Pentagon Approves Use of Military Heat Ray at the Border, Invisible Beam Creates Oven-Like Burning Sensation That Forces Migrants to Flee Instantly

by Cassandra MacDonald Oct. 23, 2026 3:20 pm



Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized the temporary use of the U.S. military’s Active Denial System, a vehicle-mounted directed-energy weapon long nicknamed the heat ray, for potential use along the southern border.

A memo Hegseth signed in September grants DHS a single unit for seven months beginning that month, on the condition that no Department of War personnel operate it, according to a CNN report.

CNN reports:

It also states that DHS is solely responsible for “system employment, use and development of tactics, techniques and procedures.” At the end of the seven-month loan period, DHS can submit an additional request for further use of the Pentagon system in border operations based on need, a defense official told CNN.

“CBP is continually evaluating new technologies, especially those that enhance operational effectiveness and strengthen mission capabilities,” a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement to CNN.

The Active Denial System fires an invisible, focused beam of 95-gigahertz millimeter-wave energy that travels at the speed of light and can reach targets a little more than half a mile away.

The energy penetrates only about 1/64th of an inch into the skin (roughly the thickness of three sheets of paper), rapidly heating water and fat molecules near the surface.

Military fact sheets and testing summaries describe the result as an intense, intolerable heating sensation comparable to opening a hot oven, which produces an instinctive and irresistible urge to move away.

The effect stops as soon as the person leaves the beam or the operator shuts it off, but residual tingling can linger for 10 to 15 minutes.

Official Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program materials emphasize that the system is designed as a non-lethal intermediate force capability to create distance and decision space without resorting to kinetic or lethal measures.

Extensive volunteer testing has shown an extremely low injury rate of about one-tenth of one percent.

The technology originated in Air Force Research Laboratory work dating to the late 1980s and matured as an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration under the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate in the 2000s.

In 2018, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen rejected earlier internal discussions at Customs and Border Protection about using it for crowd dispersal near high-crossing areas, including river sections.

One former official later told CNN the objection centered on treating immigrants and citizens like enemy combatants.

“The issue was treating immigrants and citizens like enemy combatants,” an unnamed former DHS official told CNN. “Thematically, inhumane treatments typically get rejected.”

Customs and Border Protection has confirmed it is reviewing the technology.

In statements to multiple outlets, the agency said it “is continually evaluating new technology, especially technology that can save lives while simultaneously enhancing national security effectiveness.”

The Pentagon has referred questions to DHS.

Patrick Weaver, deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of War, posted on X that “The border is now a military installation and a battle lab for testing new systems, to include directed energy weapons. The border is locked down!”

Patrick Weaver
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The border is now a military installation and a battle lab for testing new systems, to include directed energy weapons. The border is locked down! @DoWCTO

8:16 AM · Oct 21, 2026

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham that the department is always evaluating border technology and that “deterrence is the best option we have,” adding that officials will use whatever tools are available to prevent illegal entry while preferring non-lethal or less-lethal options where possible.

WATCH:

Acyn
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Ingraham: The Pentagon has reportedly approved DHS to test a military grade heat ray weapon at the southern border

Mullin: Any technology we can use to deter people from using country illegally we are doing.Ingraham: Is it lethal?

Mullin: No. I can't comment on this but can I

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https://twitter.com/i/status/2113120579750609296

12:09 AM · Oct 22, 2026

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...der-invisible/