Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Royal Raymond Rife (1888-1971) was an American inventor and researcher who worked in San Diego, California. His existence is documented in U.S. Patent records (#1,727,618), newspaper archives (San Diego Tribune, Los Angeles Times), the Smithsonian Institution Annual Report (1944), and cemetery records (Mount Hope Cemetery, San Diego). One of his microscopes survives at the Science Museum in London.

Contemporary sources reference a clinical trial conducted under the USC Special Medical Research Committee, headed by Dr. Milbank Johnson. Newspaper coverage from the era mentions the work. However, the original USC committee records have disappeared, and no peer-reviewed publication of the trial results exists. We have documentation that the trial was discussed and referenced at the time, but the primary clinical records are lost.

The historical record documents systematic suppression: the 1939 Beam Ray lawsuit bankrupted the company, the San Diego Medical Society banned Rife instruments, John Crane was imprisoned in 1961, and laboratory equipment was destroyed. The 1953 Fitzgerald Report to Congress found that organized medicine "conspired" to suppress alternative cancer treatments. Whether you attribute this to conspiracy or institutional resistance to unorthodox treatments, the result was the same: the research was halted and the records were destroyed.

Yes, though not Rife's specific claims. The FDA has approved Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) for glioblastoma and mesothelioma — a therapy using 100-300 kHz frequencies to disrupt cancer cell division. TheraBionic, using modulated radiofrequency fields, was approved for liver cancer in 2024. Research at institutions like Novobiotronics has demonstrated cancer cell inhibition using specific frequencies. The principle that electromagnetic frequencies can selectively affect cancer cells is now accepted; Rife's specific frequencies and claims remain unverified.

According to the Smithsonian/Franklin Institute publication (1944), the Universal Microscope achieved 60,000x magnification with 31,000x resolution — far exceeding conventional optical microscopes of the era. Critically, it could observe living specimens, unlike electron microscopes which kill samples in a vacuum. Rife achieved this through a complex system of block-crystal quartz optics, heterodyning light techniques, and counter-rotating prisms. One microscope survives at the Science Museum in London, though modern testing found its resolution 'extremely poor' — possibly due to missing components or improper alignment.

Morris Fishbein was the editor of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) from 1924-1950. He admitted under oath in 1938 that he had 'never practiced medicine a day in his life.' The AMA under his leadership was convicted of Sherman Anti-Trust Act violations for attempting to destroy an autonomous doctors' group. He lost a libel lawsuit to Harry Hoxsey in 1949, during which he admitted Hoxsey's external cancer salve was effective. He was forced to resign from the AMA in the early 1950s following the Fitzgerald Report.

In 1953, investigator Benedict Fitzgerald of the Interstate Commerce Commission conducted a Congressional investigation into the suppression of cancer treatments. The report, entered into the Congressional Record on August 3, 1953, concluded that 'a conspiracy does exist to stop the free flow and use of drugs in interstate commerce which allegedly has solid therapeutic value.' It found that the AMA had been 'hasty, capricious, arbitrary, and outright dishonest.' The report is available on the Internet Archive.

We don't know. No modern device replicates Rife's original technology exactly. Most use different frequency ranges, output methods, and modulation schemes. The CAFL and other frequency lists derive from the Crane-era devices (1950s-60s), which used frequencies approximately 1/10th of Rife's originals. No rigorous clinical trials have been conducted on modern Rife devices. They are not FDA-approved for disease treatment. Individual reports of benefit exist, but so do reports of no effect.

Rife's original frequencies (1930s) operated in the range of 139 kHz to 1.6 MHz, generated as sidebands on a ~3.3 MHz carrier wave. In the 1950s, John Crane and John Marsh modified the technology, apparently misunderstanding the sideband method. They lowered the audio frequencies by a factor of 10. Most modern frequency lists, including the CAFL, derive from these Crane-era modifications, not Rife's originals.

The Consolidated Annotated Frequency List (CAFL) is the primary frequency database used by modern practitioners. It contains frequency sets for hundreds of conditions, compiled from multiple sources over decades. The CAFL itself notes that its frequencies are 'not well tested' and should be considered 'a starting point for research,' not validated treatment protocols.

Every microorganism has a natural resonant frequency. When exposed to that frequency at sufficient intensity, the organism is destroyed through resonance — the same principle that allows an opera singer to shatter a wine glass. Rife called these resonant frequencies 'Mortal Oscillatory Rates.' He discovered them by observing organisms through his microscope while systematically varying frequency until finding the one that caused the organism to disintegrate.

Plasma tube devices are more similar to Rife's original technology — they use gas-filled tubes excited by RF energy and deliver frequencies without physical contact. Contact/pad devices derive from Crane-era modifications and deliver frequencies via electrical current through electrodes on the body. Neither exactly replicates Rife's original methodology.

No. This site does not sell devices, treatments, or services. It provides historical and educational information only. We do not endorse or recommend specific products or practitioners.

No. This website presents historical and educational information only. It is not medical advice. Frequency devices are not FDA-approved for disease treatment in the United States. Consult qualified healthcare providers for medical conditions.

You shouldn't trust any source unconditionally. We provide primary source citations for our claims — Smithsonian reports, Congressional records, court transcripts, newspaper archives. Verify them yourself. We distinguish between documented facts and historical claims. We acknowledge what's proven, what's reported, and what remains unverified. We include critical perspectives, like the Quekett Journal analysis of the surviving microscope.

Most primary sources we cite are publicly accessible: the Fitzgerald Report is in the Congressional Record and on the Internet Archive, the Smithsonian publication is in institutional libraries, U.S. Patent #1,727,618 is searchable in the USPTO database, and newspaper archives are available through various services. The Science Museum in London holds the surviving microscope (Inventory 1990-667).