Teleforce is a proposed defensive weapon by

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''

electrostatic Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies electric charges at rest ( static electricity). Since classical times, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amb ...

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 A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal globe on the top of an insulated column, creating very high electric potentials. It produces very high voltage ...

. Tesla described the weapon as being able to be used against ground-based infantry or for anti-aircraft purposes.

Description

Tesla described ''Teleforces operation in 1934, specifying its superiority to the

death ray The death ray or death beam was a theoretical particle beam or electromagnetic weapon first theorized around the 1920s and 1930s. Around that time, notable inventors such as Guglielmo Marconi, Nikola Tesla, Harry Grindell Matthews, Edwin R. Sco ...

s 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. John Pierpont Morgan Jr. (September 7, 1867 – March 13, 1943) was an American banker, finance executive, and philanthropist. He inherited the family fortune and took over the business interests including J.P. Morgan & Co. after his father J. ...

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 A charged particle beam is a spatially localized group of electrically charged particles that have approximately the same position, kinetic energy (resulting in the same velocity), and direction. The kinetic energies of the particles are much la ...

weapons. Tesla published the document in an attempt to expound on the technical description of a '

superweapon A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natur ...

" that would put an end to all war." This treatise is currently in the

Nikola Tesla Museum The Nikola Tesla Museum ( sr-cyr, Музеј Николе Тесле, Muzej Nikole Tesle) is a science museum located in the central area of Belgrade, Serbia. It is dedicated to honoring and displaying the life and work of Nikola Tesla as well as ...

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

repulsion).

"Death ray" misnomer

Teleforce was mentioned publicly in the ''

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'' and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' on July 11, 1934. The press called it a "peace ray" or

. 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 Tesla turbine at Nikola Tesla Museum The Tesla turbine is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. It is referred to as a ''bladeless turbine''. The Tesla turbine also known as the ''boundary-layer turbine'', ''c ...
.

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 The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, through the US

Amtorg Trading Corporation Amtorg Trading Corporation, also known as Amtorg (short for ''Amerikanskaya Torgovlya'', russian: Амторг), was the first trade representation of the Soviet Union in the United States, established in New York in 1924 by merging Armand Hamme ...

, 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 Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, 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.

References

External links