NARRATOR: Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
is home to some of the
world's greatest minds.
MIT 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, MIT researchers
were able to safely transmit
power wirelessly 7
feet across a room,
a feat heralded as a first
step to cutting the power cord.
Incredibly, a world 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.
MARC SEIFER: Tesla went
out to Colorado Springs
to see if he could
send electricity miles,
which is a tremendous
achievement.
But he had a huge tower.
And there, 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.
NARRATOR: Tesla inserted
light bulbs 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.
MARC SEIFER: These light
bulbs 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.
NARRATOR: But just how was Tesla
able to transmit electricity
wirelessly for several miles
when modern scientists can
only manage 7 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.
TIM SWARTZ: 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.
MARC SEIFER: 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.
NARRATOR: 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.
ARIEL BAR TZADOK:
These images would
literally burst into his mind.
Somehow, somewhere, some
connection was made.
And it's the same way
that 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.
TIM SWARTZ: 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.
NARRATOR: 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?
GIORGIO TSOUKALOS: 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.
TIM SWARTZ: It's been discovered
in ancient Egyptian temples
and tombs carvings that looks
suspiciously like modern day
light bulbs and Tesla coils.
DAVID CHILDRESS: Was there a
certain technology and 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.
