Is Foucault’s Fraudulent Pendulum a Religious Tool?



Léon Foucault (1819-1868), after having observed the working of a lathe, reasoned that a pendulum might operate in a similar manner to show rotation between the earth and the inertial field, and thus, in his view, demonstrate the ro¬tation of the earth. He built a small apparatus in a basement in Paris to test this idea and pronounced his ‘successes’ at 2 am on Jan 8, 1851.

Following this he was invited to set up his wonder of wonders at the Paris Observatory which led to an invitation from none other than Napoleon III to build a very large exhibit in the Pantheon in Paris. Hanging from a dome 220 feet above, a huge bob swung across a 20-foot diameter ring containing wet sand, leaving a grove as it passed through. As it swung in time, it continued to cut out new ridges until it formed a curve of cuts on the ground. Truly it looked as if it was accomplishing something very specific, and aided by the claims of Foucault that this was indeed a demonstration of the earth’s rotation, the ability of this display to convince even the most sceptical was instantaneous.

Like a demon on horseback, news of Foucault’s pendulum – and its success in supposedly showing the earth moves – spread far and wide. As the devil would have it, the greater heights of cathedral roofs were deemed most suitable for hanging the wire and ball of the pendulum, so operations were set up in churches in Reims, Amiens, St Jaques, Marseille, San Petrona, Sint Bavokerk in Haarlem, St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church Kraków, and Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, for example.

Soon all sizes of pendulums began operations throughout Europe and beyond. So effective was the Foucault hoax that they placed them in many key locat¬ions to ensure most students in the world from then on would see for themselves the earth rotating. Wikipedia records the following places that exhibit working Foucault pendulums: Austria (1), Belarus (1), Belgium (4), Bulgaria (1), Czech Republic (3), Demark (3), Finland (4), France (3), Germany (16), Hungry (1), Iceland (1), Italy (7), Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (1), Moldova (1), Netherlands (2), Norway (3), Poland (6), Portugal (2), Romania (3), Russia (7), Serbia (1), Spain (9), Sweden (5), Switzerland (4), South Africa (5), United Kingdom (11), Tunisia (1), India (6), Iran (2), Israel (4), Japan (6), Pakistan (1), Thailand (1), Turkey (2), Canada (14), USA, (147), Central and South America (7), Australia (7), New Zealand (1) and Antarctica (1), over 300 in all.

[Ed. Interesting to note that France only has 3. The originating country of the Foucault Pendulum ]

That is how important this propaganda exercise is held by modern man. Indeed in September 2013 Google put up as a first search page logo a picture of a Foucault pendulum.

In a recent book on Léon Foucault and his pendulum, the author Amir Aczel records that in 1902 the Academy of Sciences of France commemorated that first demonstration of the earth’s rotation by re-enacting the display at the Panthéon in Paris, presided over by Camille Flammarion and Alphonse Berget, before a crowd of over 2000 people. Aczel then illustrates the part the Foucault pendulum has played in the heliocentric indoctrination in both Church and State over the past five centuries.

“The most magnificent lesson in popular astronomy ever given to the public was surely the memorable experiment conducted at this very place almost half a century ago by Léon Foucault. It was a practical, evident and majestic demonstration of the movement of rotation of our globe and a grammatical affirmation of the title planet, or ‘wandering star’ to the world on which we live… The image of Galileo just passed before our eyes. The demonstration of the earth’s movement has changed philosophy as a whole…

“It is the greatest moral and ethical revolution in the history of man. Foucault’s great triumph is a triumph of the human mind. It is a double victory of knowledge against ignorance.

“Foucault’s definitive proof of the rotation of the earth helped vindicate Galileo, Copernicus and Giordano Bruno. After Foucault successfully demonstration of the earth’s rotation Church scholars themselves embraced the heliocentric Copernican view of the world and openly wrote about Foucault’s proof. In 1911, the Jesuit priest J.G. Hagen wrote a major study called ‘The Rotation of the Earth: The Earth’s Mechanical Proofs Ancient and New.’” (Amir D. Aczel: Pendulum: Léon Foucault and the Triumph of Science, Washington Press, 2003, p.234 and p.238.)

Rotating stars or rotating earth?

We see then that Foucault’s pendulum has long been portrayed as the instrument that supposedly demonstrates it is a rotating earth that causes the above appearance and not the rotation of the stars around the earth. Here are a couple more quotes to show how this assertion is held throughout both Church and State.

“Ever since the time of Copernicus it had been taken for granted that the Earth is rotating on its axis. Nevertheless no one had actually demonstrated the fact. It seemed stationary, and no effect had been observed (other than the apparent spin of the sky) that could be attributed to the rotation. In 1851, however Jean Foucault suspended a large iron ball, about 2 feet in diameter and weighing 62 pounds, from a steel wire more than 200 feet long…The swinging pendulum would then remain in the same plane, but the earth, as it rotated, would change its orientation. If the pendulum had been at the North Pole, it would do a complete circle in 24 hours. At the latitude of Paris, the change would have taken 51 hours and 47 minutes. Thus the spectators were actually watching the Earth rotate under the pendulum.” (I. Asimov, Science and Discovery, Grafton Books, 1990, p.323.)

“Léon Foucault in Paris demonstrates the rotation of the Earth by means of a 200 foot pendulum.” (Dava Sobel, Galileo’s Daughter, p.391.)

pendulum in church musee des arts et metiers Paris with gyroscope in the background Screenshot from 2016-11-27 17:17:33.png

Richard G Elmendorf’s Investigation

So much for the propaganda. Now study the truth of it.

The following comes from the 20-year investigation of the Foucault pendulum by Richard G Elmendorf, completed in 1994. Elmendorf is an engineer by profession and has now to be the world’s leading expert on the subject by far. We thank him for permission to use his work in our synthesis. Mr Elmendorf’s begins with the following:

“The Foucault pendulum is one of the best-known experiments in the history of science. It created a sensation in its first public showing in Paris in 1851, and has fascinated scientists and laymen ever since.

“This article discusses the history, construction, operation, theory and meaning of the Foucault pendulum, presenting facts about it which are not generally known or understood by the millions of visitors who view these fascinating displays in science museums, schools, planetariums, observatories and other public buildings all around the world every year.

“My findings about the Foucault pendulum may very well astonish you…The surprising truth is that all Foucault pendulums are fakes. Most of them are fakes because they are forced to do what they do, rather than doing what comes naturally, and all the rest of them are fakes insofar as they are used as proof of the earth’s [supposed] rotation.

“The only kind of Foucault pendulum which would not be a fake would be one that was free-swinging, operated properly, and either had no explanations, plaques or literature associated with it, or had such which plainly acknowledged that it cannot determine absolute rotation.

“I know of no such Foucault pendulum anywhere.

“The Foucault pendulum is a piece of scientific apparatus specifically designed and built to deceive and mislead. It is literally a “humbug” – a sham, a fake, a fraud, an artifice, a pretence, a hoax – and I believe it should be exposed as such. 

It’s a Religion

ball earth hands religion Screenshot from 2016-11-27 17:19:16.png

“But the Foucault pendulum is more than a hoax. It is actually a religious propaganda tool. Foucault pendulum displays have something very serious and important to prove.” (R.G. Elmendorf: A Critical Investigation of the Foucault Pendulum, published by P.C.S., PO Box 267 Bairdford, PA 15006, USA, Introduction.)

“The first hint of occult association with the Foucault pendulum can be gleaned when we know that Napoleon III, then president of France, a nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, an implacable foe of the Roman Catholic Church, a wannabe scientist, agreed with Foucault to install his grand exhibit of the Foucault pendulum in the Panthéon in Paris. The word ‘panthéon’ refers to a temple dedicated to ‘all the gods’. This building, constructed originally as the Church of St Genevieve and taken over by the smaller revolution of 1848, was just perfect to mock the geocentricism of common sense, Scripture and the Catholic Church’s declarations of 1616 and 1633.

Thereafter, President Napoleon III encouraged the use of other Churches as display sites for the contraption, exhibitions that must have generated howls of laughter in the pits of hell where the Copernican revolution was first dreamed up. For those of us still conscious of the great battle between the Christian faith and those that despise it, the war of Principalities and Powers, this was indeed a great victory for the occult forces of freemasonry.”

“A final irony of the intriguing connection between the Foucault pendulum and religion is that many of the early scientific reports on the pendulum presented to the London Philosophical Society in England were authored by “Reverend” so-and-so, reflecting the fact that science started out originally as “natural philosophy” taught in religious schools. The word ‘science’ wasn’t even in common use until the middle of the nineteenth century – just when the Foucault pendulum appeared on the scene.” (Elmendorf, Foucault Pendulum, Pittsburgh Creation Society,  p.26.)

Elmendorf says:

“Umberto Eco’s novel Foucault pendulum is full of esoteric medieval plots and the abstruse meanings and symbolisms of secret societies, which climax dramatically in the Musee National des Techniques, in Paris, where the original Foucault pendulum bob used in the 1851 Pantheon exhibit is displayed and the complete 1855 pendulum operates today . . .

“. . . the darkened, altar-like settings of many Foucault pendulum displays, and the procedures, traditions and trappings associated with them giving a strong impression of a religious aspect to the device. The bob, swinging slowly and eerily back and forth, incites thoughtful wonder if not reverential awe in anyone who sees a Foucault pendulum for the first time. You might expect the operator to come dressed in priestly robes and chanting incantations as he sets up the pins, adjusts the dials of the hidden mechanisms and burns the thread to start the pendulum swinging. Indeed, the Foucault pendulum does promulgate a religious message, as we have seen, and its purpose is to make a connection with a sort of ‘hidden force,’ much as a new-age channeler would claim to do.

“Pendulums have figured in occult activities and ceremonies for thousands of years. Sometimes termed ‘radiesthesic tools,’ they are used in various forms of divination. Pendulums claiming to be ‘antennas to a higher power’ are sold through supermarket tabloids. Pendulums are inherently mesmerising devices, and are widely used in hypnotism. Hidden mechanisms are a staple of occult ceremonies. The use of fire is common.

“[The pendulum] is a useful device in literature and drama. Edgar Allen Poe utilized a pendulum in his horrible tale of torture at the hands of the Inquisition, ‘The Pit and the Pendulum.’ A swinging (and falling) chandelier is involved in the climax of ‘The phantom of the Opera.’ Another sign of the occult of Foucault pendulums is the secrecy surrounding their actual operation, and the seeming reluctance of experimenters to give complete performance figures and lay their difficulties out on the table.

“I think there is more to this than technical pride, because it is characteristic of most reports published on the Foucault pendulums, starting with Foucault’s original experiments …”

[Footnote: An article in The Physics Teache Sept 1981 describing a short Foucault pendulum for corridor display in a school made the following remarkable statement: ‘The complete pendulum unit can be seen inside the enclosure, but the wire suspension device and electromagnetic drive mechanism are intentionally hidden from the observer.’]

“There are a lot of strange things about the Foucault pendulum, and it does seem that there is some kind of an occult connection involved somewhere, even if I haven’t put my finger on it. The thing is loaded with philosophical and religious aspects in the guise of physics, and these are exploited to the greatest possible extent in all major displays.” (Elmendorf, pp.27-28)

How it is Supposed to Work

A Foucault pendulum is constructed with its bob free to swing in any direction. Under the bob is placed a ‘base plate,’ with precision markings like the face of a 24-hour clock. It begins its sway as any normal pendulum does, i.e., to and fro in a straight line. Soon however, the bob begins to turn, all the time cutting grooves in the clay at its base. Most textbooks, technical articles, plaques, and other accounts give an explanation of its operation similar to this one below.

“For simplicity, let us consider such a pendulum swinging at one of the poles. At other latitudes it will have a more complicated motion, but the principle is the same. Since the pendulum is swinging from a universal joint, the plane of its motion will remain fixed in absolute space, while the earth rotates underneath.” (D.W. Sciama, The Unity of the Universe, doubleday, 1959, p.112.)

In answer to this assertion Elmendorf replies:

“The plane of a Foucault pen¬dulum cannot possibly remain “fixed in space,” as these texts say, at least not anywhere except at the poles and when swinging east-west at the equator. Think about it. If it did, the pendulum would soon be crashing through the wall of the museum, and if it kept on swinging, it would return to its starting position every 24 hours regardless of its location, neither of which actually occurs.”

But the fact is, according to Elmendorf’s thorough research, the Foucault pendulums seldom achieve turning rates closer than 15 percent to the theoretical. Compared to a sundial their daily movements are a joke, swinging in erratic directions proving that it is not an instrument controlled solely by the supposed steady rotation of the earth underneath it, but that the sensitive bob is moved by other unknown inertial influences.

Because of the enormous difficulties in actually getting a Foucault pen¬dulum to work properly, nearly all of them are rigged to do what they are supposed to do naturally. The theory is there, the instrument is there, the earth is supposedly rotating, but the damn things just do not oblige as predicted. Instead they show mysterious perturbations and erratic motions that cause the turning rate to vary from those expected. 150 years of investigation still cannot explain why this should be so and perhaps never will.

The first short cut to a successful hoax was to use various ingenious ways to drive the pendulum arm to do the right thing and yet be able to disclaim it affects the turning rate of the pendulum. Elmendorf refutes this disclaimer in his study. The second operation that is essential to all sham Foucault pendulums is to damp them. In order to keep it in a straight line the motion of the pendulum is ‘damped’ at just the right point in the swing. On this rigging Elmendorf says:

“Whenever damping is present, deliberate or not, sophisticated or not, hidden or not, the natural motion of the pend¬ulum, including the Foucault turning itself, has been altered, and is no longer an honest Foucault pendulum.”

The third operation necessary to have any hope of even the pretence of proper functioning is tuning. The object of many little adjustments and man¬ipulation of the controls is to achieve a ‘clear and convincing exhibit for your consumption.’ Again Elmendorf provides many technical details of such tuning adding “the proof of the pudding is in the turning, and the proof of the fudging is in the fooling with the settings and controls to get the right turning rate. Not too fast, not too slow, but just right, that’s the name of the game in the world of Foucault pendulums.”

However, so erratic are the things that soon another tuning is necessary; then another, the settings readjusted and the dials reset to demonstrate for all to see that the earth rotates. “And that’s what the Foucault pend¬ulum is in most cases – a demonstrator and not a scientific instrument at all. The bottom line is that almost all Foucault pendulums are not what they pretend to be. They are faking it.”

Do Some Work?

Richard Elmendorf says ‘almost’ for there are ‘pure,’ un-driven Foucault pendulums to be found which will exhibit a turning, although always erratic. One such pendulum is in the University of Colorado in Boulder Co. USA. Dur¬ing its daily stint it will turn approximately 90 degrees (25% of a rotation). Can it be claimed the students of Colorado experience proof for a partial rotation of the earth? The answer is a resounding no. First of all the very idea that the earth revolves under the pendulum is utter nonsense. You may as well try to say that if you jump in the air and hold yourself up with both shoelaces the earth would turn under you. That is the belief required of us by the Earthmovers with their Foucault pendulums. But why and how then can a pure Foucault pendulum turn even 90 degrees as the Boulder one does? The answer is that there is an inertial field around the earth and it is this effect that causes the bob to change its position over time – the same effect that Guglielmini and Coriolis found some years earlier.

There seems to be only two possible reasons for the earth’s inertial field: a rotating earth or a rotating universe around the earth. In 1883, some years after Foucault’s demonstration and ‘proof’ for the earth’s rotation, Ernst Mach, a top-notch physicist of the time, for what it was worth, said one need not view the existence of such centrifugal forces as originating from the motion of the earth; one could just as well account for them as resulting from the average rotational effect of distant detectable masses as evidenced in the vicinity of the earth where the ear¬th is treated as being at rest. Other unknown factors then add to its movement leading not to a smooth synchronised turn but to an erratic series of partial turns. According to their own physics then, Mach’s Principle in effect negates all demonstrations in the earth’s inertial field as proof for anything but that the field exists.

“Mach made the further suggestion that inertia is not an inherent property of matter but is the result of forces caused by the dis¬tant galaxies. According to this hypothesis, the inertial force on a given mass . . . is caused by the action of all the matter in the un-iverse.” (Moon and Spencer. ‘Mach’s Principle’ 1959.)

Support for Mach’s relativity theory would also come from Albert Einstein. He too concluded that a centrifugal force on an object in the earth’s rest frame is inadmissible as proof of a rotating earth, for in the earth’s frame that force could equally arise from ‘the average rotational effect of distant detectable masses.’ Such relativity would of course be better known under his General Theory of Relativity of 1915. After Einstein came a top Viennese scientist, Professor Hans Thirring, who in 1918 agreed with Mach’s Principle, and said that the Coriolis effect can also be accounted for equally well in a geocentric reference frame when he stated ‘the required equivalence be guaranteed by the general co-variance of the field equations.’

“For a rotating shell of matter . . . Thirring found the interesting result that the field in the interior of the shell . . . is similar to the field in a rotating system of coordinates, thus leading to gravitational forces similar to the centrifugal and Coriolis forces.’ (G. Moller: The Theory of Relativity, 1952.)

So it seems science has known since 1883 that the Coriolis Effect and the movement of the Foucault pendulum can be equally accommodated in a geocentric model of the universe. Since then many physicists have written papers confirming this conclusion.

So, does the earth spin? The late Sir Fred Hoyle, once accepted as one of the world’s leading astrophysicists, affirms the current position of science in regard to the long held claim that it does:

“We can talk with precision of a body as spinning around relative to something or another, but there is no such thing as absolute spin: the Earth is not spinning to those of us who live on its surface and our point of view is as good as anyone else’s – but no better.”  (F. Hoyle: Frontiers of Astronomy, New York, Harper & Row, 1966, p304.)

Interesting to note that The Foucault Pendulum was installed at the United Nations (Monolithic) Headquarters in New York City, NY

[The EARTHMOVERS is an unpublished manuscript upholding the geocentricity of the universe, which was serialized on the Cathinfo forum. It is a very broad work by a very zealous Catholic layman. This excerpt is taken from the manuscript. The bulk of the manuscript can be viewed at The thread is entitled: The Earthmovers.]

On further investigation by The Bloody Truth YouTube channel it is revealed that the major installations of Foucault pendulums world wide, have been manufactured and installed by just one company. This company helpfully provides a pdf to inform the operator how to dumb down the explanations of what is being seen for the public. It also describes the electromagnetic drive system used to keep the pendulum in motion (confirming what we found out earlier)

For more on the truth about Foucault’s Pendulum, see this blog post:

Was Foucault’s Pendulum A Fraud

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