Everything Nikola Tesla Said About Aliens

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

introduction:

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. 

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Maps of Mars by Giovanni Shiaparelli

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

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

venus and mars

Tesla predicted that out of all planets in our own solar system, it is Venus and Mars which are most likely to host life, due to their proximity to the sun. The choice of Venus seemed to age terribly as the decades passed, and the general public began to understand that the surface of Venus is molten lava.

But in very recent years, NASA has taken photos of possible black molds on Mars, and possible microbial life has been observed within the vapor surrounding Venus’ atmosphere. Both instances of life on these planets require further investigation to confirm, but perhaps Tesla wasn’t so wrong after all.

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

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

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

The Problem of Increasing Human Energy by Nikola Tesla
Century Magazine, June 1900.

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

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

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

Tesla’s rival, Guglielmo Marconi, also believed he witnessed alien communication via radio.

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