The FBI and the Missing Tesla Papers Page 458

458 Grange Hall, Springfield, Mass on June 4, 1922 under the auspicies of the Friends of Soviet Russia. (1/21/1943)

As a footnote to this discussion, although the FBI graciously provided this researcher with a rather large file on Tesla, very little information from before January 1943 was included. This appears as a possible discrepancy with regards to Hoover's statements, as the implication was that there was a large file on Tesla before he died. In any event, the only letter from an earlier period was written by an FBI agent J. J. Keating on November 28, 1940. It concerned a major New York Times article on Tesla and his death ray, and their fear that foreign agents might try to contact the aging inventor. It is likely that this article and ones like it (referred to above) sparked Hoover's interest in the mysterious inventor. It should be kept in mind, however, that Tesla's discussion of death rays can be traced back to 1915, with the New York Times publishing many articles on this topic through the years (e.g., "Tesla's Invention Like Bolts of Thor," 12/8/1915; "Tesla at 78, Bares New Death-Beam," 7/11/1934). The September 22, 1940 article "Death Ray for Planes," described a new type of power entitled "teleforce...[which] would operate through a beam one one-hundred millionth of a square centimeter in diameter...[which could] melt any engine...[or] ignite the explosives aboard any bomber.... A dozen...plants...would be enough to defend the country against all possible aerial attack" (Section 2, p. 7). The article also described in more detail the four basic principles to the death beam, e.g., (1) a method for producing rays in free air without a vacuum; (2) a way to generate a very great electrical force; (3) a method for amplifying the force; (4) a method for producing a tremendous electrical propelling force.

Abraham Spanel and Bloyce Fitzgerald. On January 8th, a Mr. Abraham N. Spanel, President of National Latex Corporation of Dover, Delaware, who was residing in New York City at the time, had called the FBI agent Fredrich Cornels to discuss Tesla's experiments, especially the death ray, as the inventor had just died and Spanel feared that Kosanovich would obtain the papers and pass them to the enemy (Cornels, 1/9/1943).

Spanel (who a few years later, during the Joseph McCarthy search for alleged Communists, would be questioned by the FBI as a possible Soviet liaison), also contacted Dr. D. Lozado, an advisor to Vice President Wallace and a Mr. Bopkin of the Department of Justice, who said he would personally call J. Edgar Hoover regarding the affair.