The technical application of Alcubierre's metric could theoretically enable a spacecraft to reach super-light speed. This metric is directly inspired by the wormhole model devised by Albert Einstein and Nathan Rosen. Consistent with Einstein's general relativity, Alcubierre's metric would consist in creating a wave-like deformation of space-time, contracting it in one direction and expanding it in the opposite direction. A vessel placed at the centre would be immobile inside a 'bubble', named by Dr. Miguel Alcubierre as a 'warp bubble in flat space'. This would then move thanks to the "wave". The ship could then move faster than light for an observer on the outside. Alcubierre's metric therefore does not contradict the theory of relativity, according to which nothing can exceed the speed of light.
However, a considerable amount of energy would be needed to generate and maintain such a space-time bubble. It could be based on the use of a negative energy field and would require around 1028 joules, equivalent to the fusion energy of 100 suns, according to the article published in the scientific journal Classical and Quantum Gravity. This field should be made up of exotic materials, such as dark matter, as explained in the definition of the Alcubierre metric.
To solve this problem, the American physicist Harold G. "Sonny" White has proposed a new version of the Alcubierre metric that would require less energy.
Sonny White's theories
In 2011, during his years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Harold G. "Sonny" White stated that the amount of energy required could be considerably reduced if we used a ring or torus instead of a bubble. His publication Warp Field Mechanics 101 explains his theory.
In 2013, at SpaceVision 2013, he revealed a concept for a supraluminal spacecraft (IXS Enterprise), designed with the aim of achieving travel based on the Alcubierre metric.
In 2021, shortly after leaving NASA, Sonny White and his team from the Limitless Space Institute funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) accidentally discovered the world's first warp bubble, as explained by The Debrief. This first discovery of its kind provides a starting point for the manufacture of a full-scale spacecraft capable of warp propulsion. Dr. White told The Debrief in an interview that their detailed numerical analysis of their custom Casimir cavities identifies the factors that would enable a true warp bubble to appear on a nanoscale.
The possible relationship between UAP and the Alcubierre metric
The speeds and movements exhibited by some UAP can be explained in part by the Alcubierre metric.
On 7 September 2006, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in the United States, United Airlines employees observed an almost perfect hole in the sky. The imprint had apparently been left by a UAP a few moments earlier. Several witnesses witnessed the scene, but the controllers and radars did not detect its presence.
The newspaper The Debrief published an article on 2 May 2023 which suggests that physics may provide some clues. According to a group of more than 30 physicists, the descriptions given by the witnesses suggest an advanced form of space-time distortion propulsion.
Dr. Alexey Bobrick told The Debrief in the same article that a saucer-shaped craft topped with a dome (as described by the witnesses) would be an ideal configuration for many known models of space-time warp drive because it could reduce the need for energy.
What's more, the phenomenon would have accelerated from zero speed to 1000–2000 kilometers per hour, almost instantaneously. The absence of any signal, which would normally have been detected by radar, could be explained by the presence of a distortion bubble deflecting the signal away from the phenomenon. According to the paper introducing physical warp drives by Alexey Bobrick and Gianni Martire in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity, the Alcubierre metric could also explain the hole in the cloud:
"When the bubble crosses a given medium, the particles in front of it move with the craft for a certain amount of time, creating a hole due to the time lag between the particles at rest crossing the width of the bubble and the time needed for the bubble to move through the cloud".
In ufology literature, there are also suggestions of a relationship between UFOs and the Alcubierre metric, notably in Jean-Claude Bourret and Patrick Marquet's book "UFOs travel in time". According to the authors:
"The network charged in the hull will allow the craft to evolve in antigravity mode, which seems to have been observed by the witnesses."
However, this is not the only way to explain the phenomena described by certain individuals and organizations.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), which has a Committee on Integration and Awareness of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (AIAAUAP), mentions in an article that a force field around a UAP would allow it to move in water without undergoing significant pressure changes or cavitation, and in air without generating shock waves, sonic booms or aerodynamic heating.
Alcubierre's metric, and the various models and theories derived from it, are far from having revealed all their secrets. The prospect of a warp drive capable of opening the doors of the cosmos to us at reasonable distances/times still seems a long way off. However, theoretical advances and their applications could explain some of the displacements and speeds of these unexplained phenomena. Other theories could emerge, thanks in particular to advances in our understanding of quantum physics.
