NATICK, Mass. (April 1, 2016) -- Army scientists have successfully "teleported" a fully equipped squad from a Massachusetts research and development facility to a training area in Germany, the Natick Soldier Systems Center (NSSC) announced today.
The nine human research volunteers, fresh out of Advanced Individual Training, were participating in experiments in the Doriot Climatic Chambers at NSSC when they disappeared and moments later materialized at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, completely unharmed. The chambers are capable of replicating any climate or weather in the world but have never before been used in this manner.
Teleportation, made famous in the "Star Trek" television series and movies, had been -- until what the Army is calling the "Natick incident" -- a hypothetical way of moving objects from place to place. American writer Charles Fort is reported to have coined the word in 1931.
Officials at Natick were elated by the event, which promises to one day revolutionize the way that American troops and equipment are transported around the globe. It also could ultimately make overseas bases obsolete as forces are instead moved from U.S. soil to remote trouble spots in the blink of an eye.
