Lou Whitten
Lou Whitten was an American physicist who, in 1955, was recruited by George Trimble of the Glenn L. Martin Company into the Research Institute for Advanced Studies (RIAS) to work on anti-gravity research. His account provides documented evidence of anti-gravity propulsion research within the corporate lineage that eventually became Lockheed Martin.
Recruitment and Anti-Gravity Research
In 1955, George Trimble, then Vice President for Aviation and Advanced Propulsion Systems at the Glenn L. Martin Company, recruited Whitten into the Research Institute for Advanced Studies (RIAS), the company's in-house advanced research organization. Whitten stated that Trimble assembled the team specifically to develop anti-gravity propulsion technology. According to Whitten — who discussed the research publicly in a 2013 interview (accessible at approximately the 1:49:22 timestamp of the linked video) — the team made tangible progress, including discovering techniques to harness anti-gravity. Several ideas were experimentally tested, among them the use of an isotope of bismuth. Whitten does not elaborate on what was conclusively achieved.
Journal evidence confirms that this anti-gravity research activity took place within the RIAS framework, providing corroboration beyond Whitten's personal testimony alone.
Corporate Lineage Significance
The Glenn L. Martin Company evolved into Martin Marietta, which merged with Lockheed Corporation in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin. Whitten's account therefore places anti-gravity research within the direct institutional ancestry of Lockheed Martin — establishing a research lineage from 1955 experiments at RIAS through later theoretical work by Bernard Haisch and Hal Puthoff at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in 1998.