1900-1907: Apparatus for collecting atmospheric electricity. Patents.

KorbenDallas said:

Below are a couple of interesting atmospheric electricity related patents I ran into. I am not sure how any of this was supposed to work. If you follow source links, you can find accompanying descriptions and a bunch of other technical stuff.

• #1. Apparatus for collecting atmospheric electricity
  • Filed in 1900
  • Patented in 1901
• Source

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• #2. Apparatus for collecting atmospheric electricity
  • Filed in 1907
  • Patented in 1909
• Source

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KD: Whoever has proper knowledge and education, please indulge the rest. Could it be possible for these things to actually collect electricity from the atmosphere?

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This second patent looks like it is using balloons to lift the wires high enough to catch the electricity. It reminds me of this youtube video. I think the guy says he had to go up over 200 feet to get a useable energy differential. I can't tell from this patent how high up the balloons are supposed to be. If they are less, I would wonder if that means there was more energy in the atmosphere back in 1907. It is definitely possible, as you can see from that video.