`  If I can pick apart those sources: ;Modern speculation *  TLC  ``The Lost Ark`` (Investigation of the Ark's description) [Archived copy, Wayback machine] *: Broken, even with Wayback. However, I've seen the show. It did describe the Ark as a capacitor. Speculatively, of course, and mentioning no sources. Tesla may or may not have been mentioned, but I strongly doubt the idea was original. I enjoyed the programme, but that's a long way from wanting to see it recapped in an encyclopedia article. *  Burger, David, ``Electrical & Electronic & Telecommunications Milestones in Australia``. New South Wales. December, 2004. (Senior Member of the IEEE; k3hz@ieee.org) *: Says, and I quote, ``1445BC The description of the “Ark of the Covenant” in Exodus 25:10-22, reads like an electrical device, Nikola Tesla mentions this in ``A fairy tale of electricity``, published September 9, 1915. Other biblical accounts imply effects from the Ark correspond with exposure to high power electromagnetic fields, and the 1981 film ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ popularise this artefact.`` In short, adds nothing to the Tesla source, and pulls in a rollicking action romp by George Lucas that has nothing to do with it. *  Sassoon, George,  ``The ancient of days: deity or manna-machine?``. *: Broken, but Wayback knows it: . Does not make any claims that the Ark is a capacitor, but makes the even more outrageous claim that some machine (which may or may not have been the Ark) produced manna. Armchair speculation by one individual on teh intarweb. *  ``An electrical engineering question``. Soc.history.ancient, Usenet.  *: Usenet post. Not a reputable source itself and references no reputable sources. Mentions a ``textbook`` that might very well have gotten its inspiration from Tesla, but there's no way to tell.  *  Ginzberg, Louis, ``The Legends of the Jews``.  *  Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews. The Ark and the Cherubim. *: Yup, that does talk about sparks killing snakes and scorpions and burning thorns. But it doesn't connect it to electricity, or any other theory on what the Ark supposedly was. Can Wikipedia make the connection? No. If it could, I could just as well follow it up with theories about how an Ark using electrical discharges would have been very impractical for killing vermin or burning wood, compared to, say, a torch, but all that is beside the point. You'd need a source that uses this particular text to claim the Ark was a capacitor, not just quote this sentence suggestively. *  Tesla, Nikola, ``The Fairy Tale of Electricity``. September 9, 1915. *: The only reference that is completely relevant, even if it only establishes that Tesla made this speculation. *  Courson, Chris, ``Nikola Tesla``.  Chrisbot.com. *  ``Leviticus 10:1``. Skeptic's Annotated Bible. *  ``Exodus 28``. Skeptic's Annotated Bible. * Beaver, Gary, ``The Ark of the Covenant of our Lord``. ordotempli.org * Badillo, Tony, ``Ark of the Covenant Secrets``. *: The Ark as a footstool. Or a throne-chair. Nothing at all about capacitors.  These sources are all way overblown, and so is the text. You can confidently say that Tesla made the claim that the Ark was a capacitor, and Däniken had some funky ideas too. But honestly, that's it. All the rest is speculation. In particular, Wikipedia should not engage in Bible interpretation.  Wikipedia cannot gather bits and pieces from various sources to bolster the claim that the Ark was a capacitor. That's original research, even if Tesla or Däniken or whoever else had the idea before, and even if a television show elaborated it some more. There is an im