Paul Santorini

Santorini was born in Odessa. His father's name was Eleftherios. The family name was originally Papadopoulos until July 1940.^[6] Records before 1940 are under the name Pavlos or Paul Papadopoulos. Paul obtained his early education in Odessa until 1905. Due to the tumultuous political situation in Russia. Paul continued his studies in Zurich, Switzerland. He was accepted at the internationally renowned high school Concordia of Zurich at age 12. He took courses at the technical department and graduated after three years completing the requirements by 1908. Paul also played the violin and received lessons from P. Koller around this period. He also became familiar with Albert Einstein. Regrettably, Paul was too young to attend the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.^[9]

The Concordia high school allowed Paul to attend the institution for an additional year offering special courses in the field of natural science. One year later he attended another high school named Minerva from 1909 to 1910. At the second institution, Paul observed courses in the fields of physics and mathematics. By age 17, in March 1910 he took special entrance examinations to attend the University of Zurich. Around this period Albert Einstein was teaching courses in Zurich. Paul attended some courses taught by the scientist. In his biography, Paul explains that the world-renowned scientist showed a keen interest in ancient Greek philosophy and mathematics and the young student had long conversations with him regarding the field.^[9]

Paul was accepted at the University of Zurich in 1910 and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 1912.^[10] Some of his professors included Aurel Stodola and Gabriel Narutowicz. He received a degree in civil engineering in 1917 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and one year later in 1918, he received a degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Zurich. That same year Paul became an engineer at the hydroelectric installations of the Lóntschwerk II in Switzerland. He was part of the construction of an electric dam that produced 77000 kW with a height of 370 meters. During this period of his life, he specialized in hydroelectricity and electromagnetism.^[11]

By 1919, Paul moved to Athens, Greece, and continued working as a hydroelectric engineer for the Greek government. He studied the Edessa Waterfalls, Lake Vegoritida, and Agra Pella. He continued in this position until 1921. He worked in the private sector from 1921 until 1930. He became the chief engineer of a company in Athens from 1921 to 1925. Around this period he also wrote articles in the field of engineering under the pseudonym "Santo Rini". One of his articles published in 1921 was La Théorie du Rendement Économique Maximum D'une Conduite Forcée en Métal et le Calcul Rationnel de Ses Éléments (The Theory of the Maximum Economic Return of a Metal Pension Pipe and the Rational Calculation of its Elements). He was the head of static analysis for designing structures at Ergoliptiki from 1925 to 1927. Around this period Paul engineered a refined method for cement and finally from 1927 until 1930 he worked at Kronos Industries. In this position, he researched the elastic deformations of solid structures and wrote several articles about the facility. That same year Paul took a government position and was one of the directors of Hydraulics at the Ministry of Agriculture, and he remained in this position until 1946.^[12]

The University of Athens gave him a degree in physics in 1933 and one year later he received a Ph.D. from the institution in the field of mathematics and physics. Paul became a professor at the School of Physics which was part of the University of Athens. Paul taught applied physics and experimental electromagnetic radiation from 1936–1946. He continued his work in electromagnetism and began building radiolocation systems for the Hellenic Military and was transferred to the High Command of Anti-Aircraft Defense a position which he held from 1936 to 1940. He built prototypes of electronic weapons. His research focused on developing instruments that used radio waves to determine the distance angle and radial velocity of objects relative to a specific position. The instrument was used to track aircraft. In his biography, Paul claims that many of his prototypes were shared with different countries by the Greek government and that he was not credited for his inventions. He returned to the Ministry of Agriculture focusing his research on water measurements from 1940 to 1946.^[13]

From 1947 to 1964, he became professor of experimental physics and Chair of the Experimental Physics Laboratory II at the National Technical University of Athens and also took a position at the Agricultural University of Athens as a professor and director of the physics laboratory. During this period in 1946 Greece witnessed a phenomenon known as Ghost rockets. Paul was assigned to investigate the unidentified flying objects, he was 53 years old. By this point in his life, Paul was a distinguished professor and scientist who wrote hundreds of articles ranging from structural engineering, hydraulics, and electromagnetism. He became professor emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens and the Agricultural University of Athens by 1964, he was 71 years old. He continued writing until the end of his life and was a member of the New York Academy of Science, Acadèmie Des Sciences de Toulouse, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, and the Royal Society of Arts. He also won several awards throughout his life for his distinguished excellence in the field of science. His academic writing can be separated by the subjects of his articles. Early in his career, he wrote about civil engineering during the middle point of his career most of his works dealt with electromagnetic applications and finally towards the end of his life he theorized about the universe. The scholar wrote over 350 articles and over 59 of his works were selected and discussed in his biography. He died at 93 years old with distinction and was buried at the Third Cemetery of Athens.^[14]

During the spring on May 27, 1936, Paul was part of a project to build anti-aircraft equipment for the long-distance detection of airships for the Hellenic Military entitled ecatometrico radar (centimetric radar system). A committee was assembled with a special request by the Hellenic military to the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Athens. Paul proposed his experimental work. The device was tested and approved by the committee and Paul was named senior commander of anti-aircraft defense. By 1939, the equipment was functioning and able to observe aircraft up to 150 kilometers, the tests were conducted in Faliros. The equipment attracted the attention of the English military who were desperate to defeat the Germans. The Greek government shared the research the military conducted with its international allies during the desperate war times. Regrettably, Paul's contribution went unnoticed by the international scientific community even though he was awarded Greece's highest honor around that period for his work in the field. He was also posthumously credited for building the guidance system for Project Nike and the proximity fuse used in the Hiroshima atomic bomb.^[15][16]

In 1967, Paul, publicly stated that the 1947 Greek government investigation into the European Ghost rockets of 1946 were not missiles. Paul claimed the investigation was halted by senior U.S. military officials who knew them to be extraterrestrial in nature. Paul further explained to the Greek news that because there was no defense against the advanced technology of the aliens they feared widespread panic would result if the information was known to the public. Paul became a media sensation among UFO conspiracy theorists because he was a credible scientist who admitted the existence of extraterrestrial phenomena.^{[17][16][18][2]}

• Santorini, Pavlos E. (1977). Τίτλοι και Ανάλυσις Επιστημονικών Εργασιών [Titles and Analysis of Scientific Works] (PDF). Athens, Greece: National Technical University of Athens.
• Birnes, William J. (2004). The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia The Most Compreshensive Single-Volume UFO Reference in Print. New York, NY: Simon And Schuster. ISBN 9780743466745.
• Berliner, Don (2008). Whitley Streiber's Hidden Agendas Series From Government Secret Files the Report that Shocked Congress UFO Briefing Document The Best Available Evidence. New York, NY: Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307492272.
• Fawcett, Bill; Fawcett, Lawrence; Greenwood, Barry J. (1990). UFO Cover-up What the Government Won't Say. New York, NY: imon And Schuster. ISBN 9780671765552.
• Fowler, Raymond (2002). Ufo Testament Anatomy of an Abductee. New York, NY: iUniverse. ISBN 9781469796185.
• Santorini, Paul (1974). Επιστημονική Επετερίς [Epistēmonikē Epetēris]. Athens, Greece: National Technical University of Athens.
• Waser, Ernst; Vetter, Theodor (1913). Verband der Studierenden an der Eidg. Technischen Hochschule in Zürich Historischer Rückblick bei der Feier des fünfzigjährigen Bestandes [Association of Students at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Historical Review at the Celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary]. Zurich, Switzerland: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
• Liatis, D.; Pantazidou, P.; Dimitriadis, P.; Koutsoyiannis, D.; Chinis, E. (2017). "Παύλος Σαντορίνης (1893-1986, Καθηγητής στο ΕΜΠ 1946-64)" [Pavlos Santorinis (1893-1986, Professor at NTUA 1946-64)] (in Greek). Athens, Greece: National Technical University of Athens School of Civil Engineering. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2023.