Some have inquired on a scientific explanation of the Ark's operation. Historical inquiry concerning the Ark of the Covenant indicates that it operated as an electrical circuit have been held by some, including, in the 1900s, electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. The design of the ark have characteristics to generate an electric charge, and thus could facilitate an electric discharge between the cherubs. Exodus 28 also describe priests garments which seem similar to static control smocks.
The biblical accounts of individuals sudden deaths from touching the Ark could correspond to death by a lethal high voltage charge. In Leviticus 10, Nadab and Abihu perform unprescribed procedures with the Ark which results in a "fire from the Lord," which "devoured" Aaron's sons. Some biblical accounts could correspond with exposure to some extremely high frequency electromagnetic fields (such as ultraviolet light or x-rays). "Fiery jets" occasionally burned and destroyed close objects. Louis Ginzberg's "Legends of the Jews" has ancient oral traditions referring to "sparks" from the cherubim.
"Two sparks issued from the Cherubim that shaded the Ark, and these killed all the serpents and scorpions that crossed the path of the Israelites, and furthermore burned all thorns that threatened to injure the wanderers on their march through the desert."
Jewish legend also has occasional records of a "cloud" between the cherubim. The Ark was considered dangerous at these times and Moses would not approach it.
Tesla, in the article "The fairy tale of electricity" (published September 9, 1915), stated in regards to the Ark:
"The records, though scanty, are of a nature to fill us with conviction that a few initiated, at least, had a deeper knowledge of amber phenomena. To mention one, Moses was undoubtedly a practical and skillful electrician far in advance of his time. The Bible describes precisely, and minutely, arrangements constituting a machine in which electricity was generated by friction of air against silk curtains, and stored in a box constructed like a condenser. It is very plausible to assume that the sons of Aaron were killed by a high-tension discharge, and that the vestal fires of the Romans were electrical."
Of the archaeological discoveries of the last century (which include the Baghdad Battery among others), there is an indication that a working knowledge of energy devices might have been present in ancient Middle Eastern cultures. Moses' received specialized training in the house of Pharaoh (Exodus 2:10).
The more recent theory concerning the Ark's operation, that the Ark of the Covenant was a extraterrestrial communications box, by Author Erich von Däniken is considered fringe science by mainstream archaeology. However, in the film "Chariots of the Gods", von Däniken showed an Ark replica made by Minnesota college students which produced an electrical charge.