The Black Box Inventor Was Told to Drop the Idea

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/space-age/the-inventor-of-the-black-box-was-told-to-drop-the-idea-and-get-on-with-blowing-up-fuel-tanks

Warren was studying for his amateur radio license when a World War II ban on hobby radio forced him to redirect his efforts to chemistry sets.

But when Warren gave his supervisor Technical Memorandum 142, describing the use of a wire to record several minutes of cockpit conversation, his boss showed no enthusiasm. Warren was told to pass the idea to the instruments group and “get on with blowing up fuel tanks,” as Warren was quoted in a 2019 BBC News article.