Nikola Tesla Books
CHAPTER FOURTEEN lightning. I tensed myself in anticipation of another flash when I realized that something peculiar was happening. Around me the wind and rain had ceased and I felt terribly isolated. I looked at a nearby tree and realized that it was no longer bent by the wind but upright and quivering, with each leaf set in violent motion to and fro. At the same time I realized that something was wrong with the scene in front of me for the whole area seemed to be filled with black patches - holes in the world, almost. I could swear that these black areas were not created by my own eyes, but were actually located 'out there'. At the same time, I became aware of a strange hissing sound like the sound of a rope being lashed through the air. Then, suddenly, an almighty explosion enveloped me and it was all over; rain and wind returned, and the storm continued as before. - In that frozen instant I had seen no flash, no streak of lightning. I had simply experienced the sound, the pressure of an explosion which seemed to come from no direction but was all around me. I went back inside the cottage and attempted in vain to sort out what had happened. The next morning I looked outside and could only find a few broken branches and twigs which had been ripped from the trees by the force of the storm. Around the cottage there had been no other damage. There was one curious after-effect, however, which I shall record here but which I hesitate to associate with my mysterious experience. That same morning I discovered that the battery in my car was totally dead. The car had been driven regularly and had worked perfectly the day before. The ignition was still switched off and no lights or other electrical apparatus had been left on by mistake, but the battery had totally discharged. I had owned the car for a couple of years and it remained with me for two or three years more. In all that time I experienced nothing similar with this same battery. In the depths of winter I had almost drained it with a few false starts of the engine and, while there would not be sufficient current to turn the starter, the clock and radio would still run and the lights glow faintly. But that morning the battery was totally dead and the clock stopped at around eleven o'clock. Since I had used the car on the previous day, the clock must have stopped the previous night - around the time of the storm. Very strange! The next morning I realized the connection between Puharich's remarks 124
