You know how in the classic piece of cinema Independence Day the alien spacecraft have that sweet laser than can blow up and building beneath it? Such as, most famously, the White House? Well, it looks like the government wants to develop that technology for themselves so they'll be prepared when the aliens actually do arrive.

The "directed energy" weapons system consists of a laser strapped to the nose of a 747, aiming a "megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser beam" either down at the ground or at an airborne missile. The technology is still being developed, and depending on budget issues could be pushed back a few years, but hopefully it'll be all taken care of and a Will-Smith-like hero will emerge before those pesky aliens show up and try to blow up our famous landmarks in a dramatic fashion. — Adam Frucci

Via Crave