Everything Nikola Tesla Said About Aliens

Tesla Signals Mars by Radio (1919) 3 Best Nikola Tesla Books

Everything Nikola Tesla Said About Aliens

[image error]

Talking with the Planets
Collier's Weekly, February 19, 1901.

Webmaster’s note:

On this page you will find virtually everything Nikola Tesla said in public while pondering life on other planets.

Taken out of context, Tesla’s quotes about aliens might seem silly, and many people will think less of Tesla for approaching the topic at all. It is important to note that during the late 1800s/early 1900s, alien life was a trending topic just as our congressional hearings and news agencies in the 2020s are abuzz with stories about UFO or UAP activity.

Thus, much of what Tesla says about aliens is merely his response to a trending topic. For the most part, his comments are philosophical and curious, rather than tinfoil hat material. And for someone who was known to be so serious… “Nikola Tesla is almost the tallest, almost the thinnest, and certainly the most serious man who goes to Delmonico’s regularly.”( The World, July 1894 ). When he wasn’t preoccupied with difficult engineering problems, he could just as often show us that it’s okay to have fun.

There is a more famous time when Tesla is said to have made a total mistake in this area. He was performing early experiments with radio in 1899, and believed he might have received an alien communication. As a prudent scientist, however, he was wise enough to distinguish this from an objective reality. He used language like “…I could not say with certainty…” and words like “probable" to describe the supposed alien encounter.

Some context about the trending talk of aliens in Tesla’s time will be provided below. A menu of each original newspaper article used as source material is also provided, but it is advised to finish reading the page before exploring.

If you enjoy this, please follow @teslaswords or grab a copy of Tesla’s Words by Ellis Oswalt.

Talking with the Planets by Nikola Tesla
Collier's Weekly, February 19, 1901.

Every quote is sourced from a real newspaper article, and you can read these vintage articles by navigating the menu below.

MENU:

I. EVERYTHING NIKOLA TESLA SAID ABOUT ALIENS
II. The Problem with Increasing Human Energy By Nikola Tesla (1900)
III. Tesla Believes We Can Communicate... (1901)
IV. Talking with the Planets by Nikola Tesla (1901)
V. Signaling to Mars by Nikola Tesla (1907)
VI. Would Talk with Mars by Pictures (1919)
VII. Tesla Signals Mars by Radio (1919)
VIII. Great Scientific Discovery Impends (1932)
[UNDER COPYRIGHT - AWAITING PERMISSIONS]

Signaling To Mars—A Problem Of Electrical Engineering By Nikola Tesla
The Harvard Illustrated Magazine, March 1907.

Would Talk With Mars By Pictures, an Interview by Garrett P. Serviss
THE NEW YORK POST, Jan 22, 1919.

Great Scientific Discovery Impends, an Interview by Harry Goldberg
Galveston Daily News, March 13, 1932.

Talking with the Planets by Nikola Tesla
Collier's Weekly, February 19, 1901.

Signaling To Mars—A Problem Of Electrical Engineering By Nikola Tesla
The Harvard Illustrated Magazine, March 1907.

Every quote here is sourced from a real newspaper article, and you can read these articles by navigating the menu below.

MENU:

I. EVERYTHING NIKOLA TESLA SAID ABOUT ALIENS
II. The Problem with Increasing Human Energy By Nikola Tesla (1900)
III. Tesla Believes We Can Communicate... (1901)
IV. Talking with the Planets by Nikola Tesla (1901)
V. Signaling to Mars by Nikola Tesla (1907)
VI. Would Talk with Mars by Pictures (1919)
VII. Tesla Signals Mars by Radio (1919)
VIII. Great Scientific Discovery Impends (1932)
[UNDER COPYRIGHT - AWAITING PERMISSIONS]

CONTEXT:

ASTRONOMY HISTORY - THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY

Tesla tells us his curiosity about aliens was provoked by the work of astronomer Percival Lowell, whose work led to the discovery of Pluto.

Lowell was influenced by the work of earlier Italian astronomer, Giovanni Shiaparelli, who studied the geography of Mars as the planet drew very close to Earth in 1877. In years that followed, Shiaparelli published maps of the planet Mars that showed natural landmarks of the empty pockets, or channels, where water had flowed in oceans before Mars was dry and frozen, as we know it today.

His map labeled these “channels” and in English it was mis-translated to “canals” which planted the idea in the English-speaking-world that these markings on the surface of Mars could indicate artificial structures built by a race of intelligent designers.

Telescope technology was weak, and very little was known about our solar system. American Percival Lowell was thrilled by the possibility of alien life on Mars, and erected an observatory in Arizona in 1894 to study the red planet. Lowell never found life on Mars, but other astronomers working at his observatory eventually discovered the mass of Pluto, and other features around the edge of our solar system. Today, the observatory still stands as a historic landmark.

There was much talk about the possibility of alien life, and this influenced H. G. Wells to publish his novel War of the Worlds in 1898, further fanning the flames of alien fever.

In 1909 French astronomer Eugéne Antoniadi used a newly advanced telescope to observe Mars, and found that there were absolutely no signs of any structures built on the planet’s surface. The “Martian Canal” idea was then put to rest.