Dr. Thomas Henry Moray, an electric engineer and devout member of the Mormon community in Salt Lake City, Utah, was captivated by the prospect of tapping into the world’s natural energy resources. During his missionary work in Sweden in 1911, the nineteen-year-old Moray discovered a soft, silvery white crystal that would forever alter his life. Moray never fully disclosed the true identity of the crystal. However, by placing this substance into a crystal radio set, he observed that it produced an incredibly powerful signal that obliterated headphones and caused large speakers to bellow.
In 1925, Moray showcased to curious engineers an energy-receiving mechanism made up of a cylindrical metal tube, an aerial, and a grounding rod. According to Moray, this contraption had the ability to power more than 35 lamps, a heater, and a hand iron all at once. To underscore his claim that his invention could produce its own energy, the pioneer scientist had his device tested on a mountain summit, in a desert, and at the bottom of a lake inside a sealed container. Despite subjecting the device to public scrutiny, Moray closely guarded the secret of the Swedish stone – the critical component of his invention.
Moray held fast to his belief that the enigmatic crystal drew energy from the cosmic rays unleashed by the sun and surrounding stars, which he dubbed the "radiant sea of energy." He subsequently renamed the invention the Cosray Receiver and modified it such that, by 1929, it purportedly generated enough power to run a small factory.
The Cosray Receiver was initially deemed an invaluable source of affordable, if not free, energy at a time when the Great Depression rocked America. However, governmental electricity authorities, whom Moray thought had a keen interest in either confiscating his invention or dismantling it, increasingly focused their attention on this invention. The original device was ultimately destroyed in 1941 in what constituted one of the many facets of a convoluted web of conspiracy that potentially entailed Soviet infiltration into Moray’s laboratory and an assassination attempt on the scientist himself in the 1930s.
Moray continued working in the radio industry on military projects, but his endeavors to patent his inventions were frustratingly rebuffed. Ultimately, Moray relented and disclosed most of the components of the Swedish stone, which may have been a rare variation of spodumene composed of lithium, aluminum, and silicate. Moray’s son, John, continues to carefully preserve and further develop his father’s legacy.