Nikola Tesla Patents
1 T 1 T not conclusive 5 failed failed to respond, when they should have done so, and, upon inquiring into the causes of this unexpected behavior I discovered it to be due to the presence of which were electrical waves produced in the Earth by the lightning discharges and which had nodal regions following at definite distances the shifting source of the disturbances. From data obtained in a large number of observations of tained maxima and inima of these waves, I found their length to vary approximately from sixteen to forty miles, and these results and certain theoretical deductions led me to the conclusion that waves of this kind may be propagated all over the globe and that they may be of still more widely differing lengths, according to the conditions under which they are produced, the extreme limit of wavelength being imposed by the physical dimensions and properties of the Earth. times Recognizing in the existence of these waves an unmistakable evidence that the disturbances created had been propagated from their origin to far remote portions of the globe and had been thence reflected, I conceived the ideal of producing such waves in the Earth by artificial means, with the object of utilizing them for many useful purposes for which they are or might be found applicable. This problem was rendered extremely difficult, owing to the immense dimensions of the globe and consequently enormous movement of electricity or rate at which electrical energy had to be delivered in order to approximate even in a remote degree movements or rates, which are manifestly attained in the displays of electrical forces in -3[This page retyped from microfilm for better readability - Ed.] 521
