Nikola Tesla FBI Files - Page 4

NYTIMES 9/14/40 "Death Ray" for Planes Nikola Tesle, one of the truly great invintors who celebrated his eighty-forth birthday on July 10, tells the writer that he stands ready to divulge to the United States Government the secret of his teleforce," with which, he said, airplane motors would be melted at a distance of 250 miles, so that an invisible Chinese Wall of Defense would be built around the country against any attempted attack by an enemy air force, no matter how large. generated from a special plant that would cost no more than $2,000,000 and would take only about three months to construct. Such a Device "Invaluable" After all, $2,000,000 would be relatively a very small aum compared with what is at stake. If Mr. Tesla This "teleforce," he said, is based really fulfills his promise the reon an entirely new principle of sult achieved would be truly stagphysics that "no one has ever gering. Not only would it save bildreamed about," different from the lions now planned for air defense, principle embodied in his inventions by making the country absolutely relating to the transmission of alacimpregnable against any air attack, trical power from a distance, for but it would also save many more which he has received a number of billions in property that would basio patents. This new type of otherwise be surely destroyed no force, Mr. Teala said, would opermatter how strong the defenses are ate through a beam one one-hun-as witness current events in Engdred-millionth of a square cantiland. meter in diameter, and could be A dozen such plants, located at strategie points along the coast, so cording to Mr. Tesla, would be enough to defend the country against all possible aerial attack. The beam would melt any engine, whether Diesel or gasoline-driven, and would also ignite the explosives aboard any bomber. No possible defense against it could be devised, he asserts, as the beam would be all-penetrating. 200 A Boutijn; a second proosse for producing ory reat slectrical force": the third amethed for amplifying this Sorce, and the fourth is a new method for producing "a tremendous electrical repelling force." This would be the projector, or gun, of the system. The voltage for propelling the beam to its objec tive, according to the inventor, will attain a potential of 50,000,000, volts. ALL INFORMATION CONTAIND TERMIN IS UNCLASSIFIED LATED AS With this enormous voltage, he said, microscopic electrical particles of matter will be catapulted on their mission of defensive, destruction. He has been working on this invention, he added, for many years and has recently made a number of improvements in it. X Mr. Tesla makes one important stipulation. Should the government decide to take up his offer he would go to work at once, but they would have to trust him. He would suffer "no interference from experts." In ordinary times such condition would very likely interpose an insuperable obstacle. But times being what they are, and with the nation getting ready to spend billions for ational defense, at the same time taking in consideration the reputation of Mr. Tesla as an inventor who always wu many years ahead of his time, the ques tion arises whether it may not be advisable to take Mr. Tesla at his word and commission him to go ahead with the construction of his teleforce plant. BYSDI SEMES Considering the probabilities in the case even if the chances were 100,000 to 1 against Mr. Teals the odds would still be largely in favor of taking a chance on spending $2.000.000. In the opinion of the writer, who has known Mr. Tesla for many years and can testify that he still retains full intellectual High Vacuum Eliminated livigor, the authorities in charge of The beam, he states, involves four busing the national defense should new inventions, two of which al at once look into the matter. The ready have been tested. One of sum is insignificant compared with these is a method and apparatus the magnitude of the stake. A Take, for example, the Panama Canal. No matter how strong the defenses, a suicide squadron of dive bombers, according to some perts, might succeed in getting through and cause such damage that would make the Canal unusable, in which case our Navy might find itself bottled up. 100-2237-1