# Tesla and the Tunguska event? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 8, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119 "2011-05-08T02:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/1 "2011-05-08T02:49:31Z")
I was reading about Nikola Tesla and apparently some people believe he was tied to the Tunguska explosion that occurred over Russia during the beginning of the 20th century. > **[The Tunguska Explosion | Tesla FAQ No. 12 | Interesting Facts About Nikola Tesla](http://www.tfcbooks.com/teslafaq/q&a_012.htm)** > > Answers to questions about Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). > **[Tunguska -- A Tesla Connection?](http://www.tfcbooks.com/articles/tunguska.htm)** > > A FEEDLINE newsletter article about Tesla's demonstration of the rotating magnetic field > concept at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/2 "2011-05-08T02:54:02Z")
Ha, Spider Robinson used that idea as a plot point in one of his Callahan’s Place novels. Tesla blew up Tunguska, and when he realized what he did he concealed as much of the relevant work as possible and spent the rest of his life pretending to be crazy in order to keep people from taking his more off the wall stuff seriously. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/3 "2011-05-08T03:20:49Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > I was reading about Nikola Tesla and apparently some people believe he was tied to the Tunguska explosion that occurred over Russia during the beginning of the 20th century. Some people also believe that we didn’t land on the moon, that the government captured aliens, that there were multiple killers of JFK, that the government planned and carried out 9/11. The crazy just doesn’t stop. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/4 "2011-05-08T03:24:21Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > I was reading about Nikola Tesla and apparently some people believe he was tied to the Tunguska explosion that occurred over Russia during the beginning of the 20th century. I’ll bet there was a 1920’s style death ray involved. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/5 "2011-05-08T03:26:29Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > I’ll bet there was a 1920’s style death ray involved. Tesla always was ahead of his time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/6 "2011-05-08T06:26:32Z")
Oh hurray! I always thought that the Tunguska event was because of an alien space ship blowing up. I’m thrilled to learn that it was caused by a human. I bets that the human involved had gills. Sorry for making fun, but I do like being on the front edge of silly theories like this. I’m going to go to work on Monday and tell everyone about this. We will have much fun 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/7 "2011-05-08T06:33:34Z")
1908? I will (reluctantly) concede that it couldn’t be fluoridation of the water, as it was too long ago. So it must have been unions. Yep, it was union organizers and other outside agitators that caused it. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/8 "2011-05-08T10:40:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > 1908? > > I will (reluctantly) concede that it couldn’t be fluoridation of the water, as it was too long ago. > > So it must have been unions. Yep, it was union organizers and other outside agitators that caused it. Actually, [Jacques Bergier](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/), a French author best known for his book _the Morning of Magicians_, hypothetized in another one of his book (I think it was _Les Extra-terrestres dans l’histoire (Aliens in history)_), that it was Russian exiled political prisoners who constructed an A-bomb and tested it in Siberia (of course, he also believed that you could build an H-bomb on a gas stove). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/9 "2011-05-08T11:02:57Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Actually, [Jacques Bergier](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/), a French author best known for his book _the Morning of Magicians_, hypothetized in another one of his book (I think it was _Les Extra-terrestres dans l’histoire (Aliens in history)_), that it was Russian exiled political prisoners who constructed an A-bomb and tested it in Siberia (of course, he also believed that you could build an H-bomb on a gas stove). Out of curiosity, why does your link go to IMDB’s Firefly page? Did Jacques write for Firefly? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/10 "2011-05-08T11:19:35Z")
People believe a lot of stupid shit. So what? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/11 "2011-05-08T12:22:44Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Out of curiosity, why does your link go to IMDB’s Firefly page? Did Jacques write for Firefly? Sorry, my mistake. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Bergier) is the correct link:o. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/12 "2011-05-08T12:43:54Z")
> [@detop](#): > > Actually, [Jacques Bergier](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/), a French author best known for his book _the Morning of Magicians_, hypothetized in another one of his book (I think it was _Les Extra-terrestres dans l’histoire (Aliens in history)_), that it was Russian exiled political prisoners who constructed an A-bomb and tested it in Siberia (of course, he also believed that you could build an H-bomb on a gas stove). Well, hydrogen is a flammable gas… ---
**Author:** ![norvalnormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@norvalnormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norvalnormal)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/13 "2011-05-08T21:53:16Z")
There is an entertaining novel coming out ~ this summer by Paul Malmont (which I proofread, so kindly refrain from posting any typos found therein; it’s being published by Simon & Schuster, I don’t recollect the imprint–maybe Touchstone?) titled _The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown_ that in one of its many plots deals with the alleged Tesla connection to this event [I can say no more without spoilering] … Three of its fictional protagonists are science fiction writers named Asimov, Heinlein, and Hubbard … ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/14 "2011-05-08T22:41:54Z")
Holy crap, Asimov is fictional? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/15 "2011-05-08T22:54:31Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ha, Spider Robinson used that idea as a plot point in one of his Callahan’s Place novels. Tesla blew up Tunguska, and when he realized what he did he concealed as much of the relevant work as possible and spent the rest of his life pretending to be crazy in order to keep people from taking his more off the wall stuff seriously. You beat me to this, darn you! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/16 "2011-05-09T23:33:17Z")
It’s an accidental side-effect of my inventing time travel. Think of it as a kind of ripple. I am also haunted by my own ghost. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/17 "2011-05-10T00:26:54Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > It’s an accidental side-effect of my inventing time travel. Think of it as a kind of ripple. I am also haunted by my own ghost. That has to suck. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tesla-and-the-tunguska-event/581119/18 "2011-05-10T00:36:59Z")
It’s not so bad. The main trouble is that he babbles in Yiddish- which I haven’t learned yet. My ghost doesn’t say “Boo”. He says “Boobeleh”