University of Florida mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Subrata Roy has submitted a patent application for a circular, spinning aircraft design reminiscent of the spaceships seen in countless Hollywood films. Roy, however, calls his design a “wingless electromagnetic air vehicle,” or WEAV.

Sixty years ago this July 4, something happened in the desert about 100 kilometers northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. A local newspaper at the time reported that a flying saucer had crashed and that the wreckage had been taken to the U.S. Army Air base just outside of Roswell.