Tesla’s Lost Papers

by Tim Swartz

Nikola Tesla was beyond a doubt the greatest genius of the 20th century. Our way of life today, the technology that we take for granted, is all possible because of this one incredible man from Europe.

However, despite all of his contributions to science, his name is little remembered outside the field of electronics and physics. In fact, Thomas Edison is often mistakenly credited in school textbooks with inventions that were developed and patented by Tesla.

Most scholars acknowledge that Tesla’s obscurity is partially due to his eccentric ways and fantastic claims during the waning years of his life, of communicating with other planets and death rays. It is now known that many of these fantastic inventions of Tesla are scientifically accurate and workable. It has simply taken mankind this long to catch up to the astonishing ideas of a man who died in 1943.

It is known that Tesla suffered from financial troubles throughout his adult life. Because of this, Tesla had to move several times when he could no longer afford his surroundings. The Waldorf Astoria in New York had been Tesla’s residence for twenty years, yet he had to move in 1920 when he could no longer afford it. Tesla then moved into the Hotel St. Regis, but again was forced to vacate due to lack of financial support.

Forced to move from hotel to hotel, he would often leave trunks of documents behind as security for his debts. These trunks, which were eagerly sought after Tesla’s death, have become the key to unlocking the mystery of who Nikola Tesla really was, and the incredible life that he secretly lead.

When Tesla died on January 7, 1943 at the age of 86, representatives of the Office of Alien Property, at the request of the FBI, went to the Hotel New Yorker and seized all of Tesla’s belongings. Two truckloads of papers, furniture and artifacts were sent under seal to the Manhattan Storage and Warehouse Company.

This load was added to the almost thirty barrels and bundles that had been in storage since the 1930’s, and the entire collection was sealed under orders from the OAP.

Strange behavior, considering that Tesla was a legal American citizen.

The Forgotten Papers of Nikola Tesla

After Tesla’s death, there was a scramble by the United States government to find all of his papers, notes and research before other foreign powers could find them. Tesla’s nephew, Sava Kosanovic, reported that before the OAP had arrived, someone else had obviously gone through Tesla’s belongings and took an unknown amount of personal notes and papers.

It was known by the FBI that German intelligence had already spirited away a sizable amount of Tesla’s research several years before his death. This stolen material, it is thought, would eventually result in the development of the Nazi flying saucer. The United States was going to make sure that this would not happen again.

Anything even remotely associated with the great man was quickly confiscated and lost within the secret networks of pre-World War II America. Nevertheless, more than a dozen boxes of Tesla’s belongings left behind at hotels like the Waldorf Astoria, the Governor Clinton Hotel and the St. Regis had already been sold to salvagers to pay off Tesla’s outstanding bills.

Most of these boxes and the secrets they contained have never been found. In 1976, four undistinguished boxes of papers were auctioned in the estate sale of one Michael P. Bornes. Little is known about Bornes except that he had been a bookseller in Manhattan. This auction took place in Newark, NJ, with the boxes and their contents being bought by Dale Alfrey for twenty five dollars.

Alfrey had no idea what was in the boxes when he bought them on a whim. When he later went through them, he was surprised to find what appeared to be lab documents and personal notes of Nikola Tesla. Some of the lost papers of Tesla had once again resurfaced. However, due to ignorance they were almost lost once again.

In 1976, the name Nikola Tesla was not widely known. Alfrey had little idea of the importance of the papers he now owned. Going through the incredible amount of material, Alfrey at first thought he had uncovered the notes of a science fiction writer. What he read was so incredible that it seemed impossible that any of it was true.

Having little interest in what he had bought, Alfrey stashed the boxes away in his basement thinking that he would go through them again later when he had more time. Twenty years passed before Alfrey would once again find the time to open the strange boxes. Unfortunately, time had not been so kind to the precious contents contained within.

The papers by now had mildewed badly and the ink had faded from the years of neglect in the damp basement. Alfrey was determined not to let this material disappear forever and started the laborious effort of trying to transcribe the information before it was too late.

However, Alfrey soon found himself caught up in reading the remarkable papers. Tesla’s notes are shocking in their revelations of the scientist’s secret life. A life, that up until this time, had never been mentioned by Tesla, or documented by biographers after his death.

These lost journals revealed that in 1899, while in Colorado Springs, Tesla intercepted communications from extraterrestrial beings who were secretly controlling mankind. These creatures were slowly preparing humans for eventual conquest and domination, using a program that had been in place since the creation of humankind, but was now accelerating due to Earth’s increased scientific awareness.

Tesla wrote about his years of research to interpret the strange radio signals, and his attempts to notify the government and military concerning what he had learned, but his letters apparently went unanswered.

Tesla spoke in confidence to several of his benefactors, including Colonel John Jacob Astor, who owned the Waldorf Astoria hotel. These benefactors listened to Tesla and secretly funded what was to be the start of mankind’s first battle to regain control of its own destiny. A battle set in motion by Nikola Tesla.

While this information seems absolutely incredible, Tesla did give occasional hints to his predicament in various newspaper and magazine interviews.

Tesla may have elaborated on the subject in the following article:

Talking With The Planets in Colliers Weekly (March 1901)

“As I was improving my machines for the production of intense electrical actions, I was also perfecting the means for observing feeble efforts. One of the most interesting results, and also one of great practical importance, was the development of certain contrivances for indicating at a distance of many hundred miles an approaching storm, its direction, speed and distance traveled.

“It was in carrying on this work that for the first time I discovered those mysterious effects which have elicited such unusual interest. I had perfected the apparatus referred to so far that from my laboratory in the Colorado mountains.

I could feel the pulse of the globe, as it were, noting every electrical change that occurred within a radius of eleven hundred miles. 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. 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 idea 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 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 as 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 afterward 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. A purpose was behind these electrical signals.”

Decades later on his birthday in 1937, he announced:

“I have devoted much of my time during the year past to the perfecting of a new small and compact apparatus by which energy in considerable amounts can now be flashed through interstellar space to any distance without the slightest dispersion.”

(New York Times, Sunday, 11 July 1937.)

Tesla never publicly revealed any technical details of his improved transmitter, but in his 1937 announcement, he revealed a new formula showing that:

“The kinetic and potential energy of a body is the result of motion and determined by the product of its mass and the square of its velocity. Let the mass be reduced, the energy is reduced by the same proportion. If it be reduced to zero, the energy is likewise zero for any finite velocity.”

(New York Sun, 12 July 1937, p. 6.)

Why is it that there has been little written about Tesla’s belief that he had listened in on alien radio signals?

Perhaps the truth has been kept secret.

The Men-In-Black Pay a Visit

By the summer of 1997, Alfrey had finished reading the entire contents of the four boxes and was ready to start scanning the papers on to computer disks. Alfrey had been more than a little surprised that the voluminous notes and journals contained no drawings or blueprints. It was not until later that Alfrey discovered that Tesla detested illustrating his ideas owing to the fact that his own mental blueprints were all that he required to build his inventions.

Alfrey also noticed that Tesla’s journals were often incomplete. There were numerous gaps consisting of days, months and even years. Alfrey surmised that other journals could exist somewhere, hidden away either by the government, or by ignorance in forgotten warehouses and attics.

Because of these gaps, Alfrey started to make inquiries over the Internet hoping that others may have additional information concerning the missing sections. These inquiries obviously attracted the attentions of those who were also interested in the lost journals. Someone who wanted the journals to remain lost forever.

In September 1997, Alfrey was home continuing his research while his wife and children were gone for the day to Manhattan. As Alfrey remembers, the phone rang and the caller identified himself as Jay Kowski who was interested in Tesla and the papers that Alfrey had discovered.

Alfrey had spoken to the caller for only a few minutes when suddenly the line went dead. Almost immediately the front door bell rang, Alfrey recalled.

“When I went to answer the front door, I found it already open with three men standing in the foyer.”

Before Alfrey could speak, the man closest addressed him by his first name.

“The door was open John, I hope you don’t mind that we let ourselves in?”

The three men were all dressed in identical black business suits with white shirts and black ties.

“They looked just like undertakers, “Alfrey said.

However, Alfrey could tell that these men were not undertakers, or simply there for a friendly chat. The man who had first spoken continued to address Alfrey by his first name:

“Like he knew me personally or something. But I had never seen these men before in my life. I was afraid that maybe they were criminals. There was a palatable air of menace around these three that I had never experienced before, or after.”

The other two men remained close to the door and never spoke. Their eyes remained fixed on Alfrey throughout the entire experience.

“We understand that you have in your possession some old boxes and papers,” the first man said. “We would be very interested in buying these from you.”

“Well, they’re not really for sale,” Alfrey answered. “Anyway, how do you know about them?”

The first man chuckled. “We know a lot about you and your papers. They don’t belong to you, but we would be willing to pay you for your troubles. They’re of no use to you, in fact, you could be in a lot of trouble for having them in the first place.”

By now, Alfrey realized that the men were not asking to buy his boxes, they were demanding them. He could tell that they meant business and this frightened him.

The first man now slowly moved closer to Alfrey, speaking in a slow deliberate way. He carefully enunciated each word so that Alfrey understood perfectly where he stood.

“Its no use you know, the man said. Were going to get these boxes no matter what you do. You can’t stop us. It would be much easier for you and your family if you just gave us what we want. People have disappeared forever over much less than this. I would so hate to see this happen to you, or your wife and kids.”

The man now stood directly in front of Alfrey, his dark eyes fixed and cold. It almost seemed that they had some kind of hypnotic power over Alfrey as he stood there unable to speak.

Suddenly, all three of the strange men turned in unison and walked out the front door. Nothing further was said, it wasn’t necessary, Alfrey understood their message clearly. He was to give up the boxes, his research, even his interest in Tesla if he wanted to remain out of harms way.

It was as if Alfrey was coming out of a trance, he realized what had happened and he rushed out the door to confront the men. But, they were nowhere to be seen. There was no car in the driveway and the street was completely empty. In fact, the entire neighborhood was eerily quiet. Even the birds had fallen silent. It was as if the world had paused for a moment, then continued on as if nothing had happened.

Alfrey rushed back into his house and locked the doors. He then went into his study where he kept the boxes and computer. The room was located at the back of the house and had no separate entrance to the outside. It obviously wasn’t needed, because all four boxes, the papers contained within and the computer disks were now all gone.

It was obvious that the three men were only a distraction while someone else silently entered the house and ransacked the study, removing everything that pertained to Nikola Tesla. This included separate books and magazine articles that Alfrey had collected while he was doing research on the matter.

Worse yet, not only were his papers missing, but his computer hard drive had been completely erased. Everything that he had on it, including items not related to Tesla, were destroyed.

All evidence that he had on Tesla and his missing journals were now gone forever. Alfrey refused to speak about his frightening incident for several months. He told no one what had happened, not even his wife. It was as if he was in a state of mental shock that perpetually clouded his mind.

Slowly he began to regain his senses and remember the details of that day. He recalled that the three men dressed exactly alike, were almost the same height, and all three had their hair cut short with odd looking long bangs that covered their foreheads.

The three men also had unnatural looking tanned skin. Almost like they had used a bottled tanner that dyes the skin a dark brown. Other than these peculiarities, the men appeared to be normal. It had not occurred to Alfrey that they could be something other than what they seemed. It was not until later, when relating this strange story that someone remarked about the MIBs.

Alfrey had never heard about the Men-In-Black. He had heard about the movie, but had not made the connection. After doing a little research and reading several books by the authors John Keel and Commander X, Alfrey was certain that he had received a visit from the Men-In-Black, or at least someone who wanted to look like the Men-In-Black.

This is where Dale Alfrey’s strange story comes to an end. Everything that he had done connected to Nikola Tesla has been taken away from him. Fortunately, due to his spending hours reading the Tesla papers, he has retained a good memory of their contents. Not a perfect recollection, but sufficient to relate for this book.

Alfrey wonders if his boxes were the last of the missing belongings of Tesla. Or could others still remain forgotten somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered.

What Tesla Believed

Newspaper articles from the time of Tesla’s death relate that possibly over a dozen large boxes of Tesla’s notes were never found by the government. These could still be out there somewhere, waiting for some lucky individual to rediscover their lost secrets.

It can only be speculated on what would be found inside other forgotten boxes of notes and personal belongings, possibly the missing information concerning Tesla’s secret battle with the government and his knowledge of alien life forms.

The papers that Dale Alfrey found revealed a side of Tesla not known to the public. Tesla apparently had spent a number of years trying to translate the mysterious signals he first heard in 1899.

His basic interpretation of these signals was that creatures from another planet, “Martials” as the slang of the day called them, were secretly here on Earth – They had infiltrated humankind for centuries – They had controlled events and people in order to lead mankind on a path of evolutionary development and essentially were responsible for human’s being on the planet in the first place.

As well, Tesla discovered that the planets overall temperature was slowly increasing, what we know today as global warming. Tesla thought that this was being brought about by natural conditions, as well as manmade and extraterrestrial interference.

With this in mind, we can now see some of the reasons for Tesla’s eccentric behavior in the later years of his life. Tesla became obsessed with creating devices to end warfare and join mankind against what he perceived as the common enemy of extraterrestrials. He often spoke about “Death Rays” and “Wingless Torpedo’s” that could fly through the air without propellers or jets, possibly one of the earliest mentions of flying saucers.

Tesla also became interested in developing methods to create free energy from sources other than burning wood or fossil fuels. Tesla was obviously the first to realize the dire consequences that could await us if the greenhouse effect was to take place.

Unfortunately, Tesla’s attempts to elevate humankind with new technology were met with laughter and derision. His letters about his concerns, sent to his friends in the government, were ignored.

Tesla must have felt that he knew the biggest secret in the world concerning the fate of mankind, but nobody cared.

~ Excerpt from The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla