Space weapons

[Apollas]

I was watching something on TV and they were developing a high power lazer that could vaporise someone instantly.

Now if the government has the ability to know who is or isn't a follower, couldn't they vaporise those people, or if they vanish, use that as an excuse as to what happened to them?

 

[manchambo]

Are you under the impression that most governments would need a space laser to make someone vanish?

What's to stop the government from kidnapping and killing people who disagree with them now?

 

[Mackdaddy Suave]

Are you under the impression that most governments would need a space laser to make someone vanish?

What's to stop the government from kidnapping and killing people who disagree with them now?

Lasers are WAY cooler.

Unfortunately they wouldn't be very covert, as if you are indoors I would imagine that they would need to burn through the ceiling of your house to get to you.

Also, if I saw someone vapourised in the street in front of me, I might start asking a few questions. Mostly about my sanity.

 

[Biker Angel]

I worked on the Ronald Reagan Star Wars project back in 1984
and I can safely tell you that the USA government has NO such
a weapon. Such a weapon would have to be particle beam and
NOT laser, shot from space. Such weapons DO NOT EXIST.

 

[ThankGodforGod]

Keep in mind our most powerful chemical laser mounted on a commercial airliner has a very low success rate shooting down ICBMs in lab conditions, for this reason it was scrapped. A laser big enough to do any kind of damage from even a low orbit would require an inordinate amount of energy and if we built and launched it today, might well be "one time use".

You still have about 25-50 years before you have to worry about death rays from space. Till then you can take a blu-ray laser and make it pop balloons and light matches at home

 

[myanchor]

Yup and any laser powerful enough to zap somebody through miles of atmosphere, dust and water vapor would have an enormous amount of energy in it at the source and would definitely be seen, either in the effects as it passes or as a visible light trail. Don't beleive me? Get a laser pointer and put it up in the sky on a rainy night. Very visible.

Also light's strength decreases a lot as it gets further away from the source. I forget the exact amount.

 

[visionary]

And here I thought that was why there were making criss cross chem trails... to align and get their sites more accurate.

 

[Azureknight 773]

Mmm... Some possible-to-come-true science fiction thread. Interesting. Speaking of lasers, probably this technology will come true within a century or two. Significant studies might now be on their way to prove this one possible. If ever this will be possible, then let's prepare for a Star Wars/ Star Trek/ Gundam Era event to come. I mean come on, they have all the cool weapons like Light sabers (of Star Wars) or Beam sabers of Gundam and those cool large particle cannons found in both Star Trek and Gundam. But I hope that these will just be used for defense and not for any massive invasion. May God prevent such horrors to come.

 

[ThankGodforGod]

And here I thought that was why there were making criss cross chem trails... to align and get their sites more accurate.

Are you serious?

 

[AmericanCatholic]

Only two countries are using lasers lethally: Israel, for shooting mortar rounds out of the sky that come across its northern border, and China, for 'blinding' satellites. The Israelis probably developed them first to zap end-times Christians conspirators trying to bring about armageddon in their country.

 

[visionary]

Are you serious?

How would you line up your sites on a lazer floating out in space. You need cross hairs. It is like shooting into water, there is a distortion that has to be taken into account.

 

[AmericanCatholic]

How would you line up your sites on a lazer floating out in space. You need cross hairs. It is like shooting into water, there is a distortion that has to be taken into account.

Or you could use computers...

 

[visionary]

The bifocal mission mirrors would “catch” the laser beam from the laser platform, refocus, and direct it against the missile target.

https://research.au.af.mil/papers/ay1998/awc/98-197ex.pdf