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The “backwards” Russia has had lasers since at least 1964, that is, for nearly 60 years.
Written by Drago Bosnic, independent geopolitical and military analyst
Last week, Russia revealed it has been using combat lasers in military operations in Ukraine. Primary targets of these weapons are believed to be quadrocopter commercial drones the Ukrainian military has increasingly started relying on, as its much-touted “Bayraktar” TB-2 and other similar large drones have failed miserably, being picked off by Russia’s second-to-none air defenses. Commercial drones have the advantage of being much smaller and more readily available and, thus, easily replaceable, unlike expensive military drones such as the aforementioned “Bayraktar”. In addition, it is also more wasteful to fire expensive air defense missiles at such small targets, as most SAMs (surface to air missiles) cost tens of thousands of dollars or even millions in the case of strategic systems like the S-400.
Commercial drones, on the other hand, can cost as low as a few dozen dollars. The sheer production and financial discrepancy is severely affecting the economy of war. Thus, Russia decided to start using lasers to counter this new threat, to a crippling effect on the Ukrainian military. In this way, the Kiev regime forces are losing vital tactical ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capabilities, which directly affects their ability to provide immediate fire support for their units or organize successful artillery ambushes, which have had some effect during the initial stages of the special military operation.
This most definitely isn’t the first time Russia has used lasers. In 1984 Russia developed the first handheld laser weapon, intended for use by cosmonauts. In the 1970s, a Russian laser-armed tank named 1K17 Szhatie (Russian: 1К17 Сжатие – “Compression”) was developed. Even earlier, in the mid-1960s, a project codenamed Terra-3 (Russian: терра–3) was initiated. It was a Russian laser testing center, located at the Sary Shagan anti-ballistic missile (ABM) testing range in the Karaganda Region, present-day Kazakhstan. It was originally built to test missile defense concepts, but these attempts were dropped after the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed (from which the US unilaterally withdrew in 2002). In 1987, a Russian laser-armed spacecraft, the Polyus/Skif-DM was launched.
Development of lasers was also continued after 1991. In 2012, Sokol-Eshelon (Russian: Сокол-Эшелон, lit. ’Falcon-Echelon’) project, a Russian airborne laser weapon based on a Beriev A-60 aircraft was resumed and is intended for use by Russian Aerospace Forces. The Peresvet (Russian: Пересвет), a Russian air defense/anti-satellite laser weapon was unveiled by President Vladimir Putin on 1 March 2018. Numerous other similar projects are being developed in Russia.
And yet, Western mainstream media’s reaction to the news has been quite childish, to say the least. It ranges from ridiculing to outright rejection that Russia can field such advanced weapons. This frustration most likely comes from the media-imposed image of Russia being “backward”. For decades, and in many ways, for centuries, Western portrayal of Russia has been very unflattering, to say the least. The Eurasian giant has been presented as a dark, cold place populated by a miserable, depressed populace. Thus, no significant technological advances could ever come from such a “horrible” place, let alone advanced weapons such as lasers, right? Well, wrong. Regardless of how much the political West enjoys its “reality” bubble, the actual reality never fails to come back and bite the ones ignoring it.
Current Western depreciation of Russia and its many world-changing achievements wasn’t present during the (First) Cold War, or at least not as omnipresent as we see nowadays. During the Soviet era, Russia shook the West to the core by achieving numerous technological milestones, especially in rocketry, space exploration, chemistry, physics and applied mathematics, among many other scientific advances. The political West at least acknowledged Russian achievements at the time, even while both sides were aiming tens of thousands of nuclear weapons at each other. There were even hordes of Western specialists and pundits studiously researching Russia and its achievements.
Naturally, the Western media still kept trying to portray Russia as less advanced, as propaganda is an integral part of any conflict, but what we see nowadays has reached tragicomical levels. Just how tragicomical, we could see for ourselves back in March, when a US-based Space Foundation organization censored the name of Yuri Gagarin. Needless to say, anyone with a basic capability to read knows this is the name of the first human in space. But it doesn’t matter to the mindless Russophobes. They simply need to do anything they can to try and twist reality, just so they could keep their self-imposed image of “backward Russia”, even if it means something this extreme.
This also explains the need to denigrate Russian claims about the usage of laser weapons. However, again, this situation is no less tragicomical. In their pitiful ignorance, the mainstream media have “forgotten” about the “irrelevant” fact that lasers are partially a Russian invention. Or more precisely, a Russian-American invention. The 1964 Nobel prize in Physics is a testament to that and here is the exact text:
“The Nobel Prize in Physics 1964 was divided, one half awarded to Charles Hard Townes, the other half jointly to Nicolay Gennadiyevich Basov and Aleksandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov ‘for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle.'”
So, the “backward” Russia has had lasers since at least 1964. And here are the Western mainstream media, ridiculing Russia for claims of using lasers in 2022, nearly 60 years later. To put that into perspective, it would be equivalent to ridiculing Lebanese people for claims of using wheels, which their Phoenician predecessors invented. Or ridiculing Greeks for claims of using the alphabet. Or even Americans, for claims of using airplanes. Simply put, it’s rather ridiculous to try and negate a certain country’s achievements only because of geopolitical circumstances.
The United States is deeply unpopular in the world, as most of the planet sees the belligerent power for what it is, largely because most of that same planet has directly experienced this belligerence. And yet, none of those countries are ridiculing America’s technological contributions to the world. But, as the American society is pushed ever deeper into ideologically motivated hatred and divisions (such as blind Russophobia, Sinophobia or other similar phobias), we’ll likely be seeing more such attempts at twisting the reality.
They must keep them asleep. Can’t show them Russia is winning. The Jews control the media.
Facebook, Youtube. Google. Most American media is run by Jews.
If true. they are doing pretty well. Potatogrowing probatly is too advanced for You.
You grow potatoes to earn a living ??? That is great !! I was told that Morons were not able to do that
But they can’t control the “show me the money”: 1 dollar = 56,075 rubles today. Sorry, dollar jews.
You are off by a mere factor of 1000x. $1~56 rubles.
Mainly pindos, limeys, and colonies use the decimal point… Most of the world uses a comma as decimal separator.
I heard the Jews are running Russia as well.
Or show me the fried poles in Pavlograd with a Kalibr :D
They are ridiculous. You mock and hide facts, but sooner or later those lasers and missiles while rain on their sorry asses. What is the point of lying like this, when you are poking the bear and forcing him to kill you?
These imbeciles have really gone mad. I am not a religious man, but heck, the bible said the God would have made them insane before the Apocalypse and they really are insane!!
I agree, rex.
The US/UK and Western poodle states ordained leaders are ALL young children in adults skins.
The West is long overdue the looming historic financial failure that is the result of childish greed.
Slava Rossiya
If so it could be because You hardly can control Yourself
It’s NOT “the Jews”, it’s “the Anglos” (who are often in cahoots with some Jews but it’s the Anglos, mostly WASPs). All that matters, not just the media but the banks, your home even, belongs to The Vanguard Group indirectly, that’s the nature of late degenerate Capitalism. The person in control of Vanguard is Mortimer J. “Tim” Buckley, who is absolutely not Jewish.
Even Zionism was invented by the English before it was adopted by (initially very few) Jews.
Also many Russian oligarchs are Jewish, wake up!
Another pathetic comment. As as always You are responsible for nothing in life and not even Your own.
You are lying cowards and some “not to be” for Shakespeare. You even are told You live in some castle and proudly with a laser too.
Facts are You live in a third class prison with only one TV channel runned by one hardly damaged brain. It has no real windows to the rest of the world.
As usual people becomes something if they are raised to educate to learn, find their skills ad work. Its a help to be rewarded.
Jews and most of the Western Econmics is not high in influence. You are the abnomalities kept and supporting to be kept as low.
Anglos are the core problem. Or are not the Anglos the ones waging war not just against Russia but against Europe in general, and not just now but since the times of at least Elizabeth I? England, and by extension its US colony, have a strategy of destroying Europe, of keeping it down and subjugated, of enticing fascism more recently and authoritarian regimes since at least the French Revolution, all for their own gain.
But their time is over. There’s nowhere to run and hide anymore, it’s the end of the Anglo Hegemony and YOU have nothing but your own shortsightedness, corruption and evil greed to blame. Yankees go home!
The CIA-NSA-Pentagon controls the media.
They probably realize by now that I have been posting pro-Russia comment here and on other pro-Russian sites, and have openly shown support for Russia on platform such as YouTube, and have blocked every one of their attempts to recommend pro-Ukraine propaganda to my news streams – My internet provider seems to be blocking/preventing me from watching videos from Southfront; every time I clicked on one of the videos here nothing happened.
Have you tried another browser?
May be a setting you need to enable on your machine.
I use opera browser and when I play a movie I can right click on the movie to download.
Opera also has a built-in VPN that can be activated for free.
Opera can be painfuly slow when on VPN depending on the zone chosen, but yeah it can help. However I’d recommend an Android device instead.
They bring even the worst russian pro crap here.
Someone seemes blocking some of the videos sometimes here too.
I do have auromatic update programs but also a mixted win7, win 10 and a mixted office package.
But my first reaction to You is to use af full antivirus program. I use Antivir free version. before that i use CClean also in a free version.
SF sometimes has provider problems. My free Addblocker seemes to make no problems for the moment.
I hope You find the correction. It might not be your fault.
As usual and advice is to copy everything important to memorystick or something else before You try anything vital. I do that often as routine. having a big 128 GB memory stick.
Amateur. You are as unprofessional on a computer as you are in your political views.
Thanks I admit You high level and perspectives.
My computer and me has been in good shape for many years.
I do try to my polical oppinions in good shape by larnings and corrections as well. Im well aware what Your kind learn by whome and why.
The result is there too. Hard time fo Karl Marx. in heaven he is bableing again and again: It wasnt meant like that. I wasnt meant like that.
The proletares should not just be taken over by someone else from Siwzerland or whatever.
Who gives a fuck. Soon the western world will speak russian and chinese. When the red army arrives, it will be a bonanza you were flagged as a “domestic terrorist”.
Sure. They are very clever in China. Even the small children speak Chinese:)
So we got lasers. So where are my hovertanks and mechwarriors?
Russian gear not only really works but each time destroys the delusionists,short on mental capacity!
I have a dimensional shambler. Otherwise known as a pipe with bud.
The US is currently spending 500 billion dollars in order to retro fit Abrams tanks with a Hover ability. Joe Biden is deeply involved with the hover tank project.
Slava Rossiya
Biden seemes to be very clever. T90 are just older ones with a coffee macine and elevate their turrest to a higher level.
Over 95% of Americans have not seen photos of downtown Moscow. All they see is the Kremlin and grey office buildings and residences in movies. That is the same as the Russians seeing “Dallas” on TV and realizing that we were no longer fighting the indians, (I mean Native Americans).
I have I have some Nice City
Its the same here. They only see the maincenter of Copenhagen or the beaches far from there. The rest is unknown.
I will take a street view of Moskva by Your advice.
The Little Mermaid and Danny Kaye. That’s all most Yanks know about Denmark.
Go and play with Your Lego. Most of it dont need windpower invented for the whole world by us.
They do know 50% of all electricity is produced by wind. They love world record information.
Many also know their Marslander has 4 advanced gadgets of Ours. we are very big there for being that small. They also admire Our GDP and we have A +++
We are number one in low corruption, trusted police and courts. Some even sat we are the happyist country in the world.
They love “best”.
The videos of Moscow downtown and inside stores which I have seen were all from early parts of recent p@rn videos. The Moscow skyline has some interesting buildings.
Thr 4k drone videos of Russia countryside and cities on YouTube are very nice.
Well, if the Russians aren’t using lasers, they are using some other types of electronic devices to negate what was proving to be very effective drone usage by the Ukrainians. It’s obvious to me that the Ukrainians have lost their real time intelligence observation abilities.
Ukraine’s real time intelligence observation abilities consist of the Nato Planes, Drones, Ships and Satelites who are sending their date in real time to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The USA lost one F117 Nighthawk due to a cooperation of a russian Ship, some Radar in the Chineese embassy and a Serbian Sowjet Style Anti Air Missile in Belgrade.
They reacted by bombing the chinese embassy. Later they said something about wrong maps and thinking it was something else.
The US Headquarter in Lwow and all the nato spy technologie surrounding ukraine keeps beeing untouched so russian soldiers and equipment will keep getting destroyed with it’s help.
It will not win ukraine the war. But thats not the point. The point is just to get as many russians as possible killed until ukraine is defeated. Just a preparation for something which may or may not come afterwards.
The Russians are never rewarded for the fair play towards nato. But they never learn.
What good is the NATO intel when it cannot reach the troops out in the field.
Thats highly incorrect. A lot of that laser talk is Russian propganda. Its a tool between many and very selective.
I don’t think the Gayrectum has been particularly effective. It gains some tactical wins but overall it has been pretty useless.
Russia capture all land in the first 20 days and since then Russia has lost Kiev and Kharkiv to Ukrain forces and the latest 60 days it has been a standstill. The Russian army is under performing big time on all levels, the Russian soldiers are killing and stealing everything they can in Ukraine. Putin started one war too many and now he is losing big time.
Russia didn’t lose either city. Neither was ever occupied.
Сейчас Россия бережёт своих солдат. Солдаты Украины погибают от авиации, артиллерии, ракет России очень много. В феврале и марте было наоборот.
Russian army soldiers do not steal but the volunteers do as the soldiers are professionals paid while the volunteers have to be “paid” somehow and this is a reality of the war already seen in Balkans a few decades ago.
Chechnyans in ukraine don’t steal,they blow nazi heads off clean and do a proper job cleaning!
“Television News Believer” – Conspiracy Music Guru
Mental dyslexic,delusional,lies,you must be a low iq poof!
2439 Nazis holed up in Avozstal are now gone. So puck you.
They took 72 Russians with them each and are now rewarded in the sekular heave with them.
Ukras has problems with it. Putin has too much gas.
Interesting article. They intend to destroy Russia once and for all: Russia will have to use their last and most potent option. Russia should not hesitate: God did not Create this beautiful Earth so that a handful of self centered pigs could steal everything for themselves. By stopping the war mongers on a permanent basis they will be doing Gods work. As a bonus they will be ending the Genocide of Humanity being perpetrated by global FM 😁.
Thats not their last option. They have so many things in pilot projekts only.
If anything we only want russia to have its correct seize and influence. I dont speak for all.
It makes no sense to have that big country and run so many things that bad. 5 smaller ones might be better.
Apply that to the USA, really. Why would you have five separate Russian-speaking countries? Does Canada being separated from the USA in terms formal make it separated in terms real or rather just a nominal thing?
It’s a last ditch attempt at colonialism and nothing else and you know it. And even if Russia became divided (along which lines even?), it would not work, because most of that would still be under the influence of China. And, sure, in theory, you could divide China piecemeal and each province would still be worth what a middle sized power is anywhere else
But in practice it’s too late for that, the time of dividing China went away more than a century ago and the time of splitting Russia into principalities has not been around for as long as Europe has been successful, for around 500 years. Russia is here to stay one way or another, ask Napoleon and Hitler, among others.
We like it or not that’s the way it is. All the mad imperialist Anglosaxon dreams (everybody else’s nightmares usually) are not going to work. Wishful thinking does not make things happen.
Actually it is those ideas, largely fed by madmen born in Poland (Brzezinski) and Hungary (Soros), people with a vindictive agenda against Russia for their own Euro-nationalist and Euro-bourgeois reasons, which are destroying US imperial hegemony. It was the USA, the same megalomaniac fools who now cheer Ukraine, like Biden, Nuland, Clinton (Hillary), etc., who pushed Russia into the less demanding and more loving arms of China.
Russia used to be rather pro-Western, not just under drunkard Yeltsin, but under Putin himself for almost two decades. But the USA loves to bully everyone else around and that caused a reaction, very especially since the Maidan putsch, which is what the USA has been doing in Latin America (every day with less and less success) for many decades, but with the extra error of using true explicit nazis, much as they used the most crazy nazi-like Islamo-fasicsts in West Asia before (first Al Qaeda, then ISIS).
The result is that not just Russia, but almost everybody, including a growing segment of Europeans just wants one thing: “Yankees go home!”
And in America, almost everybody, including a growing segment of Americans just wants one thing: “Beaners go home!”
Its the same for Denmark. We love the incommers we really need. We accept the refugees which has to leave their country.
So we have a high level of people makin minus whcih not even improve much even we have free education and many vacant jobs.
Its vet much therefore we prefare man of r´the newcommers from Ukraine. We already had 10.000 mainly in low paid jobs. Their unimployment rate = 0000.
There is a limits for how many we can intergrate and assimiliate. We also think Denmark is Our country with ni free enetrence for anybody. We have decided its wellfare and other kinds of kivingstandards.
Some incommers should not eat here for free and even destroy so many things because of some old Muhammeds far away. If people prefare Arabistan, they should go back there but so many comes from areas, where they are in total tribe mode and cant return to other parts of their country.
Wr can tarvel allover EU and settle down. BUT its on conditions. The dont like those conditions. the conditions is ignored.
So we now say NO MORE.
The mainproblems are not made by us. Most of them are not. They should change their own countries, so manymore could live well there.
So we do see it well and agree. No unnneeded somberos here. They might help themself making less fun in their beds and work hard somewhere else.
W dont build walls to keep people in.
I do live live in Skandinavia. Here we have Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark. We actaully are friends.
Its not connected. In UK they have Ireland, North Ireland, Skotland, Wales and England. You cant say they are one country.
Millions also left and started all over in USA, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. They had very good reasosns for it.
They WERE a forced country in the Age of Their Empire. Was.
You forget choose. Instead of Hitler they got Stalin and someone like You all the way to east of Berlin.
The history of North america is very diffference. It was an adding by several empires. Spain, France, UK and seveal smaller ones. Nwe York satrted as New Amsterdam. Wall street was their defence wall.
In a very short version USA liberated themself and took and bought land from France and Spain.
But the Britts was able to keep Canada was colony. By that they got a brittish and french culture and the rulers still was in London by their Kings and Queens.
Here we again has to remember choise.
And you dint get the difference, its united STATES. hey decide a lot themself from abortions to death penalty.
They are not as Russia at all.
the rest of the world know Yiu are forced to belive in a total dysfuncktionsl fiction history book made by the communists to legalize their expansions and rule.
Its very visible. Banderas are very unimportant for the centuries. It only was few years. Its ignored Russia in the days of Peter the Great and Katherine 2 hardly had Rostov with Potemkin.
Where are the Polish state borders. Well they were in Ukraine and Belarus of today dividing people in religion as well as language.
Wjhere are the Khazars and where did they mainly live. Where is the Cossac State. Where are the Krimean Tatar Khnate. Why is Finland so small. Why do russia have som much of Caucasus.
And if You go back in time some Dane named Vitus Bering confirmed the Russian expansion to east Alaska included a bridge in the starit was needed.
Europe in west and middle are a results of many invaders from the east.
Slaves expanded and moved west. next the saxons went to England whwre tho romans had collapsed. later on the Vikings came and next french invaded and took better over, whats France today.
Countries and areas are not where they were since Noah did not need a boat anymore. His sons even made children with each othere. There was no vomen for it in the boat apart from their mother.
I allow me to remind You that Stalin took Finland, the Baltics and half of Poland before any Hitler was there to be their father killing most of them too.
Instead they got Stalin killing many of them before and after.
If Putin would just bomb the f out of Davos this week … get ’em all at once.
Sure. But its something for something.
Operation Northwoods
Sure. Putin is Taiga Woods.
“The Russian Catastrophe” by Kutchyakokov.
“Spots on the Wall” by Ivan Yerkinov.
“How to Treat Women” by Graben Yankavich.
“Yellow River” by I. P. Freely.
“The First Time” by Buster Cherry.
“All Hands on Dick” by Jack Mehoff.
We have Our own historians here. They are quite sober. As a minimum they has a calender too.
You should copy that.
>been presented as a dark, cold place populated by a miserable, depressed populace.
Yeah just because they have satellites and flat screen tvs doesn’t mean that’s not true
“It was a dark old town in the middle of the West ….”
Thats right. Its true. many are nurdered buý kirtchenknives as well.
So far I have heard none here reduícule lasers of that kind. Another almost total lie article.
Usual rethorics from th old days too.
There has been written about their limitations for practical matters, which are true. We as west are not impressed.
Holm, you are boring. Look for another job.
Im well oriented. I have heard no redicukulities.
We dont look down in science and experiments to accomplish things like that. It is allowed to be sceptic and also hopefull if people try something new.
So far lasers like that are very limited. It dont say they dont work.
It also dont say they can handle everything as well as the laser part is the most important port of it. There was jamming in WW2 as well.
Russia’s drones are using Canon consumer cameras and plastic bottles. How is this technologically advanced ?
Cause is cheaper than titanium shells.
Thats a good reason..
I have a drinking straw specially designed to destroy your aircraft carrier.
Thats impressing. Which color is it :)
Thats a relative. It might be the best to the price if its doing well. So its about using whats avaiable well too.
there are no more brain cells to share in the western cesspit,a degenerate depraved wreck with transvestites in libraries,forced teaching of children of 3 about 155 sexes,insanity on the loose like a runaway train childrens futures ruined,cant read cant right cant count,google goggle eyed in front of a square little box or a square big box,list goes on the decline and fall of the roman empire was a walk in the park compared to the abomination called the west,they are ready to drag humanity down with them the elites
Based on your punctuation, spelling and sentence structure, it looks like you have been leading the way for what you describe.
I used my Antivir program at You. Not even the last comma wasnt there.
While you’re no doubt right, appreciation for achievements such as the Sputnik or the Kalashnikov was a niche thing, and every other Westerner was much more aware and enthusiast of Apollo missions or, if military-oriented, of US-made equivalent rifles (whose non-catchy names I don’t recall), same with WWII tanks, victories, etc.. Social achievements, most of which began in post-revolution Russia were riducled by Hollywood in many movies and Soviet propaganda was definitely bad at being propaganda even (even people who celebrate those days acknowledge that).
There was some greater respect for the East and Russia in those days but the attitude of disrespect and “complex of western techno-superiority” has always been there. Just remember how Chernobyl was blamed on “Soviet design”, while Fukushima was… “nothing happened here and Siemens computers (also failing in Iran’s zio-sabotages) were not to blame”. For some reason Japan is still seen a “the country of robots” even if all its silly robots could do nothing but fail in Fukushima, it’s still seen as somewhere to go even if it is as radioactively polluted as North Ukraine and Belarus.
So the USSR was indeed seen in negative techno-light alreayd in those days, especially since my memory reaches, which was after the Apollo’s Moon landing, which restored US conficence on itself.
“We’ve got to protect our precious bodily fluids!”
Its in steps. Three Mile Island was very big too.
We have so many TV rapports from Japan, so i dont recognize what You are telling. It also included an Earthquake and a Tzunami. You Ignore that difference.
Also only one died.
Japan is as prone to tsunamis as Russia to “human errors”, probably even more. That’s why you shouldn’t build nuclear facilities in seismically unstable places, like anywhere in Japan.
Anyhow, what shocked me was not the causes and issues of the disaster but the mismanagement after the fact: would they have applied (as they surely should) the same restrictions as with Chernobyl, all northern Hokaido, Tokyo included, should be exclusion zone. Instead they pretended only a tiny area was to be closed. I had great respect for Japan but on the issue of Fukushima I realized it was all fake pretense, or at least most of it.
Many more died, just that Japan and the Western propaganda machinery has been hiding the casualties: they don’t die of radiation poisoning but of other issues like cancer or heart attacks, often after very painful agonies. It’s terrible but for Japan it’s of “national interest” to keep the northern half of the country, including its massive capital, inhabited and working as if nothing happened. Terrible but real.
They said the same with hypersonic weapons. Their sorry asses have been able to just conclude successfully ONE single test of a Mach 5 missile. Meanwhile the Russians have in service Mach 20+ missiles.
The cuckolds in murica are afraid shitless and prefer denial to a serious and pragmatic assessment of the military situation.
Even worse they are trying to stir trobules in the south China sea and in the middle east. Cuckolds and fools.
Many more then americans are for share. The countries around it buy weapons to protect their old rights for using the area.
China will find the limits for their expansion is there. They have no right to plunder away any kinds of vitals from heavy populated countries already using it more then they should.
This infantilasation is relatively new. And look at the comments, YouTube etc. All that wasn’t there just 10-15 years ago. My generation fully understands that there can be such weaponry and doesn’t rely on brainwashed ‘modern’ media. So, the first part was interesting. The second part, basically bickering, was not. Who cares what some stupid outlets say? C’mon, you want to waster your time on that? What matters is not whether ppl believe this or that, what matters is whether such lasers are really used and or effective.