All language subtitles for HISTORY CHANNEL - Ancient Aliens (2014) - (S08E06 - The Tesla Experiment) BD 1080p

NARRATOR: He is the man
who harnessed lightning.

MAN: He really is
the quintessential wizard.

NARRATOR: He envisioned
new technologies

far before their time.

DIFFERENT MAN: These images
would burst into his mind.

NARRATOR: He also claimed
to have contact

with otherworldly beings.

DIFFERENT MAN:
You have to wonder

if extraterrestrials themselves
weren't feeding him information.

NARRATOR: 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?

DIFFERENT MAN: He was actually
being communicated with

by extraterrestrials
and publicly proclaimed this.

NARRATOR: 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?

New York City,

January 7, 1943,

famed inventor Nikola Tesla
dies of a heart attack

on the 33rd 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.

MAN: 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 material
that was recovered

was profoundly
significant in terms

of a lot of highly advanced
scientific concepts.

NARRATOR: Just who was
this mysterious figure

known as Tesla,
and why would his notebooks

elicit so much interest from
the United States government?

[Thunder]

The life of Nikola Tesla

was a dramatic one
from the very beginning.

[Clock bell chimes]

He was born at the stroke
of midnight on July 10, 1856,

during a violent lightning storm
in what is now Croatia.

[Thunder]

MAN: 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."

MAN: 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 when 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

NARRATOR: 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 light bulbs.

Tesla designed a far more
sophisticated system

utilizing alternating current,

which could easily be
manipulated along the way,

allowing for not only
light bulbs to be powered,

but also other electric devices.

Using Niagara Falls
as a hydroelectric power source,

Tesla's system could illuminate
the entire Northeast.

SEIFER: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

MAN: 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.

NARRATOR: But Nikola Tesla

not only officially
electrified the world.

His legacy includes
groundbreaking work

on electric rail roads,
fluorescent and neon lights,

wireless radio communications,

X-rays

remote control,

turbine engines,

speedometers,

helicopters,

and even torpedoes.

By the time of his death,

Tesla held nearly
700 worldwide patents.

MAN: 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.

NARRATOR:
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.

SWARTZ: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

SEIFER: 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.

MAN: 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 is born at this time?

Nikola Tesla,

Albert Einstein.

This is the beginning
of so many things.

NARRATOR: 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 is 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.

MAN: 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.

WILCOCK: 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?

NARRATOR: 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 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.

MAN: The ideas of Tesla
for wireless power

have only been
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.

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 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.

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:
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.

SEIFER: 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.

So 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

REDFERN: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

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.

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.

TZADOK: 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.

CHILDRESS: You have to wonder
if extraterrestrials themselves

weren't feeding him
images of inventions

that only he could understand.

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?

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.

SWARTZ: It's been discovered
in ancient Egyptian temples

and tombs carvings
that look suspiciously

like modern-day light bulbs
and Tesla coils.

CHILDRESS: 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.

NARRATOR: 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 further clue
can be found

with the mysterious
radio transmissions

Tesla claimed he received
in 1899 from outer space.

[Thunder]

NARRATOR: Colorado Springs,

July 1899.

While testing
a magnifying transmitter

built to track storms,
Nikola Tesla claims he received

some sort of transmission
from an unknown source.

[Thunder]

SEIFER: One night,
he was tracking thunderstorms

600 miles away, but all of a
sudden, he heard these beeps...

[Beep beep beep]

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.

[Beep beep beep]

BRANDENBURG: Mars' orbit brings
it close to the Earth

periodically
about once every 1.8 years,

and at one of those
close encounters,

he believed he was picking up
signals from Mars.

VALONE: He most likely
had made a receiver

that was sensitive enough
to receive radio waves,

as we now know come
from galaxies

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.

SEIFER: 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?

NARRATOR: 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

further radio communications
from other planets.

Based on these transmissions
that Tesla was receiving,

he developed the theory that
this extraterrestrial presence

had been on Earth
for a millennia,

that these extraterrestrials
had been controlling mankind

from the very beginning.

WILCOCK: 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.

NARRATOR: But the shocking
revelation was shunned

by Tesla's scientific peers
and led many

to deem him a mad scientist.

BRANDENBURG:
So you have Nikola Tesla

electrifying the world
literally.

Then about the time that he had
a falling out

with 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, I think,

to try and discredit him.

NARRATOR: In the early 1900s,
it was rumored that Tesla

was being considered to receive
the Nobel Prize,

but, mysteriously, he never did.

SEIFER: 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.

NARRATOR: 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
to be 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.

CHILDRESS: Throughout
the 1920s and Thirties,

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.

NARRATOR: 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.

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.

NARRATOR: 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.

CHILDRESS: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

TZADOK: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

SEIFER: 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're probably linked

to the numbers three,
six, and nine,

and he said that the numbers
were very important.

WILCOCK: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

BRANDENBURG: 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.

NOORY: 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 a sudden,

those planes would
just fall like that.

SEIFER: 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 ll,

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.

NARRATOR: 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 3.5 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.

CHILDRESS: Tesla said that he
entered a state of timelessness

and he could see the past
and the future and the present

all in one
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.

[Thunder]

NARRATOR: 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.

BRANDENBURG:
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 then reappeared
with some of the crew

actually embedded
in the metal of the ship.

NARRATOR: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

NARRATOR: 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.

REDFERN: 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.

CHILDRESS: This is exactly
the kind of technology

that Tesla was talking about
in the 1920s and Thirties,

using these beam weapons

to shoot down missiles
and projectiles.

WILCOCK: 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?

NARRATOR: 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.

SEIFER: 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.

TZADOK: 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.

CHILDRESS: You have to wonder if
Tesla was transplanted to Earth

by extraterrestrials
in order to envision

and invent all
of these amazing devices.

WILCOCK: 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 tabletop 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.

NARRATOR: 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?