Typically this is used to indicate intense anger.
The first time I ever heard this phrase was in the movie “Top Gun,” referring to fighter jets in a vertical climb.
I’ve always just assumed that from there it was a logical extension to a vertical climb in temper.
Did this phrase in that context exist before “Top Gun?”
Yes, I remember it as far back as the late '60’s, used to mean out of control anger.
Answer first, then read OP. Are you asking about the phrase referring to jets or anger?
Anyway, I also recall reading something in which U-2 pilots discussed Cuban jets trying to intercept them on their overflights of Cuba. They were well above the Migs’ service ceiling, but the jets would go into a steep climb. By the time they got anywhere near the U-2, they would have no effective control in the thin air, i.e., they had “gone ballistic.” The period in question was early '60s.
A WAG, FWIW.
The term “ballistic” as used in “ballistic missile” is sometimes taken to be synonymous with “uncontrolled”. This is true in the sense that a ballistic missile (or other ballistic projectile) doesn’t have active control surfaces (in contrast to a “guided” missile). In practice, however, most ballistic missiles are very predictable, relying on highly accurate (controlled) release and stable flight characteristics to hit their target.
“Ballistic” in the OP sense of losing control may derive from this sense of the word. If so, it is out of step with current technology. But for most of the history of explosive-powered shells, “ballistic” was not an endorsement for accurate delivery.
OTOH, the delivery of ballistic projectiles is almost always accompanied by some sort of fire, explosion, loud report and/or flash. In the sense that a person who “goes ballistic” metaphorically “explodes” this is a logical use of the term.
Does someone have and OED and can give us an early cite?
The ballistic missiles (ICBM and IRBM) held the largest warheads, therefore made the biggest booms.
a .22 bullet is also a ballistic projectile. I think the expression “to go ballistic” woul originate with missiles that have a controlled phase and then a second ballistic phase. At the moment of changeover they would go ballistic. I guess someone pickep up the expression for someone going out of control and it stuck.
Before cruise missiles, a ballistic path was the only way (from a fixed emplacement, rather than with aircraft) to hit targets over the horizon, and I think it’s still the most efficient way to hit targets on other continents.
So ‘going ballistic’ was when a battle spread beyond a purely local conflict. The implication is that a nation or military force needs much more provocation to extend the battle in this way. Basically, the problem is big enough to justify the ramifications of a larger war (or even a world war).
So the slang ‘going ballistic’ says that this person is mad enough not to care too much about consequences.
I’ll back up Saltire, here. “Going ballistic” has always meant (to me) going all the way to full nuclear war (requiring the use of ballistic missiles). Since we have had Mutually Assured Destruction (even before we had that name for it) beginning with the advent of fairly reliable ballistic missiles, “going ballistic” has meant becoming so angered as to destroy the world in order to kill your enemy. From that height, it has slowly fallen to mean general rage.
Random House to the rescue:
Sailor’s got it right. I even e-mailed the dictionary folks and asked about the “biggest boom” and “biggest war” theories, and while they acknowledged those are reasonable extensions, the original meaning was clearly derived from the “free-fall” flight phase.
I like Saltire’s take. Any conflict that involved the exchange of ballistic missiles would certainly be an impressive example of out-of-control rage.
Ballistic missiles are still the weapon of choice for delivery of weapons of mass destruction, since, by definition, these weapons take effect over a large area. Even relatively low technology missiles, like the Scud, can effectively deliver biological and chemical weapons. These weapons are effective if they can hit a target no smaller than a city. Super-hardened missile silos and the desire to eliminate any response capability led to the modern, high precision ballistic missiles in the U.S. and Soviet-bloc arsenals today, which, while still ballistic on re-entry, use a maneuvering bus to pinpoint their targets. They can deliver their “physics packages” with horrifying accuracy.
I agree completely with the root definitions of the term. But “Going ballistic” has become a colloquial term which means the demonstration of extreme anger, not necessarily with physical harm involved, but possibly. One up from this is “Going postal”, where (usually) multiple deaths occur.
My intent is not to disagree with anyone, only to provide the street slang which is in common usage.