The "Physics" of Dennis Lee

A report of the demonstrations he performed in Akron, OH - Sept. 22, 1999
by a retired high school physics teacher from his notes and video tape.

Links to other resources and published articles
More information on Dennis Lee
List of Show Dates from the ITEC home page.
Report about actually testing the machine on stage!

'Free Electricity' Entrepreneur or Con Artist
APBNews - Nov. 10 - Carol Huang

USA Today 11/2 Report -Arlington, Texas Show

The Virginian-Pilot - 11/5 - Prophet of profits,
promising free electricity, has fraud record

Akron Beacon Journal Review
Another Account of the Akron Show
Newspaper Report of the show in Yakima, Washington
Review of First Show in Connecticut

The "Contract"
Other Links

If you are ever in Akron, visit the National Inventors Hall of Fame
(Where you won't see Dennis Lee but look for Philo T. Farnsworth.)

Conversations overheard waiting for the convention center to open:

"You might fool me but he actually runs a motor on water"
"The power companies use the laws of science but Dennis uses God's Laws."
Question to dealer "Do you have a free energy machine at your house?"
Dealer's answer  "Not yet"
Follow up question  "When do you expect to have one?"
Dealer's answer "Dennis has 95% of the machine finished but the last 5%
may require him to develop newer technologies"


Image captured from my camcorder of dimly lit stage showing video screen, bicycle,
counter rotating energy machine and Y2K lamp
.

Picture "borrowed" by Dennis Lee Dealer

List of statements, demonstrations and comments on the Akron show.

According to Dennis

 The Science According to Everyone Else

Brown's Gas Machine
(The Akron fire marshal would not let him run it.) 

One of the unique properties of Brown's gas is that the temperature adjusts to the melting point of the material. Any material will maintain it's temperature at its melting point temperature because the energy goes into melting the material. 

If you put a propane torch on an ice cube, it will stay at 32 Deg. F. until it is all melted then the energy can go in to raising the temperature.. 

More information on Brown's Gas - Temperature of the Sun claim: They don't think so.

You can neutralize radioactive waste material with Brown's gas. This has never been demonstrated in an enclosed  "laboratory".  Small quantities may be vaporised and be dispersed into the air below a detectable threshold.  I have friends that work for Westinghouse Power system who would pay millions if this actually worked.
"You can run a car on Brown's gas." Do we really want cars to be on the road with gas storage tanks that can take out a city block when rear ended?  You still have to pay for the electricity to create the gas - why not just charge the battery in the car?
"Next year all across America we intend to eliminate gas pumps!" Anyone one want to place a bet?
"You can pump water with the implosions of Brown's Gas." Wouldn't it be simpler to use the electricity to run a small pump rather than have a huge Brown's Gas generator running a complicated apparatus?

1 Horse Power AC motor run on a standard 9V battery.

Another amazing discovery was that a small battery can turn the shaft of an AC motor slowly with no load other than a paper disk.  Any non-induction AC motor will run on DC though it may get really hot.  H.P. ratings for motor are their maximum potential to convert electrical power into mechanical energy. This motor runs but if it were connected to anything it would stall. 
If Dennis does not understand this most basic of concepts, then anything else he says is suspect.  
If he does understand the concepts then he is intentionally misleading his audience.  
"When you use a 10HP motor to do a 7HP job, the excess 3HP goes into heat - they are designed this way to sell more electricity and motors" This statement is totally false.  When the load is less, the motor turns faster and the BACK EMF produced in the motor reduces the flow of electricity.  See later demonstration that shows the effects of BACK EMF with a dropped magnet.

First Amazing Device that saves the "unneeded" electricity 

Device that connects to a motor that reduces the power consumption when running at less than maximum load. This "Power Planer" type device is sold at Home Depot and other appliance stores.  They reduce the power consumption by converting the AC "sine wave" into a series of "square wave" pulses.  The device actually works but in an article in Consumer Reports they state that the shock of these "pulses" over time produce more ware on the motor and they do not recommend their use.  The also produce a lot of radio interference. 
Review of Home Depot Device
  - Says it works poorly at best!
For Model Trains

Second Amazing Device that saves the "unneeded" electricity 

Demonstrates a large industrial motor connected to a generator lighting a bank of light bulbs.  Runs the motor and notes the current draw.  They connected a "black box" to the motor and note that the current draw is less. This is a standard capacitor ballast that is designed for use on industrial motors.  By creating a resonate circuit with the motor, the efficiency can be increased.  This only works on motors with large coils that are running at a constant speed.  It would be of little use to the home owner. The power company already does this  to "tune" their power transformers - look for large gray boxes on the power poles.

A funny thing happened during the demonstration

When they first turned on the above motor; the TV camera, all the TV monitors and the video projector died! 

Dennis was total flustered! 

He and his assistants were running around trying to figure out what happened and how to fix it.

Here was a self-proclaimed electrical genius and he did not realize that the starting surge to the motor had dropped the voltage below the shutdown point of the power supples in the electronic equipment! 

It took them quite a while to figure out that all they had to do was press the "ON" button!  Also, when the power came back on, apparently the disruption burned a scan line into their big bucks video projector so there was a red streak across the picture for the rest of the evening.

Y2K Power Failure Lamp

Demonstration of a lamp that will run for 8 hours on a single charge. Not hard to do with the massive battery in the base and a highly efficient florescent lamp.  After 8 hours you will need his free energy machine to recharge the lamp!

Amazing Flashlight that will run for 470 Hours on a 6V lantern battery

Another Y2K survival device. 

Lantern battery was attached with clip leads.

Poorly designed case with an internal 5Hr. rechargeable battery running high output LEDs.  This would be good for finding your keys in the dark.   Nothing special about this "technology".

Using a Tesla Coil to light a dead florescent light with 1 wire.

Demonstrated that he could light a florescent light attached to a Tesla coil. I did this experiment with a Ford Spark Coil when I was in 5th grade!  He forgets to point out that the power transfer is minuscule and that the floor and the air act as the "return path". 
Relates how Nikola Tesla transmitted energy through the air in Colorado in the early 1900 Neglects to mention that Tesla burned out the local power company sub-station when he tried this!   Interestingly, while waiting for the show to start, I was reading some current magazines in the very nice Akron Public Library Popular Electronics had an article on how to build a Tesla Coil and one of the Ham radio publications had an article on how to charge small batteries using the power from a local strong radio station.  Also, running a large Tesla coil would wipe out radio and TV reception for a considerable distance from your house.

Scanner that picks up electrical / magnetic fields

Demonstration of a device that allows you to hear your digital watch tick. Just a standard laboratory tool that uses a "loop" antenna to pick up faint magnetic fields generated by any electrical current.  The better models "detect" frequencies too high to hear and convert them into the audible range.  Neat but who needs one?

Free Electrical Power

"We have a device that takes the electricity coming into your house and sends it back to the power company so your meter reads nothing!" This would have been a great demonstration!  All the "electricity" that enters your house IS returned to the power company!  That's why it takes two wires to complete a "circuit".  Again, this shows either a total lack of knowledge of electrical power systems or a deliberate lie to the audience. 

There are devices that disrupt the normal sineasodial AC wave form to make your meter to read low but they are illegal under the "theft of services" statutes and I'm sure the power company would notice if you totally stopped your meter.

The "Machine"

"The suppression of technology has to stop!" 

"I am gong to show you two elements for making free electricity and you decide if we can put the elements together to make free energy"

"If I told you how it worked, I'd have to kill you"

He keeps referring to these elements as "peanut butter" and jelly" and keeps telling the audience to imagine how they would go together to make a sandwich.  Nice analogy but he never says which device is the "peanut butter" and which is the "jelly" and gives no clue about how they would be combined. It it's so obvious to any layman then why has it not been seen in the last hundred years?

Dennis' Forth Law of Motion 
"For every action there is an equal reaction that can be applied to the action"  

His explanation:







"If you turn on a motor sitting freely on a table, the motor will move.  If you bolt the motor down, you lose that energy!" 

We have fond a way of harnessing this "counter rotational energy".

What can I say!  After teaching high school physics I understand how a beginning student could make that assumption. But for someone to base a whole new "technology" on this mistaken concept and then try to get others to invest in it defies all logic. 

Let me try to give another analogy that explains what is happening here:  If you jump from a boat that is tied to a dock, all the energy in you legs goes into propelling you forward.  If the boat is not tied, some of the energy goes into the boat and which reduces your kinetic energy and you hit the water!   For his new law to work requires breaking the "Law of the Conservation of Momentum" 

One of the earliest statement of this principal was by Archimedes who said,  "Give me a place to stand and I can move the earth!"  What Dennis is saying is that he can move the earth with out a place to stand! 

As applied to his motor, If he extracts the energy from the movement of the motor's case, then that power is lost to the shaft. His concept also violates the Law: "There is no free lunch!"

If  "counter rotation" works for motors, it should also work for generators.  I propose that it would be simpler to connect the shaft of the motor to the shaft of the generator and connect the case of the motor to the case of the generator.  This would eliminate all the mechanics and the "counter rotation" of the motor would "counter rotate" the generator giving (according to Dennis) an efficiency of 400%!  I give this theory free to the world! 

Oops! Someone beat me to it - It's called a motor/generator and the efficiency is less than 100%


"Counter Rotation Device"
Dennis' Diagram 

If  the "counter rotating" device is constructed as Dennis's diagram depicts with both the motor rotor and the case connected to the shaft and nothing else (to push against), then when started, the motor and gear assembly will rotate around the stationary output shaft!

I have no idea how the actual "device" was geared but it involved a lot of gears and belts which were much more complex than this diagram.

"The Demonstration"

He demonstrates this by using a small contraption that allows the shaft of a motor to turn the output shaft of the device to which is connected a friction break as a "load". 

The motor is run from a bank of 12V batteries and the current, voltage and power are noted. 

By reconfiguring the device, the case of the motor is allowed to turn and is geared to the output shaft.  Now when the motor is run, it does so at a much higher speed and it is noted that the current is much lower. 

This is submitted to the audience a proof that the technology of "counter rotation" proves his new Law of motion.

There is a whole lot of physics going on here.  Why this proof is invalid would make a great question of a final exam in college physics. 

When the motor is first run, it is geared to the output device and the load resistance is great enough so it runs at a very low speed.  As you may note from the way the lights in your house dim when the refrigerator or vacuum cleaner starts, motors running at low speeds draw a lot of power.  This power goes into heat and if the motor does not speed up it will burn up.  When the motor is running near it's design speed, the coils of wire turning in the magnetic fields of the motor begin to act as a generator. They try to produce a current in the opposite direction form that of the battery running the motor.  This effect called "BACK EMF" reduces the current drawn by the motor. 
See: Back EMF - Do it yourself 

When Dennis runs the motor for the second demonstration, the gearing allows the motor to run at a much higher speed for the same output shaft speed so the motor draws less current and will run cooler.  A more efficient gearing in the first test would produce the same results without the need for "counter rotation." 

A analogy would be to try to start a manual transmission car in high gear.  You have to give it a lot of gas to get it to move at a slow speed.  By using a more efficient gear ratio, you can make it move faster with a lot less gas. 

If  the "counter rotating" device was constructed as Dennis's diagram depicts with both the motor rotor and the case connected to the shaft and nothing else, then when started, the motor will rotate around the output shaft!

I have no idea exactly how Dennis' machine is geared but I must admit that it is difficult to create a mental picture of exactly what is happening. 

"In a permanent magnet motor, the energy comes from the magnet"

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! 

The energy comes from the magnetic fields created by the current that is running the motor.  The fields from the magnets are what the moving magnetic fields push against.  Dennis' misconception is the same as saying that it is the road surface that gives energy to an accelerating car. 

No energy is involved unless work is done. 
By definition of:   WORK = FORCE X DISTANCE
If nothing is moved then no works is done and no energy is required.

Magnetic Demonstration

This was the best part of the show!

He did the demonstration where a powerful magnet falls slowly when dropped down a non magnet pipe.  I'm not sure what Dennis' point was other than to amaze the audience with a "physics trick" 

He did add a neat twist to the demonstration. He had a massive cooper pipe with a 1" thick wall.  He positioned the video camera to look down the pipe and lit it from below with a small but bright light.  The effect of the magnet rotating as it floated down the pipe was a :special effect right out of "Star Wars"

This is the classic "BACK EMF" Demonstration know to every physics student. 

As the magnet moves down the pipe, its moving magnetic field generates an electrical current that flows around the pipe.  This flowing electrical "eddy"current in turn creates a magnetic field.  This magnetic field creates a force that opposes the movement of the magnet.  If you cut a slit in the side of the tube, no current can flow and with no back EMF, the magnet falls at the expected acceleration. 

See a similar experiment done with a sheet of metal. 

"Demonstrations don't lie but liers can do demonstrations."

Demonstration Motor

A demonstration of a motor run from a 90 volt bank of car batteries. 

"We won't be draining the batteries at all - we just need the voltage - the current is going in both directions"

They connected an oscilloscope to the motor (tonight the scope was broken but they showed a video tape of the night before.)  This supposedly shows an AC current going into the motor.  Having used scopes for over 40 years, I believe what they are showing is the high frequency "brush noise" (see scope display at bottom of page).   They used this supposed display to say that the motor was operating on AC and so they used an AC clamp on current meter to measure the current going into the motor.  See conformation of this hypothesis.  Since this meter would only read the small AC "ripple" component, the reading was naturally very small.  This however was interpreted to the audience as evidence of a supper efficient "over unity" motor.  The motor was actually running on the much larger DC current. 

"Scopes don't lie but liers can use scopes!"

"We won't be draining the batteries at all - we just need the voltage - the current is going in both directions" 

"We have AC coming out of a battery"

"We have patent's pending on these motors"

Current going in both directions is a new concept even more revolutionary than "counter rotation!" 

If he just needed the "voltage" then why use car batteries? Why not use 10 of those  9V batteries that he had demonstrated earlier to run his 1HP motor?  That would have been impressive!    Why not let it run all night rather than for a few minutes?

"The Machine"

Demonstration of "Counter Rotating Free Energy Machine"   They run this 4' diameter contraption which contains "counter rotating" drive motors connected to a generator.  The inside   elements rotate to light a bank of 60-Watt light bulbs. 

Picture and Discription
("view" the image for full size)

No one in the audience seems concerned that there was another bank of car batteries sitting under "the machine" and this it is only run for several minutes. One investigator who managed to test the machine confirms that he is using the "AC Ripple" measurement of battery current to prove "over-unity."

"The Pitch"
Quotes by Dennis Lee during the show

"We have a plan for setting you free from the grid"

We can make commercial sized units on a flat bed trailer (He calls these "Power Wagons")

We are working with Edison Electric in New Jersey to power a substation with a 20 megawatts power wagon.

It costs nothing to run - it takes it's power from the magnetic field of the earth.

I could do that right now and pump money out of the earth!

I could have them pay me not to bring this thing out!

"Concentrated power" is no good for the people of a free country!"

I have been offered a billion dollars for this development by commercial interests!

The State of Israel want me to power the country!

I have a unique relationship with God!

He told me he wants me to bring this to you instead!   He told me to go across the country on a tour - we will find who the true believers are!

I have just showed you the most amazing discovery in the world

I am not doing this for the money!

We will give you the machine and you will know that that it works before you give us any money!

"The Scam"

1) A leader get 49 of his (soon to be "former") friends to form a "cooperative" And you thought being a Amway salesman was tough - but then again they have free energy to sell.
2) Each person contributes $200 to a bonded escrow account plus a $75 non-refundable processing fee. 

The $200 will be refunded if the machine is not delivered in one year. 

"Since you are not paying me, this is not an "investment" therefore I am not regulated and I can't be sent to jail""

That's $10,000 in a "no interest fee" account - but guess who gets the interest?  That gives Dennis and his "dealers" $3750 in fees plus interest to for boat payments. 

See a "Dealers" deal and save $25

3) Dennis builds one 15KW "free energy machine" out of his own funds and delivers it to the group leader. 

Contracts use the terms "God willing" and "when and if" in the disclosure section. 

Maybe he'll deliver this time!
4) When the machine is delivered and demonstrated that it works, then the $10,000 escrow account is turned over to Dennis That's assuming the machines work.
5) Dennis uses income from the collected accounts to build his commercial "power wagons" to sell power to the utilities. But once everyone has free energy machines why will there be a need for power companies.  He says he can sell to industry.  You would think by then, the patents would run out and they would build there own.
6) The vast income from the power wagons is used to build the other 49 home units and set the people free. So far, sound like a good plan!
7) Dennis keeps ownership of the power machines and the income produced by the power wagons. 
"I am not selling you a non-existent machine - I could be arrested for that! We are doing this by our rules"
Again, this is not an "investment" but a "money back if not satisfied" payment to Dennis.  At least he is telling the truth about the "plan" so no one will be disappointed - just out $75.
You keep your connection to the power company in case the machine breaks - "I'll pay the bill" So how are the power companies going to maintain there plants with no income?
Question from audiences:. "What will you do when a machine breaks down after the power companies are out of business?

Answer: "We will supply each house with Tesla coils so the can share power with each other"?

Besides being absurd, wouldn't it be cheaper to just give them a long extension cord? 
"I will use the income to develop all our other 500 fantastic technologies"

He demonstrates a bicycle with "run flat" tires as an example.  He asks, "Why is no one else marketing these?"

I examined the bicycle over their protests.  The tires look like those used on heavy duty wheel chairs.  They were made of a heavy, dense foam material. They would be real fun on a rough road and the gyroscopic effects of the weight would make it very difficult to turn a corner. 

Maybe with this money he can make "Laundry Balls" that actually work!

"Bottom Line"

Convince people they can get something for nothing
There is no machine.  
The people get their money back.   
There are a lot of upset "friends." 
Dennis stays out of jail. 
He and the dealers keep the fees and interest. 
Next year there is a "new" technology. 
Repeat the above. 

Other links:

similarity between Dennis Lee and Joe Newman
history of bogus free energy claims
Eric's open $5000 challenge for proof of free energy
Cult-like nature of the Dennis Lee group
Can you get over unity with wires and magnets?
What about Browns Gas?
Get on an email list for more updates on Dennis Lee
CNBC reviews Dennis Lee's history of scams

THE CONTRACT 
Read the fine print! 

APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST 
AND TO JOIN A FREE ENERGY COOPERATIVE

I/We are interested in submitting an application to join a cooperative effort with several of our neighbors in which there is a plan to enable us all to eventually be independent of the Central Power Grid. '(We will make a $200 contribution, which will be held in escrow without interest, until one of the certificate holders in our group of 50 gets a machine delivered to their residence. We will be invited to go watch it operate on a home (totally independent of the electric grid) as it supplies up to15 kilowatts for at least a continuous hour, and after this has been proven to all those invitees who attend the demonstration, then (my/our) $200 shall be transferred to ITEC to enable them (through their "best efforts") to advance their commercial electric sales program so they can establish a real value for the commercial sales of electricity to fund free electricity machines on the homes of all 50 of the members of this cooperative effort. The plan is to make all 50 certificate holders independent of the grid. (We realize that none of the hardware delivered to homes or for commercial electric sales is to ever become the property of any of the certificate holders. The certificate holder will be entitled to the use of the hardware on his property and all of the electricity it produces for as long as ITEC is able to make an income selling commercial electricity.

We are submitting two payments with this applications. One shall be for a contribution to be held in escrow, of $200 for each Certificate of Beneficial Interest that I/We are making application for. The other payment of $75 per certificate shall pay the registration, processing, organizational, and administration fees to put the cooperative together, set up the escrow, issue the certificate(s) and perform all the accounting and administration of this program. The $75 for fees is not escrowed and is not refundable. There are no guarantees involving the fees, and they are not refundable

Please submit 2 checks (or we will bill your credit card twice) for each COBI applied for: 
X # of COBI desired Pay By Check, Cash or Credit Card 
$200.00 Contribution each X 
$75.00 registration fees X 
Make payable to: ITEC Trustee Account Payable to The Dealer Who Gave You This Application

Fine Print on the back side:

REQUIRED DISCLOSURES FOR PROSPECTIVE COBI HOLDERS 

I. Better World Technologies, in cooperation with the International Tesla Electric Company, is at a late stage in the development and possible production of an up to 15 kwh free electricity generator to be applied to residences. The science to do so has been proven. Exactly "when" and even "if' that generator will ever be ready to be installed on any residence is uncertain due to the fact that there are many variables (some related to big business competition and politics) involved that are out of our control. The Logistics of producing and supplying such a revolutionary product and unprecedented benefit to the public are legion. There is NO GUARANTEE that it will ever happen.

2. Each person who joins a serial cooperative effort in a block of fifty like minded individuals as a $200 contributor shall be issued a (COBI) Certificate Of Beneficial Interest. All contributions shall be held in escrow by a bonded Trustee. That certificate is not a guarantee or even a promise that the holder will get a free electricity machine installed on his or her property. The certificate is a promise that "if' and '“when” these devices are ready and able to be applied to homes, the lead certificate holder in that block (in order of number sequence on the certificates) will have a working machine, that produces up to 15 kwh of free electricity, installed on his or her home, and then (AND ONLY THEN) will the $200 contributions of all fifty certificate holders in that cooperative be transferred from the escrow agent to ITEC. ITEC shall immediately use the commercial hardware paid for with those funds to borrow money from conventional lenders and begin to put a unit on the homes of each of the other 49 certificate holders in the cooperative. Of course the sequence of providing units to the members of the cooperative shall be done in order of their decision to become involved. Any fee charged over the $200 contribution to recruit and process contributors in this cooperative effort will never be returned and are in no way secured against loss. This fee is at risk!

3. In the event that one year has elapsed from the day a holder of a certificate has made the $200 contribution held the entire time in escrow), and the lead certificate holder of the group has not been provided with an electric generator that performs as expected, then the Trustee shall automatically issue a full 100% refund of all $200 from the escrow account, and the certificate shall be returned to ITEC with no further commitment toward the certificate holder. Once a working model has been delivered to the lead holder, or all contributions have been refunded for non delivery, the Trustee's duties are over, and there is to be no more money held in escrow for any member of the group. In the event the certificate holder is in a group which has had a working model delivered to the lead certificate holder, then ITEC shall have no more than one year from the date of the delivery of a proven machine to the lead certificate holder to either get a working model to each of the certificate holders in the group or ITEC shall be obligated to buy back the certificate for $200 upon presentation of it to the company by any and all members of the group who have not taken delivery of a working model prior to the lapse of one full year from said delivery to the lead member of the group. Since all the contributions are to be used to seed initial hardware that is to be used as collateral to borrow fluids to produce all the other machines for the remaining members of the group, the holders of these certificates, who desire a refund of their contribution after the initial hardware is delivered, realize that this refund is no longer being held in escrow, and any other refunds would come from the general income of the International Tesla Electric company (assuming the company has in-come). The certificate holders can, in any case, at their sole discretion, opt to just give ITEC additional time to perform and not submit their certificate to ITEC for repurchase. 

I understand that this program offers me a chance, should I decide to enter into this cooperative program, to have either a generator that can produce up to 15 kwh of free electricity per hour at my home, which will always be free to me, or a full refund of $200 (without interest) in the event it does not happen as expected. I have read, and understand these disclosures. . 
 
ESCROW ACCOUNT AT THE CARRTNGTON HOUSE TRUST 
4797 WEST 28th STREET, CLEVELAND, OHIO 44113 

Account of the Yakima Show

8:33:08 PM Thursday, October 21, 1999
Officials Give Warnings About Yakima Native's Invention'

Published in the Herald-Republic on Friday, October 15, 1999

By JEREMY MEYER

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Dennis Lee could be seen as the prodigal son making his hometown return with promises of free electricity to everyone.

But consumer-protection agencies throughout the state say beware. They see Lee as a trickster and an ex-felon who will spin a web of lies upon a Capitol Theatre audience Saturday night in search of money for a bogus invention.

The free show, which begins at 7 p.m., is called a "Y2K Expo" and is being put on by Lee's International Tesla Electric Co. The seminar will tout a free energy machine called a counter-rotational device that allegedly doubles the amount of power that goes into it. In past shows on his national tour, Lee hasn't demonstrated the machine or actually sold one. The 53-year-old Yakima native says if he loosens his grip on the machine, people will use its technology to stop him.

The heart of Lee's show, say his critics, is conspiracy and preying on the fears of Y2K. The three-hour performance, according to news reports, will try to appeal to audiences along religious and patriotic lines, inspiring allegiance through fear of government and big business and by ridiculing scientific and educated thought.

Lee claims his critics are part of the conspiracy. He says his views have placed him in jail and have led the CIA to investigate him. He also claims there have been three attempts on his life.

Finally, he'll ask for money. Lee says people can receive a "free energy machine" with a one-time contribution of $275 to his company. The money will pay for development and construction, and people may "possibly get a free electricity machine."

He'll sell a $50 kit containing videos and a book he wrote that explains his free electricity idea. Lee also will accept thousands of dollars from people who want to buy dealerships.

Through the Internet, Lee's companies, ITEC, Better World Technologies and United Community Service of America, also hawk detergentless laundry balls, noiseless jackhammers and a special sound system and spray that when combined will make plants and vegetables grow to astounding heights and produce enormous harvests. His companies' Web sites are www.ucsofa.com and www.teslaelectriccompany.com.

Lee could not be reached for comment despite numerous attempts through his New Jersey office. On Wednesday, he put on a show in Billings, Mont., and he'll put one on in Idaho tonight.

Under Investigation
Lee claims to be an inventor, and in 1996 he was honored by the Atlanta-based International Inventor's Hall of Fame for theories, but not for actual inventions. The U.S. Patent Office has no record of any patent owned by Lee.

For the Yakima show, several agencies are warning consumers to understand the facts before spending any money. Yakima's police department, the Better Business Bureau and the state Attorney General's Office are interested in the veracity of Lee's claims.

"We want to make sure that there's no deception being used in whatever he's offering," said Janice Marich, spokeswoman with the Attorney General's Office. "We will be in the audience."

It isn't the first time the state's AG office has investigated Lee.

In the mid-1980s, the state sued Lee and his company for illegally marketing a solar-powered refrigeration system called "The Alternative." The suit claims Lee and his company, C.O.N.S.E.R.V.E. Corp., sold 300 of the units but never installed one. Marich said Lee never paid the $7,000 in costs and fees from the court's judgment.

After the Washington suit, Lee apparently moved his company to California, where he sold $5 million worth of kits for a heat pump that cost $2,000-$5,000 apiece. However, his illegal sales practices and mismanagement landed him in prison.

He pleaded guilty to seven felonies, including grand theft, and was sentenced to 40 months in prison. He served two years.

According to Bob Meyers, supervising attorney with the major fraud unit in the Ventura County (Calif.) District Attorney's Office, Lee claimed the heat pump would provide free air conditioning, heating and electricity with no operating costs.

On his Web site, though, Lee claims he was imprisoned for a civil-code registration violation and that he has never had a trial or been convicted of the offense.

Meyers said that's false. So does the Ventura County Star newspaper, which ran articles about his 1988 trial.

Meyers said he was astounded that Lee plans to return to California, where his show will tour after appearances in Washington and Oregon.

"It's just amazing that he can keep doing the same thing over and over again," he said.

Something for Nothing?
Lee's current show is centered on the counter-rotational machine, which is supposed to provide double the energy that goes into it.

Here's how it reportedly works:

Three 12-volt batteries power four motors held inside a metal contraption, which is about the size of a washing machine.

The motors spin an internal disc assembly at about 1,400 rpm at its peak, which Lee says produces more power than is consumed.

Not possible, said Roger Yu, professor and chairman of Central Washington University's physics department. He said it is the First Law of Thermodynamics that disproves Lee's boast. That theory states: "The total energy of an isolated system is constant."

In other words, energy output will never exceed the input, Yu said.

"It's one of the main tenants of physics," Yu said. "It is only possible to change the form of energy, but you can't increase the energy. It's just common sense."

The man who claims to have built Lee's "free energy machine," Jim Murray of New Jersey, said it doesn't work like Lee says it does.

"He's using something that I designed, the counter-rotational device, which is really absurd because nothing goes counter rotational," said Murray, who worked as an engineer for Lee for four years before quitting in July.

"The model that we built for Dennis tested out at 20 percent efficiency," Murray said, not more than 200 percent as Lee boasts. In other words, when the machine is in operation, it gobbles up 80 percent of the energy powering it.

"He's got the inverse Midas touch," Murray said about Lee. "You give him a bar of gold; he'll hand you a bucket of manure."

Murray quit when Lee asked him to recalibrate the machine's measuring gauges so they would give false readings.

"I flatly refused and resigned that day," he said. "I'm not going to prostitute myself for a lousy weekly salary."

Murray said he was suspicious of Lee's claims but never saw it firsthand until Lee asked him to rig the machine.

"He's out there scamming people left and right," he said. "He targets older couples who have a few bucks put away who are fundamentalist Christians.

"He refers to himself as God's anointed one. Now that takes a lot of brass. The only way I'd like to see him anointed is with a big club."

Just Pipe Dreams?
Charles Doyle of Goldendale once believed Lee's boasts. He paid $5,000 for a dealership after hearing Lee on a Portland radio station in 1996. Doyle ended up touring with Lee and worked for him in New Jersey for a year.

"I guess I was one of the fools," Doyle said. "I finally realized his business ideas were all pipe dreams. I hung around because I thought maybe free energy was real. I wanted it to be real. I was living with the people who thought it was real. It's basically a cult. Either you believe or you're out."

Doyle, 36, quit last year. He didn't sell any equipment and finally sold his dealership to a friend in exchange for a tuneup on his 1987 Subaru.

"That's how much I thought it was worth," he said. "The products will never ever be worth anything."

Eric Krieg of Philadelphia has been following Lee's claims from across the country. Krieg, an electrical engineer and president of the Philadelphia Skeptics Club, says he wants people to know that Lee has bilked people out of millions. He has a Web page that counters Lee's claims (www.phact.org/e).

"The most pathetic cases are the ones that got their whole churches to invest, their family and friends," said Krieg, who urges people to believe the 152-year-old First Law of Thermodynamics, not the boasts of a 53-year-old businessman.

"Lee can break the laws of the land," he said, "but not the laws of nature."

Another Account of the Akron show

The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the LORD hath truly sent him. - Jeremiah 28:9

    Since I am convicted that the claims of Dennis Lee are impossible and that his past schemes and scams cannot be overlooked,  I felt it was necessary to go to our local show here and pass out information so that people going into the show could at least get an inkling that not everyone believes the "gospel" according to Dennis Lee and BWT.

My son and I took 300  homemade flyers and stood outside to pass out the literature. We arrived about 6:15, and talking with different people. Iit was apparent that most of the crowd had not been to Dennis Lee's show before and did not have any background on Lee or free energy claims. 

About 1/2 of the people there where elderly (over 60) and the rest were Christians,  Patriots and maybe some people just curious to see the show.  The target market alone in this operation is despicable.  Altogether; there where at least 300 people that we saw enter the show - but I can't say for sure.

Eventually - about 7:00 - the show's coordinator appeared with the security guards to tell me that I was not allowed to stand on the public sidewalk and hand out eye-opening information which might hurt the sales effort inside (reminds me of what happens at Operation Rescue events).  I argued that there was some free passage on the sidewalk and I was allowed  to do what I wanted in that area.  The police man was not listening and sent us to the street corner - not in front of the building,

We continued to hand out information at the corner - but this really put a damper on the literature hand out. We passed out about 150 papers outside.  Eventually by about 7:30 the people going in died down and I asked my 13 year old son if we should try to go to the show.  He was all for it so we decided to give it a try.    As we went in the door, the security guard was there and we asked him where the free energy show was and he said uh-um-uh then a late person came in behind me and asked the same question and I said must be upstairs and we went up to the show (as we left he was on his walkie-talkie). 

When we arrived at the registration desk we asked how to register for the show - but before we could register, the fellow running the show said "We don't want these people in the show - they where passing out the literature outside".  Then to me "You will have to leave right now!".

So we left the building and as we left, a person (or maybe it was a weasel) approached me, amiably asking my name, shaking my hand.... said he could get me into the show and asking what problem I had with Dennis Lee and his magic show.  So I told him that an overunity device was not possible unless the conservation of energy can be discarded.  So he began with the same old tired diatribe, "If I put a magnet on the side of a refrigerator - how long will it stay up" and I said "a long time" and he says "well, where is the energy coming from to hold it up?" and I say "what energy? the magnet didn't move". 

From this conversation I found that the person was used to dealing with people with no technical background or even High School level physics and I pitied all the people going to the show that would be misled by such an illogical argument.

After this 'technical' discussion, this person began to try to intimidate me and I found  that he never missed a word and was most certainly one of Dennis's main sales guys.  Eventually, I asked him point blank if he worked for Dennis and he said yes he did work with Dennis - so I said then it is not productive to talk to you since you must also be participating in the fraud.  So, at that the fellow left in a huff (not answering me when I asked 'could we still get in to see the show?') .  So we left and went and got some burgers.

I am glad that most of the people going in had some questions to ask after they got there and maybe some hard questions regarding the device were asked by some of the people at the show after reading the information.  Maybe some of the elderly people said 'no' when asked to put up their nest egg for a dealership and maybe someone thought to check up on Dennis's background before writing a check for $275.

Anybody interested in a document they could handout, feel free to contact me.... it's 1 page, two sides, but don't expect to see the show....

    Dave

The main source of information on Dennis is at http://www.phact.org/e/dennis.html