Hindenburg Theory

1335 Words3 Pages

‘Tis But a Spark: The Annihilation of the Hindenburg On May 6, 1937, the German dirigible LZ 129 Hindenburg crashed to earth in a blazing maelstrom of Titanic-esque drama. Part of a successful family of Zeppelins, the Hindenburg was feigned to be the largest and most reliable of its predecessors. Subsequently, the Hindenburg disaster marked the end of the passenger airship era, and from its ashes rose a phoenix of skepticism and inquiry as to what caused the airship’s demise. Although after many a theory have been postulated, and conspiracies blotted out, the initial cause of the disaster has still remained a mystery; a magic trick of sorts. I believe, however, that the most probable cause of the Hindenburg disaster was simply an electric The approach to discovering the cause of the Hindenburg disaster has been mainly scientific, with numerous theories created, supported, and disputed by science; however, a more logical standpoint questions which theories are actually probable. For instance, would it be proper to believe a theory, for the cause of the Hindenburg disaster, even if the theory may indeed have been proven wrong on multiple occasions? In this case, the reason for believing that the cause of the Hindenburg’s demise was a spark and a helium leak, in conjunction, is not only because it is fairly practical, but considerably credible. Thus I place it in competition with the other contender for a prominent theory: that of former NASA scientist Addison His notorious “incendiary paint theory” (IPT), which was the star of the PBS documentary Secrets of the Dead: What Happened to the Hindenburg?, has a large array of deficiencies. Dr. Alexander J. Dessler of Arizona University wrote an individual 21-page paper, titled The Hindenburg Fire: Fatal Flaws in the Addison Bain Incendiary-Paint Theory, and a collaborative follow-up piece named The Hindenburg Fire: Hydrogen or Incendiary Paint?, addressing the precise dilemmas encountered with Bain’s theory. For example, Bain used the continuous electric current of a Jacob’s Ladder to light a fabric sample of the Hindenburg during his initial experiment –– and thus provided a stimulus not synonymous to the atmospheric conditions during the time of the real incident. Bain’s theory was also bashed on the season-opening 70th episode of the hit television series MythBusters. The details of how the IPT is inaccurate are important, but the more crucial point is that the IPT has been proven faulty. If incendiary paint was officially pegged as the cause of the Hindenburg disaster, then the theory and its appropriate methodology would have to hold despite retesting and duplication of the initial experiment. Yet the IPT has indeed been disproved on multiple occasions since its formulation. So it would be rather erroneous to ever logically accept that the IPT is a

Open Document