The words “ray gun” usually brings to mind an imaginary future technology associated with science fiction movies such as The Terminator, Star Wars, and Star Trek; Part of science fiction has become fact.
In January 2007, The Associated Press reported that Moody Air force Base was testing a new form of weapon called Ray Gun. The weapon isn’t shaped in the form of a gun or rifle; it’s an octagonal disk that’s attached to a military Humvee. An operator inside the vehicle uses a joystick to zero in on a target. Once the target has been acquired, the operator fires a 100,000-watt beam at the speed of light. This beam can be discharged from more than 500 yards.
This beam emits a flash of white-hot energy – an electromagnetic beam made up of very high frequency radio waves that you can’t see or hear. This beam only penetrates 1/64 of an inch of skin, (which is equivalent to three sheets of ordinary paper), yet participants of experiment claimed that while the demonstration was not painful, it was intense enough to make them believe their clothing was about to catch fire.
The CBS-TV show 60 Minutes reported on the device in March 2008.
On Aug. 23, 2010, Debra Dupre, staff member with the Human Rights Examiner posted a story on the internet with a caption reading, “Military Ray Gun to be tested on inmates.” She said one test was performed at the Sheriff’s Detention Center located in Castaic, California.
Commander Bob Osborne, who is head of the Technology Exploration Branch of the Sheriff’s Department of Homeland Security Division, was quoted as saying, “The Assault Intervention System (AIS) developed by Raytheon Co. could give the Sheriff’s Department another tool to quell disturbances at a 65-inmate dormitory at the Pitchess Detention Center North County Correctional Facility.”
The new weapon is listed as a non-lethal device. It has been tested on humans more than an estimated 11,000 times over 10 years, CBS reported.