Top aerospace firms Lockheed and Ryan Aeronautical both had designs for their own flying saucers. In 1953 engineer Nathan C. Price filed two patents on behalf of Lockheed for supersonic, VTOL capable, circular-wing aircraft. The Ryan Aeronautical saucer concept was particularly intriguing as it was intended to be a craft capable of leaving the Earth’s atmosphere utilizing a combination chemical and electric propulsion system. During the 1950s there was talk in the aerospace industry about the...