Nikola Tesla's Thoughts On Extraterrestrial Contact & The Signals He Received

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In 1931, Nikola Tesla made the following comments in an interview with Time Magazine,

“I think that nothing can be more important than interplanetary communication. It will certainly come someday, and the certitude that there are other human beings in the universe, working, suffering, struggling, like ourselves, will produce a magic effect on mankind and will form the foundation of a universal brotherhood that will last as long as humanity itself.”

Throughout his life, Tesla was fascinated with the idea of possibly one-day establishing communication with beings from other planets. In fact, you could say that this possibility excited him the most based on the way he wrote and spoke about it.

“The retrospect is glorious, the prospect inspiring: Much might be said of both. But one idea dominates my mind. This - my best, my dearest - is for your noble cause. I have observed electrical actions, which have appeared inexplicable. Faint and uncertain though they were, they have given me a deep conviction and foreknowledge that ere long all human beings on this globe, as one, will turn their eyes to the firmament above, with feelings of love and reverence, thrilled by the glad news: “Brethren! We have a message from another world, unknown and remote.”

- Nikola Tesla, 1900

In 1899, Tesla recorded some very odd signals from outer space at his laboratory in Colorado Springs. He was certain the signals were coming from an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization.

Nikola Tesla’s Colorado Springs Laboratory

Today, this idea is crazy to most people, but just imagine thinking about and sharing this possibility in 1899 with people that would not understand the depth of Tesla’s genius.

“Surrounded by a cloud of sensationalism, the controversial question of cosmic radio signals has probably spawned the greatest test of Tesla’s credibility among professional scientists. In spite of the fact that Lord Kelvin, himself, stood with his old friend and proclaimed that he was in complete agreement with Tesla on this matter, the issue of “the Martian signals” is still exploited by misguided cynics to ridicule Nikola Tesla today. Tragically, many of Tesla’s severest critics are woefully unaware of his professional credentials, activities, and stature in the scientific and industrial communities of his day.”

- Nikola Tesla and the Planetary Radio Signals, Keneth L. Corum and James F. Corum, Ph.D.

Tesla discovered the signals as he was tracking thunderstorms 600 miles away from his location. He heard beeps he had never heard before - a three-beep sequence in mathematical form.

He reported his findings two years later in an article published by Collier’s Weekly in February of 1901 titled, “Talking With The Planets.” In fact, the experience in 1899 was so profound to Tesla that he became obsessed with trying to receive signals and communicating with beings from other planets.

According to Collier’s Weekly at the time, interplanetary communication has interested Tesla for years, and “he sees no reason why we should not soon be within talking distance of Mars or of all worlds in the solar system that may be tenanted by intelligent beings.”

“I can never forget the first sensations I experienced when it dawned upon me that I had observed something possibly of incalculable consequences to mankind. I felt as though I were present at the birth of a new knowledge or the revelation of a great truth. Even now, at times, I can vividly recall the incident, and see my apparatus as though it were actually before me. My first observations positively terrified me, as there was present in them something mysterious, not to say supernatural, and I was alone in my laboratory at night; but at that time the ideas of these disturbances being intelligently controlled signals did not yet present itself to me.

The changes I noted were taking place periodically, and with such a clear suggestion of number and order that they were not traceable to any cause then known to me. I was familiar, of course, with such electrical disturbances as are produced by the sun, Aurora Borealis and earth currents, and I was sure as I could be of any fact that these variations were due to none of these causes. The nature of my experiments precluded the possibility of the changes being produced by atmospheric disturbances. as has been rashly asserted by some. It was some time afterwards when the thought flashed upon my mind that the disturbances I had observed might be due to an intelligent control.

Although I could not decipher their meaning, it was impossible for me to think of them as having been entirely accidental. The feeling is constantly growing on me that I had been the first to hear the greeting of one planet to another…I was not merely beholding a vision, but had caught sight of a great and profound truth.

A purpose was behind these electrical signals; and it was with this conviction that I announced to the Red Cross Society when it asked me to identify one of the great possible achievements of the next hundred years, that it would probably be the confirmation and interpretation of this planetary challenge to us. Since my return to New York more urgent work has consumed all my attention; but I never cease to think of those experiences and of the observations made in Colorado.

I am constantly endeavouring to improve and perfect my apparatus, and just as soon as practicable I shall again take up my investigations at the point where I have been forced to lay it down for a time…Absolute certitude as to the receipt and interchange of messages would be reached as soon as we could respond with the number ‘four,’ say, in reply to the signal ‘one, two, three".”

- Nikola Tesla, Talking With The Planets

Even two decades after the incident he was still sharing the same message in a letter to the Editors of the Electrical World in 1921,

“Irrespective of astronomical and electrical evidences, such as have been obtained by the late Percival Lowell and myself, there is a solid foundation for a systematic attempt to establish communication with one of our heavenly neighbors, as Mars, which through some inventions of mine is reduced to a comparatively simple problem of electrical engineering. Others may scoff at this suggestion or treat it as a practical joke, but I have been in deep earnest about it ever since I made the first observations at my wireless plant in Colorado Springs from 1889 to 1900. Those who are interested in the subject may be referred to my articles in the Century Magazine of June, 1900, Collier’s Weekly of Feb. 9, 1901, the Harvard Illustrated Magazine of March, 1907, the New York Times of May 23, 1909, and the New York Herald of Oct. 12, 1919.

At the time I carried on those investigations there existed no wireless plant on the globe other than mine, at least none that could produce a disturbance perceptible in a radius of more than a few miles. Furthermore, the conditions under which I operated were ideal, and I was well-trained for the work. The arrangement of my receiving apparatus and the character of the disturbances recorded precluded the possibility of their being of terrestrial origin, and I also eliminated the influence of the sun, moon and Venus. As I then announced, the signals consisted in a regular repetition of numbers, and subsequent study convinced me that they must have emanated from Mars, this planet having been just then close to the Earth.

Since 1900 I have spent a great deal of my time in trying to develop a thoroughly practical apparatus for the purpose and have evolved numerous designs.”

The signals Tesla received in 1899 in his Colorado Springs Laboratory are still heavily debated. Many academics and experts in the field argue and claim to know what he probably came across, and many believe Tesla may have had the correct interpretation.

What about after? I’d like to draw your attention to some declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation Documents (FBI) that were kept by the agency pertaining to Tesla. The document is a record of an "Interplanetary Sessions Newsletter" from 1957. The newsletter seems to be a printed promotion of a lecture to be given by George Van Tassel.

The newsletter appears to be written by writer Margaret Storm, along with what appears to be her husband, John.

What's interesting to ask is, why was the FBI so interested to the point where they documented these meetings, discussions and gatherings? Why did they keep records of this specific newsletter? Is it because they had a heavy interest in the UFO/extraterrestrial phenomenon?

Remember, this is from the 1950s. Today we now know that governments and intelligence agencies, like the FBI, have had a long and documented interest in the phenomenon that dates back decades.

Part of the document reads as follows,

“Margaret Storm has been assigned to certain work with the Space People, she is writing a book - Return of the Dove - a story of the life of Nikola Tesla, scientist, and the part his inventions will play in the New Age. Much of the data for this book has been supplied to Mrs. Storm through transcripts received on the Tesla set, a radio-type machine invented by Tesla in 1938 for Interplanetary Communication. Tesla died in 1943 and his engineers did not build the Tesla set until after his death. It was placed in operation in 1950 and since that time the Tesla engineers have been in close touch with space ships. The Space People have visited the Tesla engineers many times, and have told us that Tesla was a Venusian, brought to this planet as a baby, in 1856, and left with Mr. and Mrs. Tesla in a remote mountain province in what is now Yugoslavia. Tesla's connection with the Space People...was not revealed until 1950.”

Take note of the part that reads, “[...] on the Tesla set, a radio-type machine invented by Tesla in 1938 for Interplanetary Communication. Tesla died in 1943 and his engineers did not build the Tesla set until after his death.”

This is intriguing because, in the letter to the Editors of the Electrical World in 1921 shown above, Tesla clearly shows that he had been working on a number of devices to establish interplanetary communication.

Obviously, the last part of what’s quoted above is hard to believe and may lead some to instantly dismiss the possibility, and that’s completely understandable. It’s highly questionable, but what is not is Tesla’s passion, belief and interest in beings from other worlds and attempting to make contact with them.

As far as George Van Tassel goes, he had a long career in aviation, starting off with Douglas Aircraft and then moving on to Hughes and finishing with Lockheed. In the early 50's he went public claiming he had contact experiences with people from space.

According to him, these beings issued warnings of destruction given humanity's ways along with messages of universal peace. After this, they apparently began instructing Tassel on constructing a building that could reverse the aging process. It was called "The Integratron" and the project consumed all of his time. The building still stands in California today.

He claimed the instructions for the device came from extraterrestrials from the planet Venus. He apparently died of a heart attack shortly before the first demonstration was set to take place.

This was also around the time when many prominent scientists were speaking about the phenomenon. Hermann Oberth for example, the founding father of rocketry and astronautics, also known as the 'father of Spaceflight' stated his belief that "flying saucers are real" and that "they are space ships from another solar system. I think that they possibly are manned by intelligent observers who are members of a race that may have been investigating our Earth for centuries."

He wrote these words in “Flying Saucers Come From A Distant World”, The American  Weekly, Oct 24, 1954 and expressed that ‘the UFOs are a kind of sentinel, here simply to observe and report; because a humankind which is as gifted as inventors and researchers as we are, yet has remained politically and morally on our stage of development, constitutes a threat to the entire cosmos.”

What are your thoughts? Please share in the comments section below!