Why are these not a thing now? I mean come on. This video is from 1961. In the last 60 years what have our scientists and inventors been doing?
The Bell Rocket Belt was supposed to be our ticket to becoming real-life Iron Man. This futuristic gizmo was basically a mini jetpack you strapped onto your back, filled with hydrogen peroxide and BOOM – you were airborne for all of, like, 20 seconds.
Created by Bell Aerosystems, it made its debut with a look as snazzy as its concept. But – and there’s always a but – maneuvering it was incredibly tricky, like trying to balance on one leg while juggling flaming torches.
And then the fun police, aka the U.S. Army, pulled the plug on development. Why? Turns out, hovering a few feet off the ground for mere seconds wasn’t all that useful in combat (who’d have thought?). Plus, the risk of turning soldiers into human firecrackers was a tad high. So, new wave of personal jetpacks canceled. Thanks, safety regulations.
