5 World-Changing Inventions That Were Secretly Erased from History

Among Nikola Tesla's most ambitious yet ultimately doomed endeavors was the Wardenclyffe Tower, an invention that Tesla believed could tap into the planet's natural electrical charges and, combined with the energy from the ionosphere, provide an almost unlimited supply of free energy.

In the late 19th century, Tesla was grappling with financial instability. To regain his lost prestige, he envisioned a tower capable of sending and receiving wireless transmissions and broadcasting electricity.

Tesla's grandiose plans, however, faced stiff competition. His rival, Guglielmo Marconi, was making strides with his radio-based telegraph system. To outdo Marconi, Tesla designed Wardenclyffe to be the world's first wireless power transmitter.

Construction began in 1901 near Shoreham, Long Island. The tower, which was 187 feet tall and had an extensive network of underground metal roots reaching 300 feet into the Earth, was crafted from conductive materials. The tower's design featured a massive dome weighing 55 tons.

Tesla's vision was not merely confined to wireless communication. He believed that by using the Earth itself to conduct electrical signals, he could transmit energy across the globe. He theorized that if he injected electric current into the Earth at the right frequency, it would resonate and create standing waves that could be tapped anywhere on the planet.

Impressed yet cautious, financier J.P. Morgan initially backed Tesla with $150,000. However, as Tesla expanded his plans, seeking to build a more powerful transmitter capable of surpassing Marconi's, the financial demands escalated. Tesla's request for additional funds met with Morgan's refusal, leaving Tesla in a precarious position.

Despite the financial strain, Tesla pressed on. He purchased 200 acres of land in Shoreham and envisioned Wardenclyffe as a hub for a global wireless system, complete with a "radio city" that would produce his patented devices.

Tesla kept the public and press at bay as he continued his work in secrecy. By 1902, the tower had reached its full height, but progress stalled without the necessary funding. Tesla's letters to Morgan, pleading for more money, went unanswered. In 1903, newspapers reported bright flashes from the tower, but no explanation was given, and Wardenclyffe fell silent thereafter.

Financial woes compounded as investor confidence waned. By 1905, Tesla's alternating current patents expired, cutting off a significant source of income. Attempts to commercialize his other inventions failed, and by 1906, Wardenclyffe was abandoned.

By 1915, Tesla's mounting debts, including a $20,000 tab at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel where He had secluded himself, led to the foreclosure of the Wardenclyffe property. The dream officially ended in 1917 when the tower was demolished for scrap to satisfy Tesla's debts.

After the demolition of Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower in 1917, a swirl of conspiracies emerged, painting a picture of innovation thwarted by powerful interests. Prominent among these was the belief that Tesla's vision of wireless, free energy posed a dire threat to established energy industries and influential financiers like J.P. Morgan, who allegedly withdrew support to protect their investments in traditional power...

[ThriftGestapo]

Nothing pains me more than to think about the way the world could, and should, be if it weren’t for those suppressing our growth as a species for their own selfish interests.

[totallyfrozen]

Tesla wasn’t crazy and many of his ideas were probably legit. Tesla’s problem was that he didn’t care much about money. The people who loved money made sure his inventions were not realized because the idea of FREE anything bothers the heck out of them.

[dizzydial]

I used to work at a call center when I got a call from someone that opened up with, "Hey, are you familiar with the Manhattan project?" After that, he told me about a fridge that was advertised as easy to move around. It didn't have wheels. The mechanics of how it works was something like how a puck glides on top of an air hockey table. Before it even got out to market, the original designs were destroyed, and any fridges manufactured were also destroyed, courtesy of three important industries working together to preserve their potential profits: Oil, rubber, and auto. The idea was this sort of "hover" technology would eventually be scaled up and used on vehicles.
If you think you hate your average corporation, you don't hate them enough.

[offroadllc]

The more we learn, the more we realize how much we don't know.

[tsmngt]

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. - A.C. Clarke

[WayneMiller-zxcv]

If you create something that solves major problems expect to disappear

[lanedexter]

J.P. Morgan pulled the (financial) plug on Tesla’s tower because he was afraid it would work. The popular tale is he said “how could we meter it?” But broadcast power would have wrecked Morgan’s other energy related holdings. He also turned other financiers against Tesla.

[Iam_Dunn]

It’s criminal that Tesla died penniless. :(

[cahg]

Coral Castle is an amazing feat of construction, no matter what methods he used.

[DragonHeart-cmtx]

A few years ago, I met one of the gentlemen that was part of the Cold Fusion project in the 1990's. If you lived in Massachusetts at that time, then you'd remember this project being on the news. The gentleman and I hung out for 3 days and I learned a great deal. One day, the whole team reported to the project site as usual but found it completely empty. The team was told that the project was closed and they were not so gently reminded of the nondisclosure agreement. Everything disappeared and was never heard of again, some of the people disappeared as well. The project was headed by a company that now makes TVs. A couple years later, the movie "Chain Reaction" was made and it was based off of this project.

[Ky.Lauren]

Tom Ogle is another inventor that built a system to allow cars to run at roughly 100 mpg. He proved it worked by taking a newspaper reporter on a 205 mile round trip on two gallons of gas. Long story short, he filed for a patent, faced criticism, and had a lawsuit filed against him claiming the company that bought the rights to his invention violated provisions of the federal securities law. He was found deceased of an apparent OD in 1981 at age 26.

[geneporreca]

The Cold Fusion guy was definitely taken out. His Cold Fusion story is insane. Look it up. Someone definitely 86ed him. And it's sad too.

[thomasmacalpine]

Myers’s water car wasn’t his first invention that got flagged by the US gov. He had a tower based off of teslas tower, a while before the car

[Scranssen]

The number of bodies big oil has disposed of to keep their profits is crazy.

[lbzen]

The next person that makes a massive discovery like any of these these needs to release all corresponding details everywhere. Twitter, reddit, 4chan, minecraft servers, upload everywhere possible.

[janedoe-hqvn]

Another guy who had been working on a water powered car, named Aaron Salter Jr., was killed during a shooting in Buffalo awhile back.

[josephwear]

Could u many follow up this video with 5 whistleblowers who met mysterious ends? Include Phil Schneider if possible.

[mathieuleader]

*LISA IN THIS HOUSE WE OBEY THE LAWS THERMODYNAMICS!*

[bicyclist]

I've heard about Tesla's Warden Clif tower, Bruce Meijer's water powered car, and Coral Castle before. All very important stories, that need to be told and remembered. Thank you.

[rustyshackleford]

Nikola Tesla was one of the greatest people to have ever lived. If it wasn't for his A/C method winning out over Edison's D/C method, electricity would be rationed and available to the highest bidder. Instead of readily available electricity being a basic need, it would be a luxury that only the elites could afford.