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{{Short description|Proposed defensive weapon by Nikola Tesla}}
{| class="infobox" style="width:22em;"
{{original research|date=January 2012}}
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! colspan="2" style="font-size:larger;background:gainsboro;" |Teleforce
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
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'''Disciplines:'''
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* ], ]
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| colspan="2" | '''Core tenets:'''
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| colspan="2" |
* Nikola Tesla developed a working charged ].
|-
| '''Year proposed:'''
| c. 1937
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
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'''Original proponents:'''
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* Nikola Tesla
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
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'''Current proponents:'''
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* Tesla scholars
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
|}


'''Teleforce''' is a proposed defensive weapon by ] that accelerated pellets or slugs of material to a high velocity inside a vacuum chamber via ] repulsion and then fired them out of aimed nozzles at intended targets. Tesla claimed to have conceived of it after studying the ].<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite news | title= Tesla's Ray |work=Time |date= 23 July 1934}}</ref><ref name="seifer1">{{cite web|last=Seifer|first=Marc|title=Tesla's "Death Ray" Machine|url=http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tesla/esp_tesla_2.htm|publisher=bibliotecapleyades.net|accessdate=4 July 2012}}</ref> Tesla described the weapon as being able to be used against ground-based infantry or for anti-aircraft purposes.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite news | title= Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla's Claim on 78th Birthday |work=New York Times |date= 11 July 1934 }}</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite news | title= 'Death Ray' for Planes |work=New York Times |date= 22 September 1940 }}</ref>
'''Teleforce''' was ]'s charged ] ], first mentioned publicly in the '']'' on ], ].


==Introduction== ==Description==
Tesla described ''Teleforce'''s operation in 1934, specifying its superiority to the ]s believed to exist at the time: <blockquote>My apparatus projects particles which may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can thus be transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that nothing can resist.<ref name="AmtEW">{{cite web|title=A Machine to End War|url=https://www.pbs.org/tesla/res/res_art11.html|publisher=]|work=Tesla - Master of Lightning}}</ref> The nozzle would send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 200 miles from a defending nation's border and will cause armies to drop dead in their tracks.<ref name=autogenerated3 /><ref name=autogenerated2 /></blockquote>


In a letter that was written to ] on November 29, 1934, Tesla described the weapon:
The term teleforce refers to Nikola Tesla's macroscopic charged particle beam projector. The device was based upon a large ] generator of unique design and a special type of open-ended vacuum tube. It comprised a system for the acceleration of minute tungsten or mercury particles to a velocity of about 48 times the speed of sound. The projectiles were propelled out of the tube by ] ].
From Tesla's words, written in a letter to ], on ], ], it can be seen the device was intended for use in national defense.


: “I have made recent discoveries of inestimable value. . . . The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much that in some cities, as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I have perfected afford absolute protection against this and other forms of attack. ... These new discoveries, which I have carried out experimentally on a limited scale, have created a profound impression. One of the most pressing problems seems to be the protection of London and I am writing to some influential friends in England hoping that my plan will be adopted without delay. The Russians are very anxious to render their borders safe against Japanese invasion and I have made them a proposal which is being seriously considered.” <blockquote>I have made recent discoveries of inestimable value... The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much that in some cities, as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I have perfected afford absolute protection against this and other forms of attack. ... These new discoveries, which I have carried out experimentally on a limited scale, have created a profound impression. One of the most pressing problems seems to be the protection of London and I am writing to some influential friends in England hoping that my plan will be adopted without delay. The Russians are very anxious to render their borders safe against Japanese invasion and I have made them a proposal which is being seriously considered.<ref>. Retrieved 2013-12-03</ref></blockquote>


In 1937, Tesla wrote a treatise, "''The Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-dispersive Energy through the Natural Media''",<ref> -- System of Particle Acceleration for Use in National Defense.</ref> concerning ] weapons.<ref name="Seifer454">{{cite book |title=Wizard: the life and times of Nikola Tesla: biography of a genius |last=Seifer |first=Marc J |year=2001 |publisher=Citadel |page=454 |isbn=978-0-8065-1960-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2DTNDFcC14C}}</ref> Tesla published the document in an attempt to expound on the technical description of a ']" that would put an end to all war." This treatise is currently in the ] archive in ]. It describes an open-ended vacuum tube with a gas jet seal that allows particles to exit, a method of charging particles to millions of volts, and a method of creating and directing non-dispersive particle streams (through ] repulsion).<ref name="Seifer454" />
==Critical inventions==


== "Death ray" misnomer ==
According to Tesla production of the particle beam is dependent upon four inventions of the following nature:
Teleforce was mentioned publicly in the '']'' and '']'' on July 11, 1934.<ref name=polyphase>{{cite news |title=Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla's Claim On 78th Birthday |url=http://www.tesla-coil-builder.com/Articles/jul_11_1934b.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201211113/http://www.tesla-coil-builder.com/Articles/jul_11_1934b.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 1, 2010 |publisher=] |date=July 11, 1934 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tesla, At 78, Bares New 'Death-Beam'. Invention Powerful Enough to Destroy 10,000 Planes 250 Miles Away, He Asserts. Defensive Weapon Only. Scientist, in Interview, Tells of Apparatus That He Says Will Kill Without Trace |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0817FD3E5B107A93C3A8178CD85F408385F9 |quote=Nikola Tesla, father of modern methods of generation and distribution of electrical energy, who was 78 years old yesterday, announced a new invention, or inventions, which he said, he considered the most important of the 700 made by him so far. |newspaper=] |accessdate=2012-09-04 }}</ref> The press called it a "peace ray" or ].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news | title= Tesla, at 78, Bares New 'Death-Beam' |work=New York Times |date= 11 July 1934 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0817FD3E5B107A93C3A8178CD85F408385F9 }}</ref><ref name=autogenerated6>{{cite news | title= Tesla Invents Peace Ray |work=New York Sun |date= 10 July 1934 }}</ref> The idea of a "death ray" was a misunderstanding in regard to Tesla's term when he referred to his invention as a "death beam" so Tesla went on to explain that "this invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so-called 'death rays.' Rays are not applicable because they cannot be produced in requisite quantities and diminish rapidly in intensity with distance. All the energy of New York City (approximately two million horsepower) transformed into rays and projected twenty miles, could not kill a human being, because, according to a well known law of physics, it would disperse to such an extent as to be ineffectual. My apparatus projects particles ..."<ref name="AmtEW"/>


<blockquote>What set Tesla's proposal apart from the usual run of fantasy "death rays" was a unique vacuum chamber with one end open to the atmosphere. Tesla devised a unique vacuum seal by directing a high-velocity air stream at the tip of his gun to maintain "high vacua". The necessary pumping action would be accomplished with a large ].<ref name="AWtEW"/></blockquote>
# A method and apparatus for producing rays and other manifestations of energy in free air, eliminating the high vacuum necessary at present for the production of such rays and beams. This is accomplished with a novel form of high ], one end of which is open to the atmosphere. The projectiles are accelerated in a vacuum and then conducted into the atmosphere through a ] ].
# A method and process for producing very great electrical force in the range of 60,000,000 volts to propel the particles to their objective. Tesla specified that this could be done with a large electrostatic generator on a new principle and of very great power, in many respects similar to a ]. In place of a charge-carrying belt it employs a circulating stream of desiccated air that is propelled through a hermetically sealed ductwork by a Tesla disc blower. A Wardenclyffe type apparatus could also be used for this purpose.
# A method for amplifying this process in the second invention. The exterior of the high potential terminal is equipped with numerous bulbs of some insulating material each containing, “an electrode of thin metal sheet suitably rounded” and “exhausted to the highest vacuum obtainable.”
# A new method for producing a tremendous electrical repelling force. It appears this would be applied to the projector or ''gun'' element of the system in the form of “provisions for imparting to a minute particle an extremely high charge.” While the specific details about this aspect of the design are not readily apparent, it seems that strict attention to the fulfillment of requirements 1, 2 and 3 is critical to success. In Tesla’s words, “by the application of my discoveries it is possible to increase the force of repulsion more than a million times and what was heretofore impossible is rendered easy of accomplishment.” <ref>Tesla, Nikola, “].”</ref>, <ref>'' Leland Anderson and Gary Peterson, editors, Twenty First Century Books, 1998.</ref>
The tube would project a single row of highly charged particles and there would be no dispersion, even at great distance. Because the cross section of the charge carriers could be reduced to almost microscopic dimensions and since the charged particles would self-focus via "]," an immense concentration of energy, practically irrespective of distance, could be attained. In 1940 Tesla estimated that each station would cost no more than $2,000,000 and could have been constructed in a few months. <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title='Death Ray' for Planes |url=http://uforeview.tripod.com/tesladeathray2.html |quote=Nikola Tesla, one of the truly great inventors who celebrated his eighty-fourth birthday on July 10, tells the writer that he stands ready to divulge to the United States government the secret of his 'teleforce,' of which he said, 'airplane motors would be melted at a distance of 250 miles, so that an invisible 'Chinese Wall of Defense' would be built around the country against any enemy attack by an enemy air force, no matter how large.' |publisher=] |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>


==Components of Teleforce==
==Quotes==


In total, the components and methods included:
* “When put in operation Dr. Tesla said this latest invention of his would make war impossible. This death-beam, he asserted, would surround each country like an invisible Chinese wall, only a million times more impenetrable. It would make every nation impregnable against attack by airplanes or by large invading armies.
: “But while it will make every nation safe against any attack by a would-be invader, Dr. Tesla added, the death-beam by its nature could not be employed similarly as a weapon for offense. For this death-beam, he explained, could be generated only from large, stationary and immovable power plants, stationed in the manner of old-time forts at various strategic distances from each country's border. They could not be moved for the purposes of attack.
: “An exception, however, he added, must be made in the case of battleships, which, he said, would be able to equip themselves with smaller plants for generating the death-beam, with enough power to destroy any airplane approaching for attack from the air.” <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Tesla, at 78, Bares New 'Death Beam' |url=http://www.tesla-coil-builder.com/Articles/july_11_1934a.htm |quote=Invention Powerful Enough to Destroy 10,000 Planes at 250 Miles Away, He Asserts Defensive Weapon Only Scientist, In Interview, Tells of Apparatus That He Says Will Kill Without Trace. Nikola Tesla, father of modern methods of generation and distribution of electrical energy, who was 78 years old yesterday, announced a new invention, or inventions, which he said, he considered the most important of the 700 made by him so far. He has perfected a method and apparatus, Dr. Tesla said yesterday in an interview at the Hotel New Yorker, which will send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 250 miles from a defending nation's border and will cause armies of millions to drop dead in their tracks. |publisher=] |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>


* An apparatus for producing manifestations of energy in free air instead of in a ] as in the past.
* “The beam of force itself, as Dr. Tesla described it, is a concentrated current—it need be no thicker than a pencil—of microscopic particles moving at several hundred times the speed of artillery projectiles. The machine into which Dr. Tesla combines his four devices is, in reality, a sort of an electrical gun.
* A mechanism for generating tremendous electrical force.
:
* A means of intensifying and amplifying the force developed by the second mechanism.
: “As Dr. Tesla explained it, the tremendous speed of the particles will give them their destruction-dealing qualities. All but the thickest armored surfaces confronting them would be melted through in an instant by the heat generated in the concussion. <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla's Claim On 78th Birthday |url=http://www.tesla-coil-builder.com/Articles/july_11_1934b.htm |quote=Dr. Nikola Tesla, inventor of polyphase electric current, pioneer in high frequency transmission, predecessor of Marconi with the wireless, celebrated his seventy-eighth birthday yesterday by announcing his invention of a beam of force somewhat similar to the ] of scientific romance. It is capable, he believes, of destroying an army 200 miles away; it can bring down an airplane like a duck on the wing, and it can penetrate all but the most enormous thicknesses of armor plate. Since it must be generated at stationary power plants by machines which involve four electrical devices of the most revolutionary sort, Dr. Tesla considers it almost wholly a defensive weapon. In peace times, he says, the beam will also be used to transmit immense voltages of power over distances limited only by the curvature of the earth. |publisher=] |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>
* A new method for producing a tremendous electrical repelling force. This would be the projector, or gun, of the invention.<ref name="AmtEW"/><ref>{{cite news | title= Death-Ray Machine Described | work=New York Sun |date= 11 July 1934 }}</ref>


It has been said that the charged particles would self-focus via "],".{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} In 1940, Tesla estimated that each station would cost no more than $2,000,000 and could have been constructed in a few months.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}
* “My invention requires a large plant, but once it is established it will be possible to destroy anything, men or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles. It will, so to speak, provide a wall of power offering an insuperable obstacle against any effective aggression.
: “I want to state explicitly that this invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so-called "]s." Rays are not applicable because they cannot be produced in requisite quantities and diminish rapidly in intensity with distance. All the energy of New York City (approximately two million horsepower) transformed into rays and projected twenty miles, could not kill a human being, because, according to a well known law of physics, it would disperse to such an extent as to be ineffectual.
: “My apparatus projects particles which may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can thus be transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that nothing can resist. This wonderful feature will make it possible, among other things, to achieve undreamed-of results in television, for there will be almost no limit to the intensity of illumination, the size of the picture, or distance of projection.” <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A Machine to End War |url=http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/1935-02-00.htm |quote=Tesla. 'It seems,' he says, 'that I have always been ahead of my time.' Editor's Note: Nikola Tesla, now in his seventy-eighth year, has been called the father of radio, television, power transmission, the induction motor, and the robot, and the discoverer of the cosmic ray. Recently he has announced a heretofore unknown source of energy present everywhere in unlimited amounts, and he is now working upon a device which he believes will make war impracticable. Tesla and Edison have often been represented as rivals. They were rivals, to a certain extent, in the battle between the alternating and direct current in which Tesla championed the former. He won; the great power plants at Niagara Falls and elsewhere are founded on the Tesla system. Otherwise the two men were merely opposites. Edison had a genius for practical inventions immediately applicable. Tesla, whose inventions were far ahead of the time, aroused antagonisms which delayed the fruition of his ideas for years. However, great physicists like Kelvin and Crookes spoke of his inventions as marvelous. 'Tesla,' said Professor A. E. Kennelly of ] when the ] was presented to the inventor, 'set wheels going round all over the world. ... What he showed was a revelation to science and art unto ail time.' |publisher=] |date=February 1937 |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>


After Tesla died, in a box purported to contain a part of Tesla's "death ray" apparatus, ] found a 45-year-old ].<ref>{{cite book
* In reference to, “his atom-smashing tube,” . . . it is not an experiment. “I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only a little time will pass before I can give it to the world.” <ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Sending of Messages to Planets Predicted by Dr. Tesla On Birthday |url=http://www.tesla-coil-builder.com/Articles/july_11_1937.htm |quote=Inventor, 81, Talks of Key to Interstellar Transmission and Tube to Produce Radium Copiously and Cheaply. Decorated by Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. Reports of discoveries by which it will be possible to communicate with the planets and to produce radium in unlimited quantity for $1 a pound were announced by Dr. Nikola Tesla yesterday at a luncheon on his eighty-first birthday at which he wee honored with high orders from the Yugoslav and Czechoslovak Governments. Dr. Tesla, whose discoveries in electrical science have won for him recognition as the father of modern methods of generating and distributing electrical energy, asserted his "absolute" belief that he would win the Pierre Guzman prize of the Institute of France for his discovery relating to the interstellar transmission of energy. Following his annual custom, Dr. Tesla played host to a group of newspaper men at his birthday luncheon at the Hotel New Yorker and issued the announcement of his discoveries of the last year. No apparatus or sketches were shown, but Dr. Tesla said in announcing perfection of the principle of a new tube, which he said would make it possible to smash the atom and produce cheap radium, that he would be able to give a demonstration in 'only a little time.' |publisher=] |date=], ] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref>
|last1=Hatcher Childress |first1=David
|author-link=David Hatcher Childress
|date=1993
|title=The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla (Lost Science)
|chapter=Chapter 6: Tesla's Amazing Death-Ray
|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press
|isbn=978-0932813190
|page=249
}}</ref>


== Attempts at development and marketing ==
* “As though I am poor with words. I still didn't explain it enough what would be necessary to increase up to twelve stations: eight of them, each of the same construction like at Wardenclyffe and only 20 meters high--a ball five meters in diameter--the station would be using diesel oil for energy with mechanical action--my air turbines, steam powered, electrically or other manners of transforming into alternating electrical current with sixty million volts pressure without danger. . . . In my attempts with an effective 20 million volts . . . penetrated two meters in depth and terrible damage . . .” <ref>Correspondence from Nikola Tesla to Sava Kosanović, New York, N.Y., March 4, 1941</ref>
By November 1934, Tesla was attempting (unsuccessfully) to obtain funding from J. P. Morgan's son, ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=W. Bernard|title=Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age|publisher=]|year=2013|page=386}}</ref> The idea of Tesla possibly having a new type of weapon and, further, his offer to give it to the ] as a way to prevent future war were seen together as an alarming security threat by one US diplomat – a view not shared by his government.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=W. Bernard|title=Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age|publisher=]|year=2013|page=387}}</ref> In 1935, the ], through the US ], an alleged{{Clarify|which is it?|date=October 2020}} Soviet-arms ] in New York City, paid Tesla $25,000 for detailed plans, specifications, and complete information on the method and apparatus, but it is unclear whether a physical device was ever produced.<ref name="carlson388">{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=W. Bernard|title=Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age|publisher=]|year=2013|page=388}}</ref><ref name="AWtEW"/> Tesla also attempted to get funding for his device in 1937, sending a paper ("New Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-Dispersive Energy Through Natural Media") outlining his plans to the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Yugoslavia.<ref name="AWtEW">{{cite web|title=A Weapon to End War|url=https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_wendwar.html|work=Tesla - Master of Lightning|publisher=]|quote=By 1937 it was clear that war would soon break out in Europe. Frustrated in his attempts to generate interest and financing for his "peace beam," he sent an elaborate technical paper, including diagrams, to a number of Allied nations including the United States, Canada, England, France, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. Titled "New Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-Dispersive Energy Through Natural Media," the paper provided the first technical description of what is today called a charged particle beam weapon. Of all the countries to receive Tesla's proposal, the greatest interest came from the Soviet Union. In 1937, Tesla presented a plan to the Amtorg Trading Corporation. Two years later, in 1939, one stage of the plan was tested in the USSR, and Tesla received a check for $25,000.}}</ref> The United Kingdom considered Tesla's offer to sell the device to them for $30 million, maybe with the idea that even hinting they had a super weapon would be a deterrent to ], but by 1938 they had dropped all interest.<ref name="carlson388"/>


During this period, Tesla claimed that efforts had been made to steal the invention, saying that his room had been entered and that his papers had been scrutinized, but that the thieves or spies had left empty-handed. He said that there was no danger that his invention could be stolen, for he had at no time committed any part of it to paper; the blueprint for the Teleforce weapon was all in his mind.<ref>{{cite news | last1= O'Neill |first1= John J. |url=https://www.pbs.org/tesla/res/res_art12.html |title=Tesla Tries To Prevent World War II (unpublished Chapter 34 of Prodigal Genius) |work=PBS }}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}


At his ] in 1937, Tesla was asked about his weapon, and he made the claim, "But it is not an experiment... I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only a little time will pass before I can give it to the world."<ref name="seifer1"/> At the 1940 birthday press conference, 84-year-old Tesla offered to develop his weapon for the US, but there was no interest in his offer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FEATURE: Tesla's superweapon – 'the machine to end all war'|url=https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/feature-tesla-s-superweapon-%27the-machine-to-end-all-war%27|access-date=2021-09-27|website=www.imeche.org}}</ref>
<small> ''This article or an earlier version based on text from Twenty First Century Books' , submitted to this encyclopedia by the original author.'' </small>


== External links == == See also ==
* ]
* ]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
<!--
<small> ''This article or an earlier version based on text from 21st Century Books' , submitted to this encyclopedia by the original author.'' </small>
-->


==External links==
* '' Electrical Review, ], ], ]. (] ])
*
* ], ], ]. (] ])
*
* '' ], ], ]
*


{{Nikola Tesla}}


] ]
]
]

Latest revision as of 16:19, 11 May 2023

Proposed defensive weapon by Nikola Tesla
This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Teleforce is a proposed defensive weapon by Nikola Tesla that accelerated pellets or slugs of material to a high velocity inside a vacuum chamber via electrostatic repulsion and then fired them out of aimed nozzles at intended targets. Tesla claimed to have conceived of it after studying the Van de Graaff generator. Tesla described the weapon as being able to be used against ground-based infantry or for anti-aircraft purposes.

Description

Tesla described Teleforce's operation in 1934, specifying its superiority to the death rays believed to exist at the time:

My apparatus projects particles which may be relatively large or of microscopic dimensions, enabling us to convey to a small area at a great distance trillions of times more energy than is possible with rays of any kind. Many thousands of horsepower can thus be transmitted by a stream thinner than a hair, so that nothing can resist. The nozzle would send concentrated beams of particles through the free air, of such tremendous energy that they will bring down a fleet of 10,000 enemy airplanes at a distance of 200 miles from a defending nation's border and will cause armies to drop dead in their tracks.

In a letter that was written to J. P. Morgan, Jr. on November 29, 1934, Tesla described the weapon:

I have made recent discoveries of inestimable value... The flying machine has completely demoralized the world, so much that in some cities, as London and Paris, people are in mortal fear from aerial bombing. The new means I have perfected afford absolute protection against this and other forms of attack. ... These new discoveries, which I have carried out experimentally on a limited scale, have created a profound impression. One of the most pressing problems seems to be the protection of London and I am writing to some influential friends in England hoping that my plan will be adopted without delay. The Russians are very anxious to render their borders safe against Japanese invasion and I have made them a proposal which is being seriously considered.

In 1937, Tesla wrote a treatise, "The Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-dispersive Energy through the Natural Media", concerning charged particle beam weapons. Tesla published the document in an attempt to expound on the technical description of a 'superweapon" that would put an end to all war." This treatise is currently in the Nikola Tesla Museum archive in Belgrade. It describes an open-ended vacuum tube with a gas jet seal that allows particles to exit, a method of charging particles to millions of volts, and a method of creating and directing non-dispersive particle streams (through electrostatic repulsion).

"Death ray" misnomer

Teleforce was mentioned publicly in the New York Sun and The New York Times on July 11, 1934. The press called it a "peace ray" or death ray. The idea of a "death ray" was a misunderstanding in regard to Tesla's term when he referred to his invention as a "death beam" so Tesla went on to explain that "this invention of mine does not contemplate the use of any so-called 'death rays.' Rays are not applicable because they cannot be produced in requisite quantities and diminish rapidly in intensity with distance. All the energy of New York City (approximately two million horsepower) transformed into rays and projected twenty miles, could not kill a human being, because, according to a well known law of physics, it would disperse to such an extent as to be ineffectual. My apparatus projects particles ..."

What set Tesla's proposal apart from the usual run of fantasy "death rays" was a unique vacuum chamber with one end open to the atmosphere. Tesla devised a unique vacuum seal by directing a high-velocity air stream at the tip of his gun to maintain "high vacua". The necessary pumping action would be accomplished with a large Tesla turbine.

Components of Teleforce

In total, the components and methods included:

  • An apparatus for producing manifestations of energy in free air instead of in a high vacuum as in the past.
  • A mechanism for generating tremendous electrical force.
  • A means of intensifying and amplifying the force developed by the second mechanism.
  • A new method for producing a tremendous electrical repelling force. This would be the projector, or gun, of the invention.

It has been said that the charged particles would self-focus via "gas focusing,". In 1940, Tesla estimated that each station would cost no more than $2,000,000 and could have been constructed in a few months.

After Tesla died, in a box purported to contain a part of Tesla's "death ray" apparatus, John G. Trump found a 45-year-old multidecade resistance box.

Attempts at development and marketing

By November 1934, Tesla was attempting (unsuccessfully) to obtain funding from J. P. Morgan's son, Jack Morgan. The idea of Tesla possibly having a new type of weapon and, further, his offer to give it to the League of Nations as a way to prevent future war were seen together as an alarming security threat by one US diplomat – a view not shared by his government. In 1935, the Soviet Union, through the US Amtorg Trading Corporation, an alleged Soviet-arms front in New York City, paid Tesla $25,000 for detailed plans, specifications, and complete information on the method and apparatus, but it is unclear whether a physical device was ever produced. Tesla also attempted to get funding for his device in 1937, sending a paper ("New Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-Dispersive Energy Through Natural Media") outlining his plans to the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Yugoslavia. The United Kingdom considered Tesla's offer to sell the device to them for $30 million, maybe with the idea that even hinting they had a super weapon would be a deterrent to Adolf Hitler, but by 1938 they had dropped all interest.

During this period, Tesla claimed that efforts had been made to steal the invention, saying that his room had been entered and that his papers had been scrutinized, but that the thieves or spies had left empty-handed. He said that there was no danger that his invention could be stolen, for he had at no time committed any part of it to paper; the blueprint for the Teleforce weapon was all in his mind.

At his birthday press conference in 1937, Tesla was asked about his weapon, and he made the claim, "But it is not an experiment... I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only a little time will pass before I can give it to the world." At the 1940 birthday press conference, 84-year-old Tesla offered to develop his weapon for the US, but there was no interest in his offer.

See also

References

  1. "Tesla's Ray". Time. 23 July 1934.
  2. ^ Seifer, Marc. "Tesla's "Death Ray" Machine". bibliotecapleyades.net. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla's Claim on 78th Birthday". New York Times. 11 July 1934.
  4. ^ "'Death Ray' for Planes". New York Times. 22 September 1940.
  5. ^ "A Machine to End War". Tesla - Master of Lightning. PBS.
  6. Tesla FAQ. Retrieved 2013-12-03
  7. THE NEW ART OF PROJECTING CONCENTRATED NON-DISPERSIVE ENERGY THROUGH NATURAL MEDIA -- System of Particle Acceleration for Use in National Defense.
  8. ^ Seifer, Marc J (2001). Wizard: the life and times of Nikola Tesla: biography of a genius. Citadel. p. 454. ISBN 978-0-8065-1960-9.
  9. "Beam to Kill Army at 200 Miles, Tesla's Claim On 78th Birthday". New York Herald Tribune. July 11, 1934. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
  10. "Tesla, At 78, Bares New 'Death-Beam'. Invention Powerful Enough to Destroy 10,000 Planes 250 Miles Away, He Asserts. Defensive Weapon Only. Scientist, in Interview, Tells of Apparatus That He Says Will Kill Without Trace". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-09-04. Nikola Tesla, father of modern methods of generation and distribution of electrical energy, who was 78 years old yesterday, announced a new invention, or inventions, which he said, he considered the most important of the 700 made by him so far.
  11. "Tesla, at 78, Bares New 'Death-Beam'". New York Times. 11 July 1934.
  12. "Tesla Invents Peace Ray". New York Sun. 10 July 1934.
  13. ^ "A Weapon to End War". Tesla - Master of Lightning. PBS. By 1937 it was clear that war would soon break out in Europe. Frustrated in his attempts to generate interest and financing for his "peace beam," he sent an elaborate technical paper, including diagrams, to a number of Allied nations including the United States, Canada, England, France, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. Titled "New Art of Projecting Concentrated Non-Dispersive Energy Through Natural Media," the paper provided the first technical description of what is today called a charged particle beam weapon. Of all the countries to receive Tesla's proposal, the greatest interest came from the Soviet Union. In 1937, Tesla presented a plan to the Amtorg Trading Corporation. Two years later, in 1939, one stage of the plan was tested in the USSR, and Tesla received a check for $25,000.
  14. "Death-Ray Machine Described". New York Sun. 11 July 1934.
  15. Hatcher Childress, David (1993). "Chapter 6: Tesla's Amazing Death-Ray". The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla (Lost Science). Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 249. ISBN 978-0932813190.
  16. Carlson, W. Bernard (2013). Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. p. 386.
  17. Carlson, W. Bernard (2013). Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. p. 387.
  18. ^ Carlson, W. Bernard (2013). Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. Princeton University Press. p. 388.
  19. O'Neill, John J. "Tesla Tries To Prevent World War II (unpublished Chapter 34 of Prodigal Genius)". PBS.
  20. "FEATURE: Tesla's superweapon – 'the machine to end all war'". www.imeche.org. Retrieved 2021-09-27.

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