A NASA engineer has made an extraordinary claim that could shake the foundations of physics as we know it. Dr. Charles Buhler, a veteran scientist with experience in the Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and Hubble Telescope programs, believes his team has uncovered a “new force” capable of generating thrust without expelling mass—something that defies the laws of physics as currently understood.

If verified, this discovery could revolutionize space travel, eliminating the need for conventional fuel and allowing spacecraft to move efficiently using only electric fields. However, skepticism remains high, as similar “impossible” propulsion concepts, such as the EmDrive, have failed under scientific scrutiny in the past.

A Discovery That Could Rewrite the Rules of Physics

The findings, first reported in 2023, come from researchers at Exodus Propulsion Technologies, a company co-founded by Buhler that has been experimenting with electrostatic-based propulsion for years. Unlike traditional rockets that burn fuel to generate thrust, Buhler’s team believes their system creates movement using asymmetrical electric fields, a mechanism that current physics does not account for.

Speaking to The Debrief, Buhler described the implications of their work: “The most important message to convey to the public is that a major discovery occurred. This discovery of a new force is fundamental in that electric fields alone can generate a sustainable force onto an object and allow center-of-mass translation of said object without expelling mass.”

If true, this could pave the way for a fuel-free propulsion system, drastically reducing the cost and complexity of long-duration space missions.

The EmDrive and the Long Search for Reactionless Propulsion

The idea of propellantless propulsion is not new. In 2001, British engineer Roger Shawyer introduced the controversial EmDrive, a device that purportedly generated thrust by bouncing microwaves inside a conical chamber. The concept violated the principle of conservation of momentum, yet some early tests seemed to detect small amounts of thrust.

NASA’s Eagleworks laboratory reported a measurable force from an EmDrive in 2016, but later studies failed to replicate the results. In 2021, researchers at Dresden University of Technology conducted a rigorous test, concluding that the EmDrive produced no measurable thrust, likely rendering the concept unworkable.

Buhler and his team acknowledge the controversial history of reactionless drives but insist that their approach is fundamentally different.

The Science Behind the “New Force”

According to Buhler, their propulsion system works by creating an imbalance in electrostatic pressure, which generates a non-zero force that moves an object forward. Their experiments reportedly produced enough thrust to counteract Earth’s gravity, a feat that no other propellantless propulsion system has accomplished.

“Essentially, what we’ve discovered is that systems that contain an asymmetry in either electrostatic pressure or some kind of electrostatic divergent field can give a system of a center of mass a non-zero force component,” Buhler explained. “So, what that basically means is that there’s some underlying physics that can essentially place force on an object should those two constraints be met.”

If confirmed, this discovery would challenge long-standing physics principles, requiring a new framework to explain how forces interact in electrostatic fields.

Skepticism and the Need for Verification

The scientific community remains deeply skeptical of any propulsion system that appears to violate Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. Without peer-reviewed studies and independent verification, most physicists will likely dismiss the claims as experimental misinterpretation.

Even Buhler acknowledges that more research is needed, saying, “It’s going to take a physicist much smarter than me to come up with all of that.” He has called for third-party testing to verify his team’s findings and determine if this “new force” is truly something unknown to science—or just another illusion.