re: Tesla and very early SETI
>"Nikola Tesla was convinced that radio waves could be used to communicate with beings on other planets, plus he also suggested using a series of flashing lights to communicate with the(m)....."
That's exactly what Dr. Steven Greer of CSETI does and they think he's nuts....
BTW, I have a hard-to-get copy of Tesla's biography in which he states how he could SEE all his inventions in his mind in 3-D and go further to see how it was constructed. He even talks about his "earth parents".
I would guess he was another space cadet who may have been getting his ideas elsewhere.