I just fell down the rabbit hole that is Nikola Tesla; inventor of radio, AC current distribution, remote controlled vehicles, and the DEATH RAY (actually Tesla called it the “Peace Ray” but that didn’t catch on). There’s a bit of controversy about whether it actually existed, most sane people think not, most nut bags with an internet connection and a basic grasp of HTML think oh-yeah, and a whole lot more (the above image comes from the Virgin Mary’s End-Time Prophecies page – they claim Soviet use of the weapon in Afghanistan). For a more lucid account of the technology you could read this wiki article (from the metafictional narrative Against the Day). Here they recount a story linking Tesla’s Death Ray to a 1908 explosion in Siberia that destroyed five hundred thousand square acres of land – alternatively, this destruction could be attributed to a meteor impact.
But it all gets slightly more believable when you see pictures of Tesla’s tower at Wardenclyffee Laboratory (below – more images here), or watch the informative video from Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.
The effects you get from even a small Tesla Coil are impressive (photo from David Rieben).
I think I want one. And not for any ‘death ray’ purposes, although there is this one guy who keeps dumping his rubbish in my front yard…
One response to “Death Ray”
Hell yes. A Death Ray that also preserves cadavers for at least 30 days! There’s a Tesla nut in WA: http://tesladownunder.com/ We should organise a road-trip – sink a coupla tinnies, PLAY WITH SOME DEADLY VOLTAGE..?