--- description: Are these the armaments of the future? We certainly hope not title: Laser Ray Guns Tested by Military. These Silly Weapons, Not So Much. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc965661cce43ec/69876e43e20a872f33a83f2b/laser.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Bizarre](/tag/bizarre/) ## Bizarre Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Torpedo-Dragging Seals and 6 Other Real Ideas for the U.S. Military  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 11, 2014 5:30 PM CUT  Illuminated coils of projector used to create laser light, in 1963 Illuminated coils of projector used to create laser light, in 1963Fritz Goro—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Dec 11, 2014 5:30 PM CUT Fans of science-fiction, lasers and guns were probably excited to learn on Wednesday that the U.S. military has [successfully tested a laser ray gun](http://time.com/3628047/navy-laser-weapon-test-persian-gulf/ "undefined"). The weapon took many years and tens of millions of dollars to develop, but the future, apparently, is now. Or maybe not. Back in 1941, the U.S. government and the National Inventors Council put out a call seeking ideas for new weapons. Nearly 30,000 submissions came in and, as TIME noted back then, some of them were accepted for possible development by the Army and Navy. One of the ones that _wasn’t_ accepted was a plan for a “death-ray gun” by an inventor out of St. Louis, “who landed in the hospital after the gun’s first testing.” Clearly, the 70-plus years that have elapsed between then and now were long enough for the death-ray gun idea to mature — but that wasn’t the only idea on the list of rejected weapons inventions. They included: --- > “” --- On the other hand, who knows what the future may hold? **_See the story in its original format, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Crackpot Holiday](http://time.com/vault/issue/1941-08-25/page/38/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3630147/ray-guns/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3630147/ray-guns/"},"headline":"Torpedo-Dragging Seals and 6 Other Real Ideas for the U.S. Military","datePublished":"2014-12-11T17:30:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:46:57.821Z","description":"The U.S. Navy has successfully tested a laser ray gun. The idea happens to be more than 70 years old. Here are other suggestions for the America's fighters, given when the government put out a call for inventions in 1941","url":"https://time.com/3630147/ray-guns/","keywords":["Bizarre","Military","Science topic","Weapons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc965661cce43ec/69876e43e20a872f33a83f2b/laser.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cc965661cce43ec/69876e43e20a872f33a83f2b/laser.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Laser","caption":"Illuminated coils of projector used to create lase","creditText":"Fritz Goro—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/bizarre/","name":"Bizarre"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3630147/ray-guns/","name":"Torpedo-Dragging Seals and 6 Other Real Ideas for the U.S. Military"}}]}] ```