An elevator that goes through the roof and into outer space? Colonies orbiting Earth? A giant hook that swings from the sky and scoops goods and passengers into space?
Impossible! Then again . . .Sixty years ago, men walking on the moon, lie detectors and instant cameras sounded equally implausible to most people. The 1929 predictions, and many more like them, were made in the comic strip "Buck Rogers," set in the year 2429.
On Monday, the grandchildren of one of the cartoon's creators gathered to make new predictions on what would have been Buck's 60th anniversary.
"In 1929, when they came out with the numerous predictions in Buck Rogers, they thought they were 500 years in the future. And (much of it) came true within a century," said Flint Dille, grandson of John Flint Dille, who died in 1957.
Dille and his sister, Lorraine Williams, plan to bring back the strip as well as release a series of books and possibly a movie.
But first, they said, they must revamp the future since much of their grandfather's future has already become reality. So, like their grandfather, the pair assembled a team including scientists and artists to create a world in which to set the stories.
They devised the space elevator, which is a tube that rises from Earth into the outer atmosphere; the sky hook, which would scoop cargo into space; and an environmental suit that would adapt itself to any atmosphere. "It's a classic adventure set in the plausible future," Dille said.