"The art of transferring electrical energy using the natural environment, possibly, will lead to the fact that man will make unprecedented changes on our planet, which, apparently, are taking place on the neighboring planet inhabited by intelligent beings." N. Tesla. Major achievements of the past century (Epoch magazine, 1900).
70 years ago, the heart of the outstanding scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla stopped beating. Many myths and real facts, similar to fiction, are associated with this legendary personality. Among the amazing stories about Tesla's inventions, there is one that found its way into the immortal novel by H. G. Wells, The First Men on the Moon.
The great science fiction writer wrote:
“I have been informed that Mr. Julius Wendigi, a Dutch electrician who, in the hope of discovering a way to communicate with Mars, was experimenting with an apparatus like that used by Mr. Tesla in America, was receiving, day after day, strange fragmentary messages in English, no doubt from Mr. Keyvor. on the moon…
The reader will, of course, remember the interest at the beginning of the new century aroused by the statement of Mr. Nikola Tesla, the famous American electrician, that he received a message from Mars. His statement drew attention to the fact, long known to the entire scientific world, that from some unknown source in world space, electromagnetic waves constantly reach the Earth, similar to the waves used by Signor Marconi in a wireless telegraph. Besides Mr. Tesla, a significant number of other inventors have taken up the improvement of the apparatus for receiving and recording these vibrations, although very few have gone so far as to recognize them as signals coming from a transmitter outside the Earth …"
Congratulate all of humanity
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It is simply amazing, but in reality Tesla was the first in the world to talk about the principles of organizing interplanetary communication at the end of the nineteenth century. It was then, the inventor believed, that he managed to exchange radio messages with the inhabitants of Mars or Venus. True, by the end of his life the scientist no longer specified the "address" of the aliens, but spoke about "the spheres of the world or cosmic mind."
In the scientific world, Tesla's interplanetary communication projects met with harsh criticism. However, the opinion of scientists, especially those who did not understand the essence of the issue, did not interest Tesla at all. On the contrary, he began designing equipment mounted on bundles of balloons, which are a kind of colossal variable-capacity air condenser. Now it is difficult to reconstruct the entire circuit from a multitude of coils of flat-bent shapes and sizes, high-frequency resonant transformers and other devices with which the inventor was going to "shake the world electric ether with vibrations of the multimillion-volt electromotive force."
It is known that at his research station in Colorado Springs, Tesla installed a primary circuit of several turns of well-shielded copper busbars around the entire perimeter of the laboratory room. It was with such equipment, the inventor argued, that he managed to overcome earthly limits, send a message "to Mars" and even "get an answer." So, during the next series of experiments on long-range electric resonances, Tesla connected his lamp detectors of electromagnetic radiation and immediately heard the clicking sounds of a metal membrane attached to the cone of an inductor (this resembles modern sound speakers).
In addition, the inventor immediately noted the blinking of the discharge in the vacuum flasks. Not hiding his delight, he immediately sent a lengthy telegram to his friend, the reporter, Julian Hawthorne. In it, he openly asked "to congratulate in his person all mankind on the onset of the stellar moment of receiving the very first unknown impulses emanating from the inhabitants of Mars or other worlds."
Priority dispute
Only later did I have a glimpse of the fact that these signals were directed. Although I could not understand their meaning, I am increasingly convinced that I was the first to hear the greeting from one planet to another.
N. Tesla. Diaries
The nature of the signals noted excluded the possibility of their terrestrial origin, and I also rejected the possibility of the influence of the Sun, Moon, Venus, and even Mars. As I said, the signals were a rhythmic repetition of numbers, and subsequent research convinced me that they came from the unimaginable distant world space, and a number of details that I cannot yet reveal hint that these could be some transcendently otherworldly worlds.
N. Tesla. My New Achievements (New York Times, 1889)
Somewhat later, the journal Epoch published a lengthy philosophical essay by the scientist, in which he described "the incomprehensible power of moonlight when conducting night sessions of extraterrestrial communication with other worlds under amazingly bright stars, magnificent sunsets and falling meteorites."
The article also suggested that the signals could have been sent from Venus or Mars. This publication stirred up the public and sparked controversy between skeptics and enthusiasts who unconditionally believed in the words of the inventor.
Shot from the film "Prestige"
As soon as the notorious "radio dealer" Marconi learned about Tesla's experiments, he immediately spoke to reporters, stating that Tesla had received his "record transatlantic radio communications" at his experimental station in Colorado Springs. Indeed, it was on July 28, 1899 - the day Tesla recorded the mysterious radio signals - that Marconi continued his series of advertising and commercial stunts on the Channel for representatives of the British Admiralty and the French Navy.
Absolutely not versed in radio engineering, and even more so in radio physics, the admirals "Italian genius" demonstrated a very simple trick with his "unparalleled and most outstanding invention in the history of mankind - a wireless apparatus for transmitting messages from one ship to another during a battle - over a distance of thousands of miles ". The last phrase is taken from Marconi's advertising brochure, which he previously supplied viewers with in his detailed orchestrated performances.
Wardenclyffe laboratory - 1912
Timber frame of 57 meter tower, weighing 55 tons and diameter 21 meters, designed by WD Crow. It was to be the world's first wireless power station. The only metal part of the structure was a spherical dome.
Construction began in 1901 and was never completed. funding was discontinued. It was demolished in 1917.
Thus, even the most superficial analysis shows that the contribution of the "Italian genius" to "wireless telegraphy" was more than doubtful … However, it cannot be denied that the radio technician had an entrepreneurial spirit who, based on Tesla's patents and Popov's scientific works, organized a successful commercial enterprise in England. When Tesla found out about this, he only noticed:
- This guy is not very picky about the means, because he uses seventeen of my patents, however, let him work …
Popov's reaction was the same:
- Businessmen in science are of little use, but as an engineer Marconi is a thorough imitator …
It's funny, but in the early 20s of the last century, Marconi himself, justifying Popov's exact characterization, he actively engaged in attempts to intercept signals from the nearest planets - Mars and Venus. Upon learning of this, Tesla remarked:
“Naturally, I am very interested in recent reports that these alleged 'planetary signals' are not muted pulses from wireless transmitters. Such hindrances were first noted by me in the last summer of the outgoing century, and in the subsequent period, especially in 1906-1907, their intensity increased sharply.
Radio Voices of the Universe
Although they were weak and insecure, they gave me a firm belief that one day all the inhabitants of the Earth, as one, will raise their eyes to the sky with love and awe, overwhelmed by the joyful news. Brothers! We have a message from another world, unknown and distant. It says: "One … two … three …"
N. Tesla. Major achievements of the past century (magazine "Epoch". 1900)
last years of life
Of course, anyone can scoff at the very possibility of contact with our neighbors in the Universe, for example, with Mars, or consider it a joke, but I have been talking about this very seriously since the very first observations in Colorado Springs.
N. Tesla. Major achievements of the past century (Epoch magazine, 1900)
Meanwhile, the great inventor, continuing to sincerely believe in the extraterrestrial origin of the signals received during electrical resonances, emphasized their unusual nature. For a long time, Tesla believed that the impulses came precisely from Mars. But the more he investigated the mysterious signals, the more he recognized that they could come "directly from the etheric environment of the world around us."
From time to time, a person is born who is both a scientist and a poet. He walks on the ground, but his head rests among the stars. Such people are very rare. One of them was Pythagoras, Newton was only touched by the hand of inspiration, and in our time it is Tesla.
J. O'Neill. A genius over the edge. Nikola Tesla's life
They're not ready yet
The well-known scientific observer Julian Hawthorne noted at the beginning of the last century that one of the most important incidents that ever happened to an inhabitant of the Earth happened to the great inventor - in 1899, during experiments in the mountains of Colorado, he took "three blows", three artificial radio signal. Their origin is still a subject of scientific controversy. Three light blows, one after the other, at regular intervals, moving at the speed of light, were received by him in Colorado from someone from the planet Mars.
Parodying Wells in some way, Hawthorne wrote that no thinking person can doubt that we have been under the close supervision of the inhabitants of Mars and other ancient planets for centuries. Aliens visit us and follow us from year to year, reporting in their homeland: "They are not ready yet!" But Tesla is finally born, and the inhabitants of the stars are watching him work. Perhaps they are directing his discoveries, who knows?
The scientific observer concluded his story about the man who first heard the “voice of heaven” with the words: “Tesla's hopes for a meeting with an extraterrestrial civilization should become a reality, they would significantly expand and beautify the world if they were justified. How about a conversation with Mars? Tesla will fulfill what he was sent to Earth for."
Oleg FAYG
"Secrets of the XX century" March 2013