The Day That Changed My Life
I was always a fan of science fiction movies. As a young child at the age of seven, I had my first psychic experience while viewing the 1951 cult classic – The Day the Earth Stood Still. I’ll save that detailed description for the personal behind the scenes movie companion ebook, however, that movie had such a dramatic effect on me, it set my life on a course to discover how both ancient wisdom and modern technology could be used to improve the human condition.
The cult classic Day The Earth Stood Still film featured an artificial intelligent robot named Gort and an alien named Klaatu that landed in Washington to deliver a warning message about nuclear energy. To get the population’s attention, they turned off all the electricity on Earth which resulted in the army killing Klaatu. With the help of sound, light and an unknown medical technology aboard the space craft, Gort brought his partner back to life and they delivered a message that space should not be weaponized.
Fifty years before that movie was made, Nikola Tesla told a press conference that he had just invented a technology that would allow humans to communicate with life from other worlds and enable robots to be used for war instead of humans. It was statements like that which made front page headlines around the world – but the invention he spoke of center around his most famous patent, The Tesla Coil. It’s an ancient symbol that became a simple spiral coil of wire and has now become a famous icon.
Tesla’s other worldly statements to the press were embraced world wide as they knew he was responsible for the miracles of electricity that were first transmitted to Buffalo from his AC generators at Niagara Falls. I was born a short distance away in Hamilton Ontario, now proudly known and promoted as The Electric City because it was one of the first major city in Canada to be electrified. Since Hamilton had a natural safe harbour and an abundance of electricity, industry chose Hamilton to produce steel and other metals.
My parents took me on yearly visits to the falls which became Canada’s most popular tourist attraction, but I was most interested in visiting the power generators as I had developed a healthy fascination with electricity and magnetism. Visiting the falls as a child, I saw no statues or mentions of Tesla – he had been erased from history. Today, a statue of Tesla has now been erected to commemorate his achievements and a decommissioned power plant is an interactive museum that features Tesla’s inventions.