The Tesla Northern Correspondence — 1899

In the autumn of 1899, Nikola Tesla was conducting experiments at his Colorado Springs laboratory, testing high-voltage electrical transmission and recording atmospheric electrical phenomena. In November of that year, Tesla’s apparatus detected a signal that he described in his diary as “regular, rhythmical,” and which he initially attributed to interference from another experimenter. He later revised this assessment.

Tesla wrote to the Institution in December 1899. How he knew of the Institution is not documented. The letter is held in the public archive (this entry). The Institution’s reply is held from the Second Degree. The subsequent correspondence — four letters from Tesla, four replies from the then-Warden — is held at ascending degree levels, with the final exchange restricted at the Fourth Degree.

Tesla’s Letter, December 1899

Tesla’s letter, reproduced in partial transcript here, describes the signal he detected and asks whether the Institution has a record of similar phenomena. He uses the phrase “the northern question” to describe what he is investigating. The phrase is not explained in the letter, which implies Tesla believed the Institution would understand the reference.

The Institution did understand the reference. The Warden’s reply, accessible from the Second Degree, begins: Your question is known to us. We have been waiting for someone of your particular capability to ask it.