Developed by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, the device “shoots a beam of millimeter waves that penetrate the human flesh through clothing causing a sensation supposedly akin to being hit by scolding water, or the blast of heat when opening a really hot oven,” according to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
The thing goes by the Orwellian name of “Active Denial System,” and was sent to Afghanistan as a crowd-control device, but the military sent it back home. Apparently they didn’t see it as a useful tool in a war zone.
A smaller version, the “Assault Intervention Device,” is now “being tested” on prisoners.
