Nikola Tesla and the Death Ray

TMG has been investigating into Nikola Tesla recently. We’ve researched into his documentaries, movies and articles about Tesla and his infamous Death Ray; a device he was creating that could annihilate a million-man army within a single blast! Conspiracy and rumour theory runs high with Tesla and his Death Ray because certain communities have gone into great lengths to conceal the truth of Nikola’s work. It was only recently that the FBI released certain classified documents relating to Tesla’s work. 

Investigators now have the opportunity to really scour through these newly published documents and discover whether the Death Ray was real and whether Tesla managed to build the device. 

You may not know this but Nikola Tesla’s theory and inventions were the foundations of allowing our world to technologically advance. If it wasn’t for him, simple things we take for granted, like using our mobile phones, might have not been developed as sophisticatedly as it has today.

Who was Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was born 10th July 1856 and died 7th January 1943. He was born in what we know today as Croatia. From an early age, he suffered from mental illness. His brother was killed in a riding accident, and it is claimed that he began to report seeing visions. 

Tesla immigrated to the United States and was hired as an engineer in 1884 by Thomas Edison. He eventually ventured on his own with the help of backers to research into alternating currents. 

In the 1890’s, Tesla invented electric oscillators, meters, improved lights and the high-voltage transforms known as the Tesla Coil.  He experimented with x-rays, gave short-range demonstrations of radio communication and piloted a radio controlled boat around a pool. Most of his inventions and experiments are still being used today. Tesla’s inventions allowed for future technological advancements in radio, phone, space and submarines.

The Death Ray – the ultimate weapon of war?

Tesla’s announcement of the Death Ray weapon was during the Second World War. So, you can imagine tensions were high, especially as governments were plotting against one another. 

Resonant transformer in faraday cage. Tesla coil.

If you want to, you can read the classified documents published by the FBI here: – https://vault.fbi.gov/nikola-tesla 

What remains to be answered is whether the death ray was intended to act as a weapon of war or was Tesla working on something as innocent as a communication network? (at one point he was supposedly trying to build a communication network that would provide free electricity around the world). With the backing of J.P.Morgan, he began working on a global communications network centred on a giant tower at Wardenclyffe. Was it through the communications network that brought the beginning of the death ray? 

Never before seen documents have now been released by the FBI, which could give some insight into Nikola Tesla and the Death Ray. Nikola claimed his latest creation could annihilate a million-man army in a single blast! Or was he becoming delusional as his illness worsened with age?

Tesla told the US government he would build the ‘death beam’ on one condition ‘[he] would not suffer interference from any experts.’ 

‘They would have to trust me.’

The government didn’t agree. We don’t know if he actually completed or even started to build the Death Ray. However, on his death in January 1943, governments couldn’t risk any of this information being leaked if there was any truth to it. The government seized Tesla’s papers and kept them classified for years out of fear it would fall into the hands of American enemies and they would use it for technical military advancements to defeat them.

After three-quarters of a century, the militaries of the world still haven’t been able to match the ‘death ray’, as real-life directed energy weapons are still in their infantry. 

Even if Tesla didn’t have real or practical plans for a death ray, to avoid any risks the government was probably right to keep his documents hidden in case it fell into the wrong hands. There are even suspicions/theories of him being murdered. More likely, it was due to his age and ill health. Having said that, we still believe even if the Death Ray wouldn’t have worked – at least in theory, Tesla attempted to create a weapon of sort, maybe he was thinking it would be his ultimate invention – one last hoorah! Nevertheless, there are still some questions in the later part of his life, including things like missing documents upon his death, that haven’t been answered including stolen documents from a safe in the room in which he died.

Ultimately, we should admire the man and the achievements he created throughout his life. If it wasn’t for him, the world may not be as we know it today – we wouldn’t have the technology we use today or not as advanced. You could argue someone else would have eventually done it, but it takes a certain level of crazy and intelligence to pull of some of his act’s. He should be someone, all gentleman, should at least have some knowledge of and respect what he achieved for the modern world in the realm of technology and how we use them today.

Do you think Nikola Tesla was a genius of his time or someone who suffered mentally? Do you have any theories about the Death Ray and do you think he actually created one?  

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) on 5 Novih Dinara 1994 Banknote From Yugoslavia. Best known as the Father of Physics.