Soon after his arrival in 1976 in the USA, scientist Thomas Jerome Newton revolutionized with his inventions and patents several areas such as aerospace, electronics, television or various advanced technologies. After the failure of his independent spacecraft project at the end of the 70's, he retired from public life and became a cult figure in the scientific community. His name was spoken like a secret shared by a few insiders, without anyone knowing where he was and what had become of him. His company (World Enterprise) was dissolved into several smaller, specialized units. We do not know if Newton is still involved in their activity, his name having disappeared from all registers.
Becoming a sort of Howard Hughes of the 21st century, the very existence of Newton was debated. His silence had become legendary. Any photograph, film or document about him became virtually unobtainable. Newton was able to delete or have all traces of his existence erased. It was only a few months ago that T.J. Newton suddenly made his return through an autobiographical book. It is to say the least an amazing and spectacular one even if the general public has not yet been aware of it. This autobiography published in the USA entitled "Daedalus to Icarus (From the Sky to the Maze)" reveals not only how he became one of the most influential industrialists of the century (and the most discrete) or what he had done since his retirement but above all who he was before 1976. And where he actually came from...
Newton's revelations are troubling because he claims to come from a different planetary system than our own. Some may remember that at the time the investigations lead by several journalists intrigued by the gentleman had revealed no traces of Newton's upbringing in England where he claimed to come from, nor had any documents certifying of his existence before his arrival in the USA been discovered. The articles had also questioned the ability of one, relatively young, man to revolutionize so many areas of science in such a short time without having graduated from any of the subject related universities. The comparison with a modern days Nikola Tesla whose inventions had quickly become indispensable and unavoidable was enough to make the controversy disappear. Despite a persistent silence for nearly 30 years, one of the latest rumors insinuated that Newton had in recent years worked closely with various space agencies which would had allowed them to localize several planetary systems similar to our own. But nothing more.
"Time" magazine is now preparing a big interview which should allow Newton to speak for the first time about his revelations, his secrets but also about a number of issues and questions we probably all ask ourselves. In anticipation of this event, the artist Vuk Vidor who has always been fascinated by the Newton mystery and had had access to certain archives will present a series of works and documents about T.J. Newton. The exhibition will take place in Paris at the Magda Danysz gallery from April 11 to June 6th, 2015.