# Can you identify this device? Laser pointer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401 "2016-08-10T23:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/1 "2016-08-10T23:37:38Z")
Forgive the website … it just happens to contain the relevant images. This is not meant as a political statement in any way, just a request for information. [http://theralphretort.com/breaking-hillarys-handler-carrying-auto-injector-syringe-anti-seizure-drug-diazepam-8007016/](http://theralphretort.com/breaking-hillarys-handler-carrying-auto-injector-syringe-anti-seizure-drug-diazepam-8007016/) The first image contains a picture of a large black man holding a small device in his left hand. Many are saying it is an auto-injector pen, but it looks to me, by the way he is using it, that it is more likely a laser pointer. There is a link to a 15 second youtube video about halfway down the page, the one with the balloons where you see Hillary from the back standing next to a young girl. In that video the man again appears to be “shining a light”. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/2 "2016-08-10T23:52:05Z")
[Relevant Snopes article.](http://www.snopes.com/clintons-secret-service-agent-holds-diazepam-pen/) “Again, this image is too blurry to positively identify the object in the agent’s hand. However, a video of the agent using the above-pictured object shows that it is being used like a flashlight and not a Diazepam pen…” ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/3 "2016-08-10T23:57:41Z")
Yeah, I saw that. Just hoping somebody here might be able to recognize it. The Dope has a pretty good record when it comes to identifying mystery objects. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/4 "2016-08-11T06:16:12Z")
Electronic cigarette - it looks very similar to this one: [https://www.e-cig.com/images/homeimg/angel.jpg](https://www.e-cig.com/images/homeimg/angel.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/5 "2016-08-11T10:46:52Z")
It’s a torch (flashlight in American English). > **[Debunked: Hillary Clinton's "Seizure Doctor" with diazepam auto-pen](https://www.metabunk.org/threads/debunked-hillary-clintons-seizure-doctor-with-diazepam-auto-pen.7821/)** > > Numerous conspiracy sites are promoting the idea that Hillary Clinton is dangerously ill, and are grasping at every last bit of evidence to try to convince people that it is so. The above photo shows Hillary Clinton after her DNC acceptance speech.... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/6 "2016-08-11T12:24:57Z")
That tweet/picture where it says “Hillary’s Handler is a medic”: 1)The badge on his lapel doesn’t look anything like the badge in the picture the person posted 2)The bottom right picture, while it is an auto-injector, and maybe just put there for reference, it’s Imitrex (I have it too), it’s for migraines. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/7 "2016-08-11T12:31:18Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Electronic cigarette - it looks very similar to this one: > [https://www.e-cig.com/images/homeimg/angel.jpg](https://www.e-cig.com/images/homeimg/angel.jpg) That is my vote, too. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/8 "2016-08-11T12:53:17Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > That is my vote, too. It’s a torch. You can see the light from it in the video on the page I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/9 "2016-08-11T13:33:33Z")
Do electronic cigarettes function as flashlights? That’s one I haven’t heard before. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/10 "2016-08-11T13:57:23Z")
The photo of the black “diazepam injector” is obviously photoshopped. They couldn’t even be bothered to distort the lettering correctly, to make it look like it’s printed on a cylindrical surface. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/11 "2016-08-11T14:02:26Z")
Why would he be carrying either of these down the hall? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/12 "2016-08-11T14:57:37Z")
That ecig is about the size of a regular cigarette; much to small to be this particular device. It could possibly be a flashlight, but why would he be using a flashlight in such brightly lit areas? The man is a Secret Service agent; I have seen other pictures of other agents wearing the identical lapel pin (they use several different pins for different occasions), and the man appears with Bill Clinton in pictures from several years ago. He may possibly be some sort of special medic agent, but he has not mysteriously appeared out of nowhere in the past couple of weeks. I’m not really interested in that part, anyway; just in identifying the particular device. What does seem logical to me is that it is a laser pointer. They are sometimes used to shine a spot of light on the floor in front of a person who has difficulty walking due to Parkinson’s Disease – something about their legs don’t connect properly to their brain and seeing the spot of light gets their legs moving – there are walkers and canes made with lasers in them. The agent does appear to “shining a light” on the floor in front of Hillary, although they are in well lit areas. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/13 "2016-08-11T15:55:47Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > It could possibly be a flashlight, but why would he be using a flashlight in such brightly lit areas? > The agent does appear to “shining a light” on the floor in front of Hillary, although they are in well lit areas. Did that doorway that Mrs. Clinton walked into appear “well lit” to you? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/14 "2016-08-11T16:19:19Z")
It appears to me that the man is aiming the device at the floor in front of the doorway or perhaps just at the entrance; the room they are in is certainly well lit. To me, it seems more likely he is placing a spot on the floor for her to walk toward rather than that he is “lighting the way” for her. There is no beam of light like I would expect from a flashlight; the doorway is not lit up. The hallway in the other picture, where he again appears to be aiming the device at the floor in front of Hillary, is certainly well lit. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/15 "2016-08-11T16:23:39Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > That ecig is about the size of a regular cigarette; much to small to be this particular device. I doubt it’s an ‘e cig’ either. But FYI, they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. Mine is about 5/8" diameter and 6 inches long. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/16 "2016-08-11T16:25:28Z")
Again, unless an ecig doubles as a flashlight, it’s not an ecig. ETA: Why would a Secret Service agent be carrying an ecig in his hand, is he walking around and smoking as he escorts Mrs. Clinton? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/17 "2016-08-11T16:28:20Z")
Could it be possible that it’s lethal weapon invented about 90 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/18 "2016-08-11T16:42:48Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Could it be possible that it’s lethal weapon invented about 90 years ago? It might really be a highly advanced device that opens a porthole to a different alien dimension for “Mrs. Clinton.” ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/19 "2016-08-11T16:44:19Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > The hallway in the other picture, where he again appears to be aiming the device at the floor in front of Hillary, is certainly well lit. In that photo, it “appears” as if he’s aiming it at his own crotch. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401/20 "2016-08-11T16:58:50Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > It might really be a highly advanced device that opens a porthole to a different alien dimension for “Mrs. Clinton.” Or seals aliens in the Trump dimension. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-device-laser-pointer/762401.md?page=2)