Josef Papp (c. 1933 – April 1989) was an American engineer who was awarded U.S. patents related to the development of an engine, and also claimed to have invented a jet submarine. He was born in Tatabánya, Hungary and died in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Papp was issued several U.S. patents for these inventions, including his noble gas fuel mixture.[1]
The engine continues to be considered by many scientists as a hoax. Papp's poor physics theoretic background is demonstrated in the abstracts of the patents, which had been criticized by Richard Feynman. Supposedly — no confirmation has been found in contemporary sources and — Papp presented to an audience, including Feynman, an ill-fated demonstration in 1966, in which his engine exploded, killing one man (never identified in later accounts) and seriously injuring two others.[2] Feynman is said to have written an article for "LASER, Journal of the Southern Californian Skeptics" (reproduced in text form by the Museum of Hoaxes) asserting that Papp was a fraudster and the explosion an attempt by Papp to avoid discovery, although he notes that Caltech settled with Papp out of court.[3]