The mysterious explosion that thundered on June 30, 1908 in the Podkamennaya Tunguska area has been the subject of discussions for researchers for more than a century. During this period, many versions have been put forward about its origin. And one of them is associated with the name of the famous scientist Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).
Tunguska riddle
In the early morning of June 30, 1908, a large fireball appeared in the sky near the village of Vanavara, which swept over the Yenisei in the direction from southeast to northwest. The flight was followed by a deafening explosion. Trees have fallen over an area of over 2,000 kilometers. Observatories all over the world have recorded a powerful blast wave, which knocked out the glass in the windows of houses that stood hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter …
The most common version of the nature of the explosion today is a meteorite fall. However, no meteorite fragments were found. What could the physicist Nikola Tesla have to do with this event?
Lord of lightning
In 1882, in Paris, Tesla built the first model of an AC-based induction generator. And in 1884 he went to conquer America.
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One of Tesla's patented inventions was a system for transmitting electricity by means of alternating polyphase current. In his laboratory, in front of eyewitnesses, he juggled with luminous bunches of energy, similar to ball lightning …
In 1898, as an experiment, the scientist attached to an attic iron beam in the building where his laboratory was located, a device that caused a strong vibration. The walls of the surrounding houses shook, people in panic began to run out into the street … "I could bring down the Brooklyn Bridge in an hour," the researcher boasted. And he said that with the help of his developments it is possible to split the globe, it is enough just to build a suitable vibrator and carry out accurate calculations …
At the end of the 19th century, a tower was erected in Colorado Springs, on top of which was a large copper sphere. Lightning flashed around her every now and then and thunderous rumbles sounded: it was Tesla who was engaged in the generation of electrical potentials. Electric charge without any wires at once lit 200 light bulbs at a distance of 25 miles … However, the experiments did not last long: when the generator at the local power plant collapsed because of them, they had to be stopped.
Tesla was forced to return back to New York.
In 1900, banker John Pierpont Morgan commissioned a scientist to build the World Station for Wireless Power Transmission.
The project was named "Wardenclyffe". According to the plan of the researcher, the station was supposed to supply electricity to anywhere in the world, reflecting it from the ionosphere. To use the energy for its intended purpose, it was enough to have a receiving installation. Using the same system, it would be possible to broadcast any information to the entire globe, as well as make phone calls to any part of the world … That is, a system similar to the Internet could have appeared at the beginning of the last century!
On Long Island, a 57-meter-high frame tower was erected. At the top of the tower was a huge copper "plate" - a transmitter-amplifier. A steel shaft 36 meters deep was located under the structure.
The trial run of the installation took place in 1905. "Tesla lit the sky over the ocean for thousands of miles!" The press shouted enthusiastically.
Loss-making project
In the spring of 1908 Tesla wrote to the editor of the New York Times: "… Even now, my wireless power plants can turn any part of the world into an area not suitable for living …"
On the night of June 30, unusual silvery pulsating clouds were seen over the territory of Canada and Northern Europe. A similar phenomenon was observed during Tesla's laboratory experiments in Colorado Springs.
Was it Tesla that turned out to be the real culprit of the Tunguska catastrophe? Maybe the fall of the meteorite has nothing to do with it? In any case, such a version has the right to exist …
Meanwhile, Tesla's "sponsor" John Pierpont Morgan realized that special commercial benefits from the project could not yet be expected, and stopped funding. Tesla sold part of his scientific patents for an astronomical amount of $ 15 million, opened his own laboratory in New York and continued research …
Unfortunately, after the death of the scientist, most of his archives disappeared. It is believed that they were taken by FBI officers. Although some information about Tesla's developments still became public. So, recently the American engineer Gregory Leigh from Stanford University built "Tesla's Electric Tower" capable of emitting artificial lightning …
