What did Colonel Fabyan's acoustic anti-gravity device sound like?

Abstract

Somewhere within the Geneva (Illinois) Museum of History, next to an old movie theater popcorn machine and closed up behind a false wall, is hidden one of the last surviving components of Colonel Fabyan's acoustic anti-gravity device. Originally built by textile magnate, George Fabyan under the guidance of pseudo-science practitioners, it is Professor Wallace Sabine's examination and quick debunking of the device's anti-gravity powers that is credited with the redirection of Colonel Fabyan's fortune to the creation of Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories and the legitimate scientific study of acoustics. Although the levitation device is not currently on display, the museum's Curator of Collections & Exhibitions gave a small group of acousticians the unique opportunity in 2019 to examine the device's existing components and supporting archival files. Although no one in the group was interested in the device's flying capabilities, everyone was curious what the device must have sounded like during Sabine's testing. Reviewing newspaper accounts of the period, taking photographic measurements of the existing components, using physical and computer modeling, acoustic testing and simulation; we present animation and auralization of Colonel Fabyan's acoustic anti-gravity device in the lab and in-flight.