Alexander describes how laser targeting was used effectively against snipers in Somalia, how psychological operations led to mass surrenders in Desert Storm, and why the United States remains dangerously vulnerable to information warfare attacks on its own financial and communications infrastructure. He candidly assesses the limitations of directed energy weapons through the atmosphere while confirming that lateral laser strikes against ICBMs from space have already been demonstrated.
The discussion takes unexpected turns into remote viewing, psychokinesis witnessed by senior military officers, and Alexander's involvement with the Council on Foreign Relations. His assessment that terrorism will increasingly target America's technology-dependent society carries a chilling prescience that resonates well beyond 1997.
Key Moments
Largest non-nuclear bomb dropped in Desert Storm: Alexander describes a Desert Storm psyops operation: leaflets warned Iraqi troops in a specific area not to be there the next day because the largest non-nuclear explosion ever was coming - a specially designed Sandia-built device using a 105 tube packed with high explosives. The next day, leaflets dropped on flanking units pointed at the crater.
AR-15 banned for tumbling rounds - laws of land warfare: Alexander explains why blinding lasers run afoul of the laws of land warfare with a parallel: the original AR-15 round before the M16 was barely stable in flight, designed to tumble through the body causing maiming injuries that wouldn't kill. It was banned, forcing development of a higher-powered, more stable round. The rule: you can kill, but you can't deliberately maim.
Las Vegas laser blinded a Southwest pilot: Alexander confirms that downtown Las Vegas hotel sky-laser shows were shut down after a Southwest Airlines pilot on approach to McCarran in December 1995 took a beam to the eye, taking him out of commission for about three weeks before he could fly again - the reason laser shows are no longer permitted there.