The Literary Digest
Nov. 7, 1931
No High-Speed Limit, Says Tesla
Dr. Nikola Tesla asserted in an interview with Hugo Gernsback that speeds
greater than that of light, which are considered impossible by the Einstein
theory of relativity, have been produced.
Stating that the Einstein theory is erroneous in many respects, Dr. Tesla stated
as early as 1900, in his patent 787,412, that the current of his radio-power
transmitter passed over the surface of the earth with a speed of 292,830 miles a
second. According to the Einstein theory, the highest possible speed is 186,300
miles a second.
Tesla indicated knowledge of speeds several times greater than light, and had
apparatus designed to project so-called electrons with a speed equal to twice
that of light.
Tesla disagreed with the part of the Einstein theory which states that the mass
of an object increases with its speed. The mass of a body is unalterable,
contended Dr. Tesla, According to the article, "otherwise energy could be
produced from nothing, since the kinetic energy acquired in the fall of a body
would be greater than that necessary to lift it at a small velocity."