Alternet has a report about the development of a slew of so-called “non-lethal weapons systems” that can be used to control crowds. One example:

“The Invisible Pain Ray

It sounds like a weapon out of Star Wars. The Active Denial System, or ADS, works like an open-air microwave oven, projecting a focused beam of electromagnetic radiation to heat the skin of its targets to 130 degrees. This creates an intolerable burning sensation forcing those in its path to instinctively flee (a response the Air Force dubs the ‘goodbye effect’).

The Pentagon’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program (JNLWP) says, ‘This capability will add to the ability to stop, deter and turn back an advancing adversary, providing an alternative to lethal force.’ Although ADS is described as non-lethal, a 2008 report by physicist and less-lethal weapons expert Dr. Jürgen Altmann suggests otherwise:

‘… the ADS provides the technical possibility to produce burns of second and third degree. Because the beam of diameter 2 m and above is wider than human size, such burns would occur over considerable parts of the body, up to 50% of its surface. Second- and third-degree burns covering more than 20% of the body surface are potentially life-threatening – due to toxic tissue-decay products and increased sensitivity to infection – and require intensive care in a specialized unit. Without a technical device that reliably prevents re-triggering on the same target subject, the ADS has a potential to produce permanent injury or death. ‘”

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Active Denial System demo: