CLAIM: Lasers are being used to start fires from airplanes.
VERDICT: The video originates from a 2010 test of an airborne laser that intercepted a ballistic missile in California.
A video with over 1.2 million views on Facebook shows an aircraft equipped with a laser mounted on its nose claiming that it’s being used to starting fires.
The 18-second video features a Boeing YAL-1, a modified Boeing 747-400F developed by the U.S. Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency. It was equipped with a megawatt-class chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) designed for missile defense. The system was intended to destroy tactical ballistic missiles during their boost phase using a high-energy laser beam emitted from a turret mounted on the aircraft’s nose.
The aircraft first flew in 2002, and in 2010, it successfully destroyed a missile during a test, demonstrating the technology’s potential. However, the program faced significant challenges, including the operational complexity of the chemical fuel, high costs exceeding $5 billion, limited operational range, and vulnerability to enemy attacks. These factors, combined with advancements in alternative missile defense technologies, led to the program’s cancellation in 2011 and the aircraft’s retirement in 2012.
Returning to the video in question, it is a segment from a longer video that has circulated since 2010. It depicts the aforementioned test, where the YAL-1 successfully intercepted a ballistic missile.
The successful test took place on February 12, 2010. The laser-equipped aircraft took off from Edwards Air Force Base, and the intercepted missile was launched from a mobile sea platform off the coast of Point Mugu, California.
“Energy weapons,” also known as directed energy weapons (DEWs), are being developed by several countries, but their use remains limited. To date, lasers have not been operationally deployed on airborne platforms, despite numerous attempts. Such systems can emit lasers, microwaves, particle beams, or sound pulses. These electromagnetic systems can focus and direct the energy they produce to neutralize targets, such as small unmanned aircraft. They have been tested on ground-based, naval, and airborne platforms. Their use as tools for starting fires is a widely debunked conspiracy theory.
Conclusion
The video originates from a 2010 test of an airborne laser that intercepted a ballistic missile in California.