"He is the man who harnessed lightning." "He really is the quintessential wizard." "He envisioned new technologies far before their time." "These images would burst into his mind." "He also claimed to have contact with otherworldly beings." "You have to wonder if extraterrestrials themselves weren't feeding him information." "Nikola Tesla is considered one of the most innovative and mysterious men who ever lived, but was he simply a mad genius, or might his brilliance have had extraterrestrial origins?" "He was actually being communicated with by extraterrestrials, and publicly proclaimed this." "Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings." "What if it were true?" "Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history?" "And if so, is there a connection to the genius of Nikola Tesla?" "Ancient Aliens" "The Tesla Experiment" "New York City." "January 7, 1943." "Famed inventor Nikola Tesla dies of a heart attack on the thirty-third floor of the Hotel New Yorker." "Within hours of his body being discovered, his nephew arrives at room 3327, and discovers Tesla's remains, as well as his technical papers and notebooks, have already been removed." "Speculation spreads that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had seized the items and quickly designated them "top secret."" "Nikola Tesla was completely paranoid about someone trying to kill him, and as soon as he died, U.S." "government agents swooped in and confiscated all of his scientific papers." "In a very short time, everything that he had been guarding with this life was gone." "The official story is that nothing of any great significance was found." "It was just a lot of scientific papers and documents." "However, there have been a lot of rumors over the years that the materials recovered was profoundly significant in terms of a lot of highly-advanced scientific concepts." "Just who was this mysterious figure known as" ""Tesla", and why would his notebooks elicit so much interest from the United States government?" "The life of Nikola Tesla was a dramatic one from the very beginning." "He was born at the stroke of midnight on July 10, 1856, during a violent lightning storm in what is now Croatia." "It was during an electrical storm, and the midwife saw this as a bad omen." "But there was a flash of lightning, and Tesla's mother said, "No, this will be a child of light."" "At an early age, Nikola Tesla showed a superior mind." "He was already inventing things." "He invented toys that used insects to power them." "But he was fascinated by thunderstorms." "And, but he would see the lightning." "He became fascinated with electricity." "And he was determined that he was going to harness the power of the earth and the universe for the benefit of mankind." "In 1881, after eight years studying physics, math and engineering at universities in Graz, Austria and Prague, Tesla became an electrical engineer for a telephone company in Budapest." "Three years later, the 28-year-old moved to the United States, and took a job in New" "York City, working for Thomas Edison." "But very quickly, the two would become rivals in what became known as "the war of the currents."" "In a sense, you have dueling wizards." "Edison was performing with direct current, Tesla came along with alternating current, competing to win the right to harness Niagara Falls." "That was the big prize." "If you harness Niagara Falls, you control all the power for the entire Northeast." "In Edison's direct current distribution system, the steady stream of electricity would lose potency as it traveled down the line." "This required power plants every half mile, and could only supply enough power to lightbulbs." "Tesla designed a far more sophisticated system, utilizing alternating current, which could easily be manipulated along the way, allowing for not only lightbulbs to be powered, but also other electric devices." "Using Niagara Falls as a hydroelectric power source," "Tesla's system could illuminate the entire Northeast." "It would be like comparing a horse and buggy to a jet plane." "Tesla had the jet plane." "Edison had the horse and buggy." "There is no comparison at all." "Tesla had a quantum leap ahead." "Edison criticized Tesla's model as highly dangerous in an effort to ensure that his system won out." "He even went so far as holding public demonstrations using alternating current to electrocute cats and dogs and even a rogue elephant." "But Nikola Tesla's superior A/C power system ultimately prevailed, and today, it still remains the foundation of the world's power grid." "Tesla allowed the world to be electrified, and not only that, he brought electricity from being kind of a useful thing to being a universal thing that could be used all throughout society." "Nikola Tesla is one of the most amazing geniuses mankind has ever known." "His ideas went far and beyond what was accepted at the time." "If it hadn't been for Tesla, we would be living in very different times." "But Nikola Tesla not only officially electrified the world." "His legacy includes groundbreaking work on electric railroads, fluorescent and neon lights, wireless radio communications, X-ray... remote control..." "turbine engines... speedometers... helicopters..." "and even torpedoes." "By the time of his death, Tesla held nearly 700 worldwide patents." "Nikola Tesla was one of the world's greatest inventors." "Tesla was like Leonardo da Vinci." "He had the mind of a futurist, and he was able to do incredible things." "During Nikola Tesla's time, the Industrial" "Revolution was firmly taking hold." "Factories, using steam and coal power, replaced manual labor." "Hundreds of thousands of miles of railway and roads were built, dramatically changing the landscape of society." "But this extraordinary innovation came at a price- a complete disregard for the environment." "Nikola Tesla said that there was a difference between progress and technology." "Progress benefits mankind." "Technology does not necessarily do that." "If you have a technology that is polluting the planet, that's not progress." "But just how is it that Nikola Tesla was so far ahead of his time?" "For decades, the forward-thinking inventor- a man shrouded in mystery- has fascinated scholars and researchers." "Tesla came from a very strange area- actually wasn't too far from Transylvania." "He was tall and thin." "He spoke 11 or 12 different languages." "And he does these fantastic inventions and fantastic performances, so he had this mystique about him." "Nikola Tesla is born at a time which, coincidentally, coincides with an ancient Zoharic prophecy that speaks about the opening of the gates of wisdom upon the earth." "And who's born at this time?" "Nikola Tesla." "Albert Einstein." "This is the beginning of so many things." "But could there really be something more to the prophecies, rumors and wild speculations surrounding Nikola Tesla?" "Something, perhaps, even otherworldly?" "Throughout history, there have been various prophets and scientists that have really affected the human evolution." "Like Einstein, Galileo, Copernicus, and Tesla's definitely one of these type of people." "We have to wonder if these people aren't somehow involved in some larger plan of influence on humanity as a whole." "Some researchers into Tesla think that he was some kind of special human receiver, and if that's the case, then we have someone who the ETs were helping to move along and develop the amazing inventions that light the world today." "Is it possible that Tesla knew he was on a mission?" "Was he attempting to uplevel our technology to the point at which we would be capable of having all of the abilities of those who, in ancient times, were called the gods?" "Is it possible, as some ancient astronaut theorists suggest, that Nikola Tesla was being influenced by extraterrestrials?" "Extraterrestrials on a mission to advance mankind?" "Perhaps answers can be found by further examining the inspiration behind one of Tesla's greatest achievements." "Cambridge, Massachusetts." "The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is home to some of the world's greatest minds." "M.I.T. researchers are on the forefront of innovation, including the development of wireless transmission of power." "Efficient wireless transmission of electricity has eluded scientists for years." "Radio waves, microwaves and even laser-beam transmission of power have fallen short." "But in 2007, M.I.T. researchers were able to safely transmit power wirelessly seven feet across a room... a feat heralded as a first step to cutting the power cord." "Incredibly, a word in which all electrical devices would be automatically powered at all times, requiring no charging or wires, was envisioned more than a century earlier by inventor Nikola Tesla." "And by some accounts, he was close to actually achieving that goal." "The ideas of Tesla for wireless power have only been, um, briefly investigated by various scientists." "And the tests that were done by Tesla in 1899 to 1900 in Colorado Springs verify the fact that the use of wireless was actually possible." "Tesla went out to Colorado Springs to see if he could send electricity several miles, which is a tremendous achievement, but he had a huge tower." "It was 200 feet to the top." "His assistant was located at the laboratory and Tesla said, "When I give you the signal, I want you to throw the switch and fire up the wireless system." "And Tesla probably walked four miles away." "Tesla inserted lightbulbs into the earth to see if his tower was in fact creating a wireless circuit with the ground." "If so, the bulbs would light up." "These lightbulbs were being lit, so he was able to establish that he could transmit electrical power over great distances." "But he did keep it a secret." "He even kept the mechanics a secret from his assistant, who didn't totally know all the details of what he was doing." "Shoreham, New York. 1901." "Tesla convinces banker J.P. Morgan to give him $150,000 for the construction of a radio station." "But instead, he uses the money to build a giant wireless transmitter he calls Wardenclyffe Tower." "Wardenclyffe was 187 feet to the top, but it also went 120 feet down into the ground." "And Tesla had envisioned receiving stations, which would look just like the Wardenclyffe" "Tower at different nodal points around the Earth." "He would jump energy by means of wireless from station to station." "He even thought that he could eventually use the same system to jump power to different planets." "But Tesla's dream of creating a highly efficient broadcast of wireless electricity was cut short when in 1904, its funder J.P. Morgan discovered Tesla's true intentions to provide free power to everyone on the planet." "With lack of additional funding, by 1908, the project was completely abandoned." "And in 1917, the tower was demolished." "No company, no corporation wants to give away its technology freely." "So Tesla was shut down, so that the world wouldn't have free energy." "But just how was Tesla able to transmit electricity wirelessly for several miles when modern scientists can only manage seven feet?" "Tesla credited his many inventions to the ability to realize them entirely in his mind." "He also described experiencing intense flashes of light, which were followed by moments of intense creativity and clarity." "He would see an invention appear before his eyes in almost holographic detail." "He said that he could rotate these visions, take them apart piece by piece, and he knew exactly how he was going to build these inventions based on his visionary experiences." "One of his greatest creations is the rotating magnetic field, and that came in a flash of intuition." "He felt that we were receivers, that all impulses came from the outside, and that we worked on these impulses." "So, he doesn't believe that they come from dreams or inner visions." "He really felt that we were, in a sense, self-propelled robots." "Some ancient astronaut theorists believe there may be another explanation for Tesla's uncanny abilities and mysterious visions." "They suggest these spontaneous episodes are proof that Tesla was receiving information from an otherworldly source." "These images would literally burst into his mind." "Somehow, somewhere, some connection was made." "And it's the same way the biblical prophets received their prophecy." "Nikola Tesla was clearly in touch with something." "You have to wonder if extraterrestrials themselves weren't feeding him images of inventions that only he could understand." "Nikola Tesla felt there was a knowledge base, located somewhere in the universe, that all of humanity could tap into if they just knew how to properly tune their mind to this knowledge base." "Is it possible Nikola Tesla was actually being fed images to assist him in furthering mankind?" "And if so, could Tesla have tapped into an ancient source of knowledge, perhaps even rediscovering technology that may have been used before." "We have these stories of towers that might have relayed energy- like the obelisks that we can find all around the world- that they, at some point, were all connected and that they were feeding off the Earth's magnetic grid." "It's been discovered, in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs, carvings that look suspiciously like modern-day lightbulbs and Tesla coils." "Was there a certain technology, an energy system of ancient times that we still have remnants of today?" "Giant pyramids, obelisks, huge standing stones and towers..." "Perhaps they were all part of some extraterrestrial, huge energy system." "Was Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower meant to connect to an ancient energy grid powered not only by the" "Earth, but eventually by other planets, as well?" "And if so, is it possible Nikola Tesla was communicating with advanced celestial beings that visited Earth thousands of years ago?" "Perhaps the answer can be found by examining the mysterious radio transmissions Tesla claimed he received from outer space." "Colorado Springs." "July, 1899." "While testing a magnifying transmitter he built to track storms, Nikola Tesla claims he received some sort of transmission from an unknown source." "One night, he was tracking thunderstorms 600 miles away." "But all of a sudden, he heard these beeps." "And it was three beats in sequence." "And so it was mathematical and it didn't make any sense to him." "And the more he thought about it, he thought that they came from outer space, perhaps from the Martians." "Mars' orbit brings it close to the Earth periodically, about once every 1.8 years." "And at one of those close encounters, uh, he believed he was picking up signals from Mars." "He most likely had made a receiver that was sensitive enough to receive radio waves, as we now know come from galaxies and-and lots of different extraterrestrial sources." "So he interpreted them as signals from ETs." "But perhaps he had an open channel that we really still don't understand today." "Tesla believed it's absurd to think we're the only intelligent beings in the universe." "If that's the case, where are they in the intelligence hierarchy and why wouldn't they want to communicate with an intelligent force on the Earth?" "Tesla reported this otherworldly communication and proclaimed his belief in extraterrestrials in February of 1901, in an article for" "Collier's Weekly titled "Talking with the Planets."" "Tesla became obsessed with trying to receive, uh, further, uh, radio communications, uh, from other planets." "Based on these transmissions that Tesla was receiving, he developed a theory that this extraterrestrial presence had been on Earth for a millennia." "That these extraterrestrials had been controlling mankind from the very beginning." "How far did these communications go?" "Did it lead to the point where he was actually able to receive useful information that was helping him build his inventions?" "Many believe that this is what happened and that Tesla had direct contact, through the things he'd invented, with extraterrestrial intelligence." "But the shocking revelation was shunned by" "Tesla's scientific peers and led many to deem him "a mad scientist."" "So you have Nikola Tesla electrifying the world, literally." "Then, about the time that he had a falling-out with, uh, J.P. Morgan, a very powerful man- he'd also had a legendary falling-out with Edison, another legendary, powerful man." "Then it came out that he was trying to, perhaps, signal the planet Mars." "And his enemies exploited this, uh, I think, to try and discredit him." "In the early 1900s, it was rumored that Tesla was being considered to receive the Nobel Prize." "But, mysteriously, he never did." "Even today, scientists don't take him into account the way they should." "Tesla talked about atoms working like solar systems, and that light could work as a wave and a particle." "Einstein got a Nobel Prize for saying light worked like a particle, and Bohr and Rutherford got a Nobel Prize for saying that atoms were like little solar systems." "So why is he removed from the history of quantum physics when he really belongs at the heart of it?" "So I think he's been unfairly treated by the physicists, and part of the reason is his attachment to extraterrestrials." "Was Nikola Tesla simply letting his imagination get the better of him?" "Or is it possible he really was in contact with extraterrestrial beings?" "Belgrade, Serbia." "Housing more than 160,000 documents, the Nikola Tesla" "Museum offers rare insight into some of Tesla's future plans... including what some believe are drawings of spaceships." "According to historians, Tesla began work on his flying machine in 1910, focusing on the use of field propulsion, or anti-gravity." "It is believed Tesla had discovered that high amounts of electricity could actually create lift in an object." "Throughout the 1920s and '30s, Tesla continually talked about anti-gravity ships that could derive power from his" "Wardenclyffe Towers that were gonna be broadcasting power." "He claimed these ships did not have wings or fuel." "They were completely electric." "But were Tesla's designs truly the first of their kind?" "Or is it possible, as ancient astronaut theorists suggest, that similar vehicles had already visited the planet in the remote past?" "In the ancient Indian epics, the Vedas, we find references of "vimanas," those flying chariots that were used by the gods in order to travel from point "A" to point "B."" "Some of these vimanas were able to alter direction at the drop of a hat, without any effort." "So, now, reading this from a modern-day perspective would suggest that some type of anti-gravity device was used." "You can link this from the ancient to the modern world with the modern UFO phenomenon." "And so the idea that Tesla might have worked on an anti-gravity device is very plausible to me." "Are the depictions of flying machines in ancient" "Hindu texts like the Mahabharata really proof that Tesla had received otherworldly knowledge in order to design anti-gravity spaceships?" "And if the so-called "mad scientist" actually did make contact with extraterrestrials, is it possible he continued to carry out their wishes in secret?" "Palo Alto, California. 2013." "A Silicon Valley start-up's all-electric sports car wins Motor Trend's Car of the Year." "It's one of the most fuel efficient vehicles on the planet, produces no emissions and can go from zero to 60 miles per hour in four seconds." "The Model S energizes the electric car industry and reintroduces its namesake to the world stage..." "Tesla." "It's interesting to think in 1931, Tesla told reporters that he had converted a Pierce-Arrow car into a completely electric car." "Tesla showed them the car." "He drove it around." "It went as fast as 90 miles per hour." "When you look at it, many of the inventions that Tesla talked about, and even patented, were eventually developed." "The list of technologies that can be traced back to the drawing board of Nikola Tesla is endless." "Modern humanoid robotics, solar and wind power, weather manipulation, drones and even planetary exploration vehicles." "Getting as little as just two hours of sleep per day, the inventor's sole purpose on Earth appeared to be geared toward one end: advancing technology for the future of the human race." "He always had his eye on the future." "And further, he was trying to shape the future through his inventions." "Mr. Tesla was not unique in this." "Many of the founders, leaders, of religion also were compelled by inner experiences, which pushed them to materialize these things in the world." "So, in a religious context, we would say that a religious leader is in touch with something divine." "In a scientific context, we wouldn't necessarily use the word "divine," but yet, somehow, somewhere, people are being contacted, receiving communications which are leading to the clear introduction of new things in humanity." "Tesla seemed to have this drive that put everything else by the wayside." "When he was working on an invention, food, sleep, relationships, human interaction... none of that mattered." "It's almost as if he was on some type of a mission." "A mission, possibly, with a greater plan, under the influence of extraterrestrials." "Was Nikola Tesla really inspired to invent by an extraterrestrial source, as some ancient astronaut theorists suggest?" "And if so, might further clues be found in what some believe to be the rantings of a "mad man"?" "By the time Nikola Tesla moved into his final home- the Hotel" "New Yorker- in January 1934, he had become better known for his eccentricities than his inventions." "He reportedly was an extreme germaphobe, preferred to work in almost complete darkness and was also obsessed with the number three." "Tesla was definitely interested in numerology." "And he was very superstitious." "He had to circle a building three times before he entered." "He had calculated nodal points around the planet and they were probably linked to the numbers three, six and nine." "And he said that the numbers were very important." "Nikola Tesla was quoted as saying, "If you knew the magnificence of the three, six and nine, you would have a key to the universe."" "If we go to the Great Pyramid of Giza, not only are there the three larger pyramids at Giza, all side by side, mirroring the positions of the stars in" "Orion's Belt, but we also see a group of three smaller pyramids immediately away from the three larger pyramids." "Three and three." "Similarly, we find lots of evidence that nature uses threefold and sixfold symmetry, including the hexagonal tile shape of the common honeycomb." "These shapes are in nature, and the ancients emulated these shapes in the building of their sacred architecture." "So Tesla's quote is neatly mirrored in the actual archaeological evidence that we find in many ancient architectural sites around the world." "Could the numbers three, six and nine really offer clues to the inner workings of the universe?" "If so, is it possible that Tesla uncovered this profound secret and used this knowledge to push the boundaries of science and technology?" "Perhaps the answer can be found by examining Tesla's most controversial invention." "New York City." "July 1934." "On his 78th birthday, Nikola Tesla makes headlines on the front page of the New York Times for his alleged "death beam."" "According to the article, the weapon could generate enough energy to bring down a fleet of" "10,000 enemy airplanes as far as 250 miles away." "Tesla apparently discovered that he could direct a stream of plasma plus solid particles for long distances through the air and kind of direct a lightning bolt." "And he called this a death ray." "Tesla wanted to invent a machine that would knock out enemy aircraft in the air." "You would point it to the skies, turn it on and all of the sudden those planes would just fall like that." "Tesla felt that if every country had a particle beam weapon, then no country would ever be invaded, because planes would be shot down and ships would be sunk." "So he was trying to sell this particle beam weapon to the U.S. government during World War II." "And I think Franklin Roosevelt was basically looking at two possibilities." "Einstein was discussing the possibility of an atom bomb." "Tesla was discussing the possibility of a particle beam weapon." "And it turned out the atom bomb was able to be invented... and that's the way they went." "Although the death ray announcement failed to ignite interest by the U.S." "War Department, some say other innovative work by Tesla did catch their attention." "Earlier in his career, while conducting research with one of his transformer coils, Nikola Tesla had a near-death experience when he came in contact with a resonating electromagnetic charge of three and a half million volts." "Tesla was working with 60-foot lightning bolts, and he made a mistake, and he almost got electrocuted, and he couldn't get out, and he had to get one of his workers to stop the lightning from happening." "And he barely escaped with his life, and because of a shock that he had, he had a revelation." "Tesla said that he entered a-a state of timelessness, and he could see the past and the future and the present all at once in this mystic vision, but he was paralyzed and he couldn't do anything about it." "Tesla was being, essentially, electrocuted, and right then his assistant cut the power to him." "But what Tesla said it had done was moved him through time and space." "But is it really possible Tesla had found a way to break through the space-time continuum?" "Ancient astronaut theorists believe the answer might be found by looking at what has become known as the "Philadelphia Experiment."" "According to reports, right before Tesla's death, he was working with Albert Einstein and the United States" "Navy at the Philadelphia Naval Yard to create an electromagnetically charged invisibility cloak for the USS Eldridge." "They were attempting to do a stealth technology." "And apparently, they mounted a bunch of Tesla coils to make a bunch of plasma around a ship, and this is well known to help hide things from radar." "But something very unexpected happened." "The ship didn't just disappear from radar." "It disappeared completely and reappeared with some of the crew actually embedded in the metal of the ship." "Although mainstream scientists believe the so-called" "Philadelphia Experiment is a hoax, some insist the account is authentic." "We have leaked testimony from classified levels of secrecy in the U.S. government the Philadelphia" "Experiment was real, that the soldiers on that ship got disoriented, and they ended up walking into the hull." "And when the ship then rematerialized in our reality, their bodies melded with the metal in the hull." "Had Tesla really discovered a way to travel through time and space?" "If so, might the secrets behind this technology, along with the blueprints for Tesla's death beam, have been included in the scientific documents that the" "FBI allegedly confiscated upon his death?" "Ancient astronaut theorists believe evidence of this might be found with the modern world's most sophisticated new weaponry." "The Singapore Airshow." "February 2014." "An Israeli arms company known as Rafael Advanced Defense Systems reveals details of a laser defense system capable of shooting missiles from the sky with a pulse of energy." "The futuristic military hardware is called Iron Beam." "The concept of Iron Beam is that it's essentially a high-energy laser that is designed to rapidly heat up the target that it's aimed at." "We're talking about aircraft, drones, missiles." "Anything that could launch an attack on a city could be literally destroyed in the sky by Iron Beam." "This sounds very much like Tesla's death ray." "This is exactly the kind of technology that Tesla was talking about in the 1920s and '30s, of using these beam weapons to shoot down missiles and projectiles." "The War Department sided with Einstein and" "Oppenheimer's atomic bomb, not with Tesla." "But now what we're seeing is that Israel is developing this Iron Beam technology because they've realized that atomic weapons were far too destructive." "Is it possible that Tesla developed a time-viewing or time travel technology, and that he became aware of these developments?" "Tesla was once quoted as saying, "The present is theirs, but the future for which I have really worked is mine."" "Did Tesla, in fact, see into the future?" "Might Iron Beam be proof that plans for the death ray not only existed, but also may have even been confiscated and carried out by the United States government?" "There are those who believe that Nikola Tesla was not only in contact with extraterrestrials, but was sent here to Earth by them to fulfill a mission and usher in a new age for mankind." "One of the big questions is:" "Who is Tesla?" "Is he, in a sense, an avatar, an enlightened being that comes to the Earth to help humans?" "No one really knows exactly what's going on, but I think all great artists- and Tesla saw himself as an artist- feel that they're instruments of a higher purpose, and Tesla certainly felt that he was working along those lines." "There is an agenda for humanity." "There is a plan." "And in every generation, whatever power it is that's behind the plan sends to Earth certain specific souls who are, by birth, more inclined and able to be receptors to the higher knowledge." "You have to wonder if Tesla was transplanted to Earth by extraterrestrials in order to envision and invent all of these amazing devices." "If extraterrestrials put Tesla in place for a specific purpose, did they accomplish what they hoped to achieve?" "The answer may be no, because if Tesla's technologies had been openly acknowledged here on Earth, we could have greened the deserts." "We could be desalinating ocean water with table top energy levels." "We could have a totally new and different world in which we don't have to pay for energy, in which we have anti-gravity craft, in which we have teleportation technology, and in which we truly have become a golden age here on Earth." "That has not happened." "Is it possible that Nikola Tesla really was influenced by otherworldly beings?" "Might he have been inspired to carry out an extraterrestrial experiment, as some ancient astronaut theorists suggest?" "And could it be that mankind was not ready to receive this advanced knowledge?" "Perhaps, but if such an audacious notion is true, then is it possible that we are now on the threshold of completing his experiment, and in doing so, might we reconnect not only with Tesla's genius, but with an" "alien intelligence that stretches throughout the galaxy?" "Captioningsponsoredby  AETELEVISIONNETWORKS" "Captioned by  Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org"