By REID TUCKER The look of Walter Owens’ Electron-Controlled
Floating Ground Generator probably does not mesh with the mental
image one has when considering an invention that could change
the world. Appearances, however, are deceiving. Though the
88-year-old Florala, Ala., man did build the generator in his
backyard work shed, this is no mere contraption assembled to
satisfy idle curiosity or some flight of fancy out of a sci-fi
paperback. At its most basic level, the generator is designed to
attract free electrons, the negatively charged subatomic
particles, from the ambient air to a positively charged
conductive surface and then to convert the resulting static
electricity into a theoretically inexhaustible source of DC
power. This can then be converted into alternating current to
supply power for virtually any application. In effect, what
Owens has created is no less than the first gasps of the energy
revolution. “There’s never been anything like this before,”
Owens said. “This generator has the capability