FBI Records: The Vault – Nikola Tesla | Hacker News Reader

FBI Records: The Vault – Nikola Tesla

vault.fbi.gov

95 pointssolarengineer19 comments

So, what I read so far is that he might've died on Jan 8th instead of 7th, even though everywhere else they still refer to 7th.

And that there were many parties interested in going through Tesla's seized belongings, to find out if there is anything useful in them, but Edgar Hoover always answered with the same answer, saying that the FBI didn't take anything, but the Office of Alien Property did. Then the OoAP anwered with "never had custody, nor has vested, any property of Nikola Tesla".

Interesting. Seems like some people were identifying themselves as the FBI and took things from Tesla's place? But honestly, this is a lot to take in, so who knows what other information I can come across.

One of the letters written in 1957 July 25 mentions that (first PDF page 57):

  ...a radio type machine known as Tesla Set which was invented by
  Mr. TESLA in 1938 for interplanetary communication. Mr. and Mrs.
  STORM claim that TESLA's engineers did not complete the Tesla Set
  until after TESLA's death in 1943. Mr. and Mrs. STORM claim that
  this Set was placed in operation in 1950 and since that time TESLA
  engineers have been in close touch with space ships. etc.

Wikipedia says that:

  The launch of the first human-made object to orbit Earth, the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957

The dates don't add up. I know the people in the letter were making accusations, but who did they think the engineers were talking to? Aliens?

Read that letter very carefully: it is about some Mr. and Mrs Storm trying to exploit Teslas reputation by making up wild stories about UFOs and aliens.

Well, "interplanetary communication" certainly suggests a belief that they weren't talking to other humans.

It's quite fun to read various excerpts from it. Tesla died in 1943 during WWII and there is a lot of tension and paranoia about spies. Mixed with rumors that Tesla's had invented death rays, "teleforce walls", and even a "Tesla Set" radio to communicate with aliens [part 03, pp. 65].

There are insinuations that both the Soviets and the Axis powers were trying to get their hands on Tesla's research, which maybe have very well been true or just paranoia, but it certainly got government's attention.

Most of the record is letters that read "can i have access to Teslas stuff please" and the FBIs answer "we are not responsible, contact the Office of Alien Property".

The FBI of course knew where Teslas stuff was: It was stored in rooms 5J and 5L in the Manhatten Storage Warehouse on 52nd street & 7th avenue in New York. In the first 10 years only once were people allowed to examine it. Their report is in (PDF 1 page 178ff) with a second copy in (PDF 3 page 40ff). It is by far the most interesting piece of information in the whole record.

Sadly it basically says: Tesla was a genius but in his later years he didn't make any new breakthroughs at all. Even sadder: Tesla didn't seem to understand nuclear energy.

Keeping that knowledge about the late Dr. Tesla under seal for 50 years may have helped the "mysterium Tesla" far more than any actual invention he could have possibly made at the time.

If you ever visit Belgrad everything interesting from that warehouse has by now been moved there and is on display in the Tesla Museum. With the exception of some "original manuscripts" which Tesla gave away to good friends, like for example the great publisher Hugo Gernsback. The list of "people close to Tesla" (PDF 1 Page 186ff) is a bit creepy, yet that is actually what i would expect to find in an FBI record.

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On a side note the FBI seems to have an unhealthy habit of filing anything you sent them under the topic you ask for, even if you mail them crap: There is a story about UFO conspiracy theorists "Mr. and Mrs. Storm" (pdf 1, page 55) and what does the FBI do? They file the "Interplanetary Newsletter" (pdf 3, page 1ff) and later release it under the freedom of information act.

Now other nutjobs can claim "the FBI disclosed documents that say Tesla invented machines that allowed the USA to contact space people in the 50ths" ... runs a short google query ... yep that is happening.

>Even sadder: Tesla didn't seem to understand nuclear energy.

Or maybe he understood the implications better than most and decided not to go there.

Tesla rejected pretty much all modern physics including the existence of atoms and electrons, special and general relativity, and radioactivity. This makes it quite unlikely that he had any in-depth knowledge about nuclear energy. None of his inventions go beyond 19th century physics.

So the short answer seems to be: They spent decades responding to everyone on the planet wanting to know what they'd taken from Tesla's room and that actually it was all in the charge of the 'Aliens' Department (i.e. non-Americans) and in some storage place and the FBI hadn't taken anything. Then there were the others wanting to know about a Death Ray that Telsa had talked about (some saying it was the only defence against an Atomic bomb etc etc) - but no one ever found anything that he actually meant. The only list of actual inventions etc seems to be about page 40 of the 3rd set which is quite a fun list; some crazy, mostly about power distribution. Oh and there's a few Mccarthy era things. Meh.

Interesting/fun fact: The scientist who was tasked with investigating Tesla's stuff after his death was Donald Trump's uncle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Trump

His assessment in the Tesla report:

"As a result of this examination, it is my considered opinion that there exist among Dr. Tesla's papers and possessions no scientific notes, descriptions of hitherto unrevealed methods of devices, or actual apparatus which could be of significant value to this country or which would constitute a hazard in unfriendly hands. I can therefore see no technical or military reason why further custody of the property should be retained."

>"Nothing to see here folks... Move along now, Citizen..."

Is how I read that.

Of course there wasa lot of foundational work that Tesla had which would be of interest. Especially given the fact that very few engineers/people of the time were of his ilk...

Thus it would be of great import to have his work studied by others... and obfuscation and secrecy were the modus of the day.

I fully believe that Tesla had things which have benefited those who took his belongings upon death.

It’s literally the opposite of that. There’s nothing new therefore the entire thing should be released to the public.

There's over 100 pages of material here. Why has this been submitted? What's interesting in it?

These type of submissions attract the worst commentators; people who will talk about the topic based on what they can infer from a title. Mostly just rehashing some personal anecdote or curious fact semi-related to the title.

Not sure I want to invest so many hours of reading to get to why this was posted. Maybe the OP could provide some context?

So... you're upset about people who don't read the source. But you're also upset that the OP didn't provide a summary so that you could avoid reading the source?

I clicked through. Source material is about 200 pages.

Linking to a news article is one thing.

Linking to basically a book, without so much as saying why the book is good, is another.

I didn't say it was bad. Just asked the OP, why submit this? What's interesting in it? If I find the summary interesting, I read further. I also mentioned that when posting 200 pages without so much as a summary, most people won't read, leaving the less intelligent 'title commentators' (something I think is discouraged in this forum, which is why I participate)

perhaps you should read the source rather than rely on what OP infers

I clicked through. Source material is about 200 pages. Linking to a news article is one thing.

Linking to basically a book, without so much as saying why the book is good, is another.

I'm not relying solely on what the OP says. But I'm not spending hours reading through 200 pages to figure out what is being shared. I read a lot of books, but generally I'll read the jacket, then the intro, then maybe the first chapter, and if that grabs me, then the book.

Not sure why you are trying to imply that I only read summaries, but that's on you.

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