish from public life under mysterious circumstances. Born in China in 1943, Li emigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s and obtained a position at the University of Alabama’s Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research. There, she published numerous papers outlining a theoretical model for a practical anti-gravity device. Li claimed such a device could generate an anti-gravitational field around itself, causing objects to levitate. Her work garnered much interest and speculation.
In 1999, Li started a company called AC Gravity LLC to commercialize her research. She convinced several colleagues to join her, including the chair of her university department. That year, she allegedly demonstrated her device to a reporter by levitating a bowling ball. However, no products ever came to market.
In 2001, Li’s company received a $450,000 grant from the Department of Defense to study anti-gravity technology. But curiously, Li never published any more papers after receiving the grant. In 2003, she gave her last known public presentation on her research at a science conference. A few months later, she sent colleagues an email claiming successful new experiments, then went silent.
In the following years, journalists attempting to follow up on Li’s work could not reach her. Some heard rumors she had gone to work for the Chinese government, while others speculated she was continuing anti-gravity research for the DoD in secret. But in 2021, an investigative reporter found Li’s obituary – she had passed away that year after living with declining health and dementia since a 2014 accident.
Before her accident, Li had complained that the secrecy around her work had worn her down. However, the nature of her research under the DoD remains classified to this day. Li’s story illustrates the difficulties faced by scientists working at the cutting edge of technology, where tremendous discoveries come entangled in webs of secrecy. Though Ning Li’s ultimate fate is now known, the mysteries first raised by her disappearance – what did she discover, and what became of her work? – remain unsolved.
Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning and laughing a lot while you do, you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!
Sources
Ning Li – Hunstville Business Journal
Related Episodes
Tell Us What You Think of This Content!
Don’t forget to share it with your friends!