# Are scalar weapons for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879 "2003-08-04T12:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/521 "2003-09-02T20:24:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMule \* > \*\*…they said I wasn’t cool enough to join \*\* Maybe if you promised to sit quietly in the back and not say anything… Do you have a second-hand apron? Are you an architect? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/522 "2003-09-02T21:42:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*Um, there really is a user that registered in Aug 2001 with the username **1920s Style Death Ray**? With 6xx posts? Am I being whoosed? \*\* You can change your nick. I’m surprised the admins allowed that one, and I wish they hadn’t. > [@](#): > > So, what are the very longest threads? This is the longest in GQ, and 2, 3, and 4 are all locked (like this one ought to be). However, #2 and #5 are both about the .999 vs 1 thing, and they have a total of 587 posts, beating this thread. This thread is still in third place for views, the real metric for a thread. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/523 "2003-09-02T22:22:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Would anyone on this board know about a death ray designer named H. W. Robichaux? I’ve just received an offer to buy stock in a venture of his, the United States Death Ray Company, but, despite all the books and articles on death rays I’ve read, I’ve never heard of him. \*\* I may have something on him around here, but I’ll have to dig through my stuff to be sure. He’s not the loon with the steam powered death ray, is he? I’ve seen that guy’s work and he’s nothing more than a snake oil salesman. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/524 "2003-09-02T23:54:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bruce\_Daddy \* > \*\*Um, there really is a user that registered in Aug 2001 with the username **1920s Style Death Ray**? With 6xx posts? Am I being whoosed? \*\* Used to be known as **skogcat.** (How did I know this? I clicked profile, search all posts by this user, last [to go to the oldest posts], found a thread with a lot of posts so there’d be a good chance of finding quoted material, and [_voila_, first try](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=86711).) Ve haff vays of makink board hiss-tory tokk, ve do. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/525 "2003-09-03T02:04:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*He’s not the loon with the steam powered death ray, is he? I’ve seen that guy’s work and he’s nothing more than a snake oil salesman. \*\* There are two people known for their work on steam-powered death rays: 1. Harry “the Hoop” Menendez, in the late 1970’s, attempted to create a steam-powered death ray. The only product of this was a 1984 article, “Steam Powered Death Rays Can’t Be Done”. 2. Milburn “Justice” Theebs has been using various different schemes over the past thirty years to bilk people from their money. A steam-powered death ray is just one of them. See Golden, “Some Fabulous Frauds”, “Death Ray History”, July 1994, pgs. 14-57 (whole article, Theebs material pgs. 36-43). ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/526 "2003-09-03T06:58:21Z")
Ha ha ha, I will rule the world!! HA! HA! HA! ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/527 "2003-09-03T11:20:22Z")
Where’s my lemon cookie!? oops! wrong thread… ---
**Author:** ![smam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@smam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smam)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/528 "2003-09-03T11:48:51Z")
Ahh! they’re um ahh oooh, line please. **CUT!** ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/529 "2003-09-03T21:42:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*There are two people known for their work on steam-powered death rays: > > 1. Harry “the Hoop” Menendez… > > 2. Milburn “Justice” Theebs has been using various different schemes over the past thirty years to bilk people from their money. A steam-powered death ray is just one of them. See Golden, “Some Fabulous Frauds”, “Death Ray History”, July 1994, pgs. 14-57 (whole article, Theebs material pgs. 36-43). \*\* That was a great read GQ, BTW, Did you catch the National Enquirer article from 1985, “Mutant Baby Destroys World With Death Ray and other prophecies from Dionne Warwick”? ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/530 "2003-09-03T22:48:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Ah, they’re 1920’s style “Death Rays”. \*\* Is it necessary to put “Death Rays” in quotation marks? I feel this is superfluous. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/531 "2003-09-03T22:58:33Z")
Ah, you feel this is “superfluous.” ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/532 "2003-09-03T23:13:57Z")
As a sub-thread to this already hyper-hijacked monster… If you were the first person to post the words “1920’2 style death ray” in this forum, would you be somewhat proud of your accomplishment or put off by the fun being made at your comment? ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/533 "2003-09-03T23:15:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by newcrasher \* > \*\*Is it necessary to put “Death Rays” in quotation marks? > > I feel this is superfluous. \*\* Its actually [{‘1920’s’-style “De@th-R@y!”}]™ ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/534 "2003-09-04T01:36:02Z")
Made by North American Veeblefetzer during the mid to late 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/535 "2003-09-04T01:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by newcrasher \* > \*\*If you were the first person to post the words “1920’2 style death ray” in this forum, would you be somewhat proud of your accomplishment or put off by the fun being made at your comment? \*\* How about it **Dogface** , how proud are you? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/536 "2003-09-04T02:16:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\*Made by North American Veeblefetzer during the mid to late 1950s. \*\* True, and, in a bit of trivia, the Veeblefetzer company went back into business in 1996. They currently account for 3% of the U.S. death ray market. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/537 "2003-09-04T02:57:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Would anyone on this board know about a death ray designer named H. W. Robichaux? I’ve just received an offer to buy stock in a venture of his, the United States Death Ray Company, but, despite all the books and articles on death rays I’ve read, I’ve never heard of him. \*\* Ah, I finally managed to dig up my materials on Mr. Robichaux, it’s an article from the Fall 2001 issue of _Death Rays Quarterly_ pgs. 109-125, 145. I’m not going to retype the whole article here (copyright laws and all), but in rereading it, there really doesn’t seem to be too much to Mr. Robichaux’s design. It’s got a high powered Hawking Standing Wave Generator and a semi-automatic polarity inverter, plus some nifty OLCD displays and customizable carbon fiber panels, but nothing really to make it stand out from the crowd. Really, for what his estimated street price of the unit is, one could buy a cheap Tuvian built death ray, with a burned out flux-capacitor off of eBay, replace the flux-capacitor with a high quality Cadet DD 24.5 flux-capacitor, a Hawking Standing Wave Generator, some OLCD displays, make your own carbon fiber panels, _save_ some $10,000 over his cost, and have slightly more powerful unit. Plus, since Tuvian-built units have known issues with them, you won’t have any surprises when you whip the unit out and instead of getting a satisfying “BZZZZZZZAP!” out of it, getting a mortifying “flurple.” Which, as I’m sure we all know can be anti-climatic in a “heat of the moment” situation. If Mr. Robichaux’s units can come down in price, and prove to be at least somewhat reliable, then they might be useful as a last-ditch piece, or something you plant on the freshly vaporized remains of your hated enemy to prove you were justified in scattering his atoms. Otherwise, I wouldn’t bother with one. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/538 "2003-09-04T04:14:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by newcrasher \* > **Is it necessary to put “Death Rays” in quotation marks?** Of course it is, because they’re not really “rays”. I’m sure you’re familiar with Dirac’s Wave-Particle duality of the electromagnetic spectrum. For it’s implications in death ray research, I suggest you read LeClerc’s 1922 paper “On the Particle Nature of Scalar Weapon Technology”, and Von Wolfram’s 1934 work “Death Rays and the Wave Theory; a Reexamanition” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/539 "2003-09-04T11:24:03Z")
That darn cat ruined my experiment. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/540 "2003-09-04T13:36:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*originally, Originally posted by newcrasher \* > > \*\* > Originally posted by Michael Ellis > … > \*\* Actually it was _originally_ posted by **Dogface** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=28)