British Rail once patented a design for a bizarre and apparently impractical nuclear flying saucer.
The spacecraft, "powered by laser-controlled thermonuclear fusion", would have provided a much more interesting commute. Unfortunately the fusion process that was to provide the craft's power did not exist at the time of filing, and remains experimental even today.
But that didn't deter inventor Charles Osmond Frederick from filing the patent on behalf of British Rail in 1973. It was apparently discovered by an "unnamed student".
According to The Register, the patent probably remained hidden for so long because it concerned nuclear technology and was filed during the Cold War.
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