New York Times Publishes Tesla's Teleforce Death Ray Claim

The New York Times of Sunday 22 September 1940 publishes an article on Nikola Tesla's teleforce weapon, also called the death ray. Tesla is then 84. The article describes a four-part mechanism: eliminating the necessity for a high vacuum; a method for producing 'very great electrical force'; amplification of that force; and a projector for producing 'a tremendous electrical repelling force.' Beam voltage cited as 50,000,000 volts. The piece prompts citizen correspondence to J. Edgar Hoover urging the War Department to take the claims seriously, beginning the FBI's Nikola Tesla file (number 100-2237) that would eventually run to 160 released pages.