The Secret Nazi Weapon, Die Glocke

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What is Die Glocke?

A place where many conspiracies and legends have raised in both conspiracy forums, as well as popular culture, is Nazi Germany. Germany at that time was claimed to be conducting many experiments with various things beyond the grasp of science at the time and not many people knew about any of it due to the levels of secrecy maintained by the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. Today's conspiracy theory is exactly one of that and is about a secret project the Nazis were claimed to be developing. The "Die Glocke" ("The Bell" in English) was a top-secret Nazi device or weapon of sorts that they were developing during the Second World War. Many people say that Nazis planned to use the Bell as a leading weapon in Germany's attempted rise to greatness. The bell was also commonly referred to as “wunderwaffe,” or “wonder weapon” in English.

The weapon had a wide bottom and a narrow top with smooth edges just like that of a bell and that is how it got its name. Although there is no exact knowledge of its measurements, some sources claim that the weapon was between 10-15 ft in height and 5-10 ft wide. It was said to be fueled by a liquid named “Xerum 525” which was described as being bright red with a dense and gooey texture. Claims suggest that the bell was very heavy and made of a strong metal covered by some sort of ceramic material. In the case of this specific theory, two things are still debated amongst people when talking about this conspiracy. Firstly, whether the weapon existed or if this was a hoax and secondly, what this weapon actually was and it's purpose. In this article, I'll be covering both aspects to get a good overview of the truth or at least a good guess. 

Evidence vs. Skepticism

Evidence of the existence of the Nazi Bell has a few credible sources starting off with numerous paintings from the 19th century by the artist, Charles A. A. Dellschau. Dellschau's paintings contained very specific drawings of an object nearly identical to the bell project even before it supposedly began, which hints towards the possibility that it was the beginning of the conception of the idea for the weapon. The artist was a member of the mysterious “German Sonora Aero Club Collective,” which was a group that worked on experimental aircraft designs. The fact that he had drawn hundreds of paintings of the bell greatly reduces the chances of this being a coincidence.

After the end of the war, Jakob Sporrenberg, a former officer of the highest commissioned Nazi SS ranks was put on trial for war crimes. In his court statement, he gave details of the Nazi Bell project, and referred to it as “Die Glocke.” Describing the secrecy surrounding the Bell, According to Sporrenberg’s statement, the Bell was a highly advanced technology that produced a mix between a  hissing and buzzing sound when operational. He claimed that due to the sound, his colleagues referred to the Bell as “Der Bienenstock,” which is the German word for “beehive.”Sporrenberg admitted that he killed many scientists and engineers to make sure that knowledge of the secret project didn't leak to the public. 

In more recent evidence, in a remote valley in Poland, there is a circular concrete structure known as the flytrap. It is publicly known to be a cooling tower for a coal mine but people have noticed that it was guarded by a military presence too large for a power source. Due to this, it is believed that it is the site for Project Riese, which was a secret underground construction project which is believed to be the site for the construction and development of the Nazi secret weapon 'Die Glocke'

As with every theory, there is a large amount of skepticism here as well. The most prominent thing I noticed was that Wikipedia has added (hoax) to their article on "Die Glocke" which is quite surprising as it leaves no room for debate. There have been many reputed authors and individuals who have publicly stated that this conspiracy seems to be a hoax such as a reviewer Kurt Kleiner, Author Robert Sheaffer, and Author Jason Colavito to name a few. One example of a statement given by someone would be by Historian Robert F. Dorr who characterizes Die Glocke as among "the most imaginative of the conspiracy theories" that come from the Nazi Germany era. According to him, this is just a conspiracy that is spouting up from popular fiction and how they depict Nazis and Germany in that period.

Theories

1. Experimental Aircraft-

The first theory I'll be talking about claims that the bell was a sort of experimental aircraft with heightened capabilities and powers. It claims that Germany was developing it to gain air superiority over its enemies as well as travel into space. This would be backed by the drawings of  Charles A. A. Dellschau, as he was a member of the “German Sonora Aero Club Collective" and they, were involved in such aircraft. It would explain why he knew about the device as well as seems to be a possible weapon to be developed for war. The main problem with this theory is the shape of the bell was the opposite of aerodynamic. The bottom area of the bell would make it too slow and very bad as an aircraft so unless the Germans had discovered hover technology at such a large scale back then this theory seems unlikely.

2. Time Machine-

Due to the secrecy of the project and many other factors, a large group of people also believe that the weapon was meant to be a sort of time machine. Due to its strange shape and rumours that it could totally change the tide of the world, this theory gained popularity. Theorists claim that the inner chamber of the bell would most likely rotate at high speeds creating some sort of a vortex allowing a person to go back in time. Of course, this theory seems very far fetched as time travel is something we aren't close in today's time so considering the Nazis perfecting it so many years ago is difficult.

3. It Never Existed-

As with most conspiracies, this is a prominent theory that it just wasn't real. This theory is backed by many historians because it is very likely that someone could create a hoax like this. Germany during that time was known for its heavy secrecy and thus a hoax like this would easily pick up speed and popularity in the public. The problem here comes with evidence like the drawings by Dellshau as well as the statement given by the Nazi Officer, Jakob Sporrenberg. Considering those hundreds of drawing as being a coincidence as well as Jakob's statement to be false would be quite difficult.

Conclusion

After looking at all these things, one question still remains, where is "Die Glocke" now? Well, this is a mystery in itself as there are a few real possibilities. Since it was never found it is possible that the weapon was either destroyed or never existed in the first place. If this wasn't the case, it must've been transported to another place and there are conspiracy theorists who believe that such projects were shifted to the Arctic Circle after Germany lost the war. Many people claim that the Nazis continued working on the bell as well as other secret projects for some years in secret after the end of the war but it doesn't seem to have ever been completed. 

As for my personal opinion, I do believe that the Nazis were undertaking such secret projects during that time and the existence of "Die Glocke" is very likely. With this, I also don't think that it was either an aircraft or a time machine but must've been something else altogether. This is because both of those theories seem too far fetched as a flying bell and time machine are 2 things that seem unlikely if thought about even in today's scientific environment. The bell must've been an experiment of something less insane such as a super-soldier serum or something but this is a mystery we will probably never solve.

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