# 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:** 30
**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 6, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/581 "2003-09-06T13:24:49Z")
How about a club made from bone? [_Zarathustra_ plays in background] Speaking of a club made from bone, what about a night club made from bone? It could be called… Monolith ;j ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/582 "2003-09-06T17:56:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frixxxx \* > \*\*Tuckerfan, > > Tuvian-built units: Known Issues > Guns and Ammo, Sept 1960, pp 65-79, 82-85 > > "…The Aldron Suppressor was to allow a user to regulate the discharge on this style “Death Ray”. Developed by Dr. Henry Aldron, the “double trigger” was designed to allow the user to pull the first trigger to adjust the power before pulling the second trigger to fire. > > This combination seemed practical to our testers when one said, “…rather save some juice for the next target than wait for a recharge…” This option was quickly shot down when the functionality was affected by the tester releazing that a simultaneous pull rendered the gun useless. The power source would cause an internal dispersion and overload the Concordian directional beam array." > > I guess there was alot of “flurple” that day. \*\* Ah, but did you see the July 1961 issue of _Custom Rods and Rays_ pp, 45-62, 110-113? In an interesting article by Dr. Todd R. Demeece entitled _Hopping up your double trigger Tuvian Death Ray_ he shows you how to remove the first trigger, _and mount it on the top of the weapon_ in order for you to be able to use the weapon in either the right side up, or upside down position. I’ll let him give the reasons for this. > [@](#): > > Occasionally, our advesary will get the drop on us, and in the ensuing struggle our weapon will be knocked from our grasp and sent spinning wildly about the room. In our mad scramble to get it back we don’t always have time to make sure we’ve got the weapon in the correct position, this can have deadly consequenses (I am reminded of the struggle between Flint and Dr. Krupov, which resulted in the death of Dr. Krupov for similar reasons.). By moving the second trigger and placing it on top of the weapon, this does two things for the user: 1.) It allows him to fire the weapon in either the right side up or upside down position. 2.) It does away with the unnecessary (and inexplicably mandated) multi-phasic dampener. > > It is, of course, only quasi-legal to make these modifications. You cannot buy a weapon modified such as this, nor can you sell your weapon if you made these modifications to it, unless you first undo these modifications before selling the weapon. However, so long as you own the weapon, you _are_ permitted to make these modifications yourself. From there on, he goes to describing the necessary modifications and his reasons for hating the multi-phasic dampener. And interesting read, and I must say that since I made those modifications to my Tuvian DR, I’ve had _no_ problems with it performing in a satisfactory manner. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/583 "2003-09-06T19:14:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > \*\*Which is precisely the sort of thing we need to know. Do people want Bendix Coils that can be fitted nasally? > \*\* You bet they do. And with good reason. Towards the end of his life, Dr Hobbes suffered from horrendous migraines. They would hit in full force without any warning. He’d tried various medications and treatments. Nothing helped. One day in the lab, agony split Hobbe’s skull. Deciding he just couldn’t take anymore, Hobbes blindly grabbed a death ray from his work table, pushed it against his head and fired. Hobbes found relief, but not through death. In his haste he had grabbed an unfinished ray. His hands shaking from the pain, he had jammed the barrel not into his mouth but up his nose. The result was that a small charge went through the Bendix coil into his optic and olfactory nerves. In a manner still not understood, this electrical impulse blocked out the pain. But, the process had to be repeated every few seconds. There were attempts to mass produce this technology. Some companies aimed at a small device that could be sold to the general public. Others worked on larger, more durable versions for use by dentists and surgeons(The Fox program Beyond Tommorow had a segment on one of these.). For reasons to lengthy to go into here, neither version ever succeeded. These days, Bendix coils of any kind are difficult to find. If some one should find a coil that fits their nostrils, they are often understandably reluctant to part with it. ---
**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 6, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/584 "2003-09-06T22:02:02Z")
Has anyone ever investagated the claims of Dr. Hobbes that the death ray firm of Barris, Carlin, & Barris was funded by either 1) money embezzeled from ABC, 2) money granted to B, C, & B by the Philadelphia Mafia, or 3) by payments from the Mossad? ---
**Author:** ![jojothecannibal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jojothecannibal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jojothecannibal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/585 "2003-09-06T23:41:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Has anyone ever investagated the claims of Dr. Hobbes that the death ray firm of Barris, Carlin, & Barris was funded by either 1) money embezzeled from ABC, 2) money granted to B, C, & B by the Philadelphia Mafia, or 3) by payments from the Mossad? \*\* I personally blame a dog with shifty eyes. ---
**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 6, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/586 "2003-09-06T23:56:13Z")
Well, that’s helpful. (As a serious explanation: I have over 30 books on death rays and over 250 magazines, but none of them seem to discuss this topic.) ---
**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 7, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/587 "2003-09-07T02:06:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wikkit \* > **Do people want Bendix Coils that can be fitted nasally?** Are you kidding? When I discovered how snugly and comfortably it fit, I went dancing and skipping about the house, singing at the top of my lungs, “I feel pretty! Oh so pretty!” Then I tripped over an extension cord and fried the cat. Oh well. ---
**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 7, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/588 "2003-09-07T02:44:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\* > > Then I tripped over an extension cord and fried the cat. Oh well. \*\* You colapsed the probability waveform?! Why, that will initiate a change reaction leading to cessation of all molecular movement across the universe causing it to implode in a giB gnaB! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/589 "2003-09-07T02:49:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by 1920s Style Death Ray \* > \*\*Initial testing of the positronic raygun… \*\* An obvious fraud, as everyone in the “Death Ray” community knows. Invention of the positronic ray is rightly be attributed to Dr. Duran Duran. [Vadim, Fonda et al. 1968](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0062711/) Also, any nasal fittings of Bendix coils done without properly insulating the entire sinus cavity with glass are downright irresponsible. In the Tucker experiments, when the roof-mounted “Death Ray” was fired, the car’s alternator began spontaneously emitting mind-control rays. (The 1943 Philadelphia Experiment was a fiasco for similar reasons.) 1920’s-style “Death Rays” are not toys, people. ---
**Author:** ![culov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@culov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/culov)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/590 "2003-09-07T07:50:10Z")
please die thread. ---
**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 7, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/591 "2003-09-07T09:43:03Z")
Maybe you should use your 1920s “Death Ray”, **culov**. ---
**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 7, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/592 "2003-09-07T12:29:24Z")
Thread closing advocates make the baby death ray cry. ---
**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 7, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/593 "2003-09-07T12:35:57Z")
😃 ---
**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 7, 2003, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/594 "2003-09-07T13:39:50Z")
Oh, in case anyone wants to see a Bendix Coil, [here ya go.](http://www.hatraco.com/manufac/Bendix.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Fop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/91b2a8/32.png) [@Fop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fop)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/595 "2003-09-07T14:03:57Z")
_shoots thread with a 1920’s style Death Ray_ ---
**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 7, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/596 "2003-09-07T14:10:14Z")
fnord sizzle Hmmm… Needs a new Bendix, i think… ---
**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 7, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/597 "2003-09-07T14:26:50Z")
Mmm…ray cooked thread. ---
**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 7, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/598 "2003-09-07T17:02:37Z")
Last call for information on B, C, & B death rays being funded through embezzlement, foreign powers, or the mob. Last call. (Now, where are **DocCathode** , **Tuckerfan** , and **paperback writer** when you need them?) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/599 "2003-09-07T18:26:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Governor Quinn \* > \*\*Has anyone ever investagated the claims of Dr. Hobbes that the death ray firm of Barris, Carlin, & Barris was funded by either 1) money embezzeled from ABC, 2) money granted to B, C, & B by the Philadelphia Mafia, or 3) by payments from the Mossad? \*\* **GQ** , I don’t have time to go into the details of the case, but _The Death Ray Times_ newspaper (the “Old Gray Lady of Death Rays”) did a rather stunning expose on the whole business some years back. A check of their archives would turn up the story, I’m sure. Anyway, it seems to have been a combination of all three, really. Apparently, the Mossad infiltrated agents into ABC in hopes that they’d be able to learn their secrets, when that failed, they struck a deal with the Philidelphia mob. Mossad stole money from ABC, gave it to the Philly mob, who used the money to smuggle ferrets into California (I strongly suspect that the poster **ferret herder** is in someway connected with this), where they were sold on the black footed market, the profits from this sale were then given to B, C, & B to fund their research into death rays. There’s also a tie-in with the whole Iran/Contra business as well, but I’m not sure of the details on that. ---
**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 8, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879/600 "2003-09-08T01:44:51Z")
You might be confused on Iran-Contra, as the events in question happened in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=29) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-scalar-weapons-for-real/192879.md?page=31)