Tesla's Free Energy - Part 2

There is one story told by Tesla on 4 different occasions and in 4 slightly different ways. Why did he tell this apparently irrelevant story four times?

The first time is on May 18th, 1917 recorded in the "Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Held at the Engineering Societies Building, Friday Evening":

One day as I was walking in the forest a storm gathered and I ran under a tree for shelter. The air was very heavy, and all at once there was a lightning flash, and immediately after a torrent of rain fell. That gave me the first idea. I realized that the sun was lifting the water vapour, and wind swept it over the regions where it accumulated and reached a condition when it was easily condensed and fell to earth again. This life-sustaining stream of water was entirely maintained by sun power, and lightning, or some other agency of this kind, simply came in a trigger-mechanism to release the energy (emphasis added) at the proper moment. I started out and attacked the problem of constructing a machine which would enable us to precipitate this water whenever and wherever desired.

The second time was in 1919 in his autobiography:

One day, as I was roaming in the mountains, I sought shelter from an approaching storm. The sky became overhung with heavy clouds but somehow the rain was delayed until, all of a sudden, there was a lightning flash and a few moments after a deluge. This observation set me thinking. It was manifest that the two phenomena were closely related, as cause and effect, and a little reflection led me to the conclusion that the electrical energy involved in the precipitation of the water was inconsiderable, the function of lightning being much like that of a sensitive trigger.
Here was a stupendous possibility of achievement. If we could produce electric effects of the required quality, this whole planet and the conditions of existence on it could be transformed. The sun raises the water of the oceans and winds drive it to distant regions where it remains in a state of most delicate balance. If it were in our power to upset it when and wherever desired, this mighty life-sustaining stream could be at will controlled. We could irrigate arid deserts, create lakes and rivers and provide motive power in unlimited amounts. This would be the most efficient way of harnessing the sun to the uses of man. (emphasis added) The consummation depended on our ability to develop electric forces of the order of those in nature.

The third time was on December 1931 in an article: "Our Future Motive Power"

The sun raises the water to a height where it remains in a state of delicate suspension until a disturbance, of relatively insignificant energy, causes condensation at a place where the balance is most easily disturbed. The action, once started, spreads like a conflagration for a vacuum is formed and the air rushing in, being cooled (emphasis added) by expansion, enhances further condensation in the surrounding masses of the cloud. All life on the globe is absolutely dependent on this gigantic trigger mechanism of nature and my extended observations have shown that the complex effects of lightning are, in most cases, the chief controlling agents. This theory, formulated by me in 1892, was borne out in some later experiments I made with artificial lightning bolts over 100 feet long, according to which it appears possible, by great power plants suitably distributed and operated at the proper times, to draw unlimited quantities of water from the oceans to the continents. The machines being driven by the waterfalls, all the work would be performed by the sun, while we would have merely to release the trigger.

The fourth time was on December 1933 in an article called "Breaking Up Tornadoes"

One on the greatest possible achievements of the human race would be the control of the precipitation of rain. The sun raises the waters of the ocean and winds carry them to distant regions, where they remain in a state of delicate suspension until a relatively feeble impulse causes them to fall to earth. The terrestrial mechanism operates much like an apparatus releasing great energy through a trigger or priming cap.
If man could perform this relatively trifling work, he could direct the life-giving stream of water wherever he pleased, create lakes and rivers and transform the arid regions of the globe. Many means have been proposed to this end, but only one is operative. It is lightning, but of a certain kind (emphasis added).

We have here 4 times the same story, in the first one he makes a 'mistake' by talking about the precipitation of energy instead of water, the second time he links this story to his most important article "the Problem of Increasing Human Energy" by quoting its sub-title, the 3rd time he links it to the self-acting machine by mentioning the 'cooling by expansion' principle and the 4th time he explains that it concerns a lightning discharge.
If these 4 times weren't enough to convince you of the need to look deeper into this, there is a fifth time which is less known because it is not published. It is in his patent application no. 213,055. Since this text is a bit harder to obtain I will quote a relatively large part of it... (bear with me)...

It is well known that through the sun’s heat water is evaporated and elevated to more or less considerable heights, where it remains in a state of delicate suspension, until disturbing influences arise which cause a condensation of vapour particles and their fall to the earth’s surface under the action of gravity. Thus all vegetation and animal life on this globe is sustained. The body of water maintained in the air is like a heavy weight in labile equilibrium, which to topple over it requires an amount of energy minute in comparison to that developed by its fall.
Evidently then if only that initial energy, small in amount but peculiar in quality, could be produced, this life preserving circulation of water could be controlled. But though this truth may have been long ago recognized nothing, so far as I am aware, has been developed which would offer even the slightest possibility for man to gain mastery of this process of nature.
In endeavouring to solve this al-important problem I have discovered that the condensation of aqueous vapour is or may be brought about, by certain electrical discharges or oscillations of transcending intensity, which produce sudden and excessive compressions and rarefactions in the atmosphere.
Basing myself on experimental facts and observations, I explain their action as follows: The air being compressed is heated above the temperature of the surrounding, and a portion of the heat thus evolved is instantly radiated away.
Rarefaction succeeding, the air is cooled, but only slightly, as some of the vapour in it condenses, this being attended by a liberation of latent heat and partial dissipation of the same, by radiation or otherwise. Upon the air being again compressed, the droplets formed are not re-evaporated, as this would require much more heat energy than consumed in their condensation, hence some of the heat generated is abstracted from the air as before. In the expansion following, the atmospheric gases are again cooled and more of the vapour is condensed. These actions are repeated in rapid succession, their effect being cumulative, resulting in a more or less copious precipitation of moisture. The energy used up in the compression and expansion of the air bears to the gravitational energy of the vapour condensed a relation not unlike that which exists between the energy required to pull the trigger of a gun and that stored in potential form, in the explosive. Obviously the trigger-mechanism may be more or less sensitive, so too the energy necessary to precipitate water and the quantity of the latter will vary greatly according to circumstances, admitting the correctness of the preceding explanation, the atmosphere subjected to sudden compressions and rarefactions will not be able to contain as much vapour as under normal conditions, and from this it might be inferred, that condensation will always result. But it must be borne in mind that the air is receiving continuously new heat from the surrounding media, which tends to counteract the effect of the discharges or oscillations. Although the direct rays of the sun pass quite freely through the vapour-charged air, the rays reflected from the earth’s surface are almost wholly absorbed. To be effective, the energy of the oscillations must, therefore, be supplied at an enormous rate, even though for a very short time. In the lightning discharges nature has provided an ideal means for precipitating moisture, and if electrical forces of such character could be artificially produced, an incalculable benefit to mankind could be secured through their intelligent control.

This bit describes the precipitation process of water stimulated by an electrical impulse. Or does it?
One should read this really carefully, put it next to other writings of Tesla and note those 'mistakes' that I mentioned earlier.
Perhaps a little knowledge about lightning discharges can be helpful too.

Lightning
To bridge a distance of 1 meter through the air it takes roughly 1 million volt and up to this distance there is a more or less linear relation between distance and voltage. Lightning discharges can be many kilometres long and applying the 1 million volt per meter rule, billions of volts would be required. This is obviously not the case, there is a different process going on here. A lightning discharge is preceded by a so called stepped leader which takes steps of 10-80 meters, matching the voltage of 10-80 million volts. This leader creates a plasma channel and when this channel connects to the ground it is emptied in one violent discharge.

Now what process would add steps in this stepped leader? Could it be the precipitation of energy from our atmosphere induced by a trigger discharge, just as Tesla describes in these 5 quotes?
Think about it. Could it be that Tesla was trying to copy this natural process to gain access to a source of energy?
Read the Key to Tesla's Work if you haven't already, and read part 1 in case you have missed it.

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