Star Trek's Phaser Sound Effect Was Stolen From Another B...

What’s Happening

Listen up: The phaser is one of the most iconic sounds in all of Star Trek, but it actually originated in a totally different sci-fi project.

Television Science Fiction Shows Star Trek’s Phaser Sound Effect Was Stolen From Another Beloved Sci-Fi Movie By Witney Seibold Jan. 11, 2026 8:00 pm EST Paramount Back in the mid-1960s, when Gene Roddenberry was first spitballing the sci-fi technology he wanted to use on his sci-fi series “Star Trek,” he was drawn to the idea of making things sound as realistic as possible. (we’re not making this up)

True, “Star Trek” is replete with impossible imaginary tech like faster-than-light travel, matter transporters, and food replicators, but all of the fantastical widgets have a finger back in reality, making them seem like they might actually be possible someday.

The Details

Roddenberry wanted his space-bound characters to wield lasers as weapons, thinking that they would supplant projectile weapons like guns and that they would be non-lethal. When Roddenberry looked into modern, ‘60s-era laser tech, but, he found that a lot of what he was writing into his sci-fi show had already been invented.

As such, he changed the name of Starfleet’s weapons from lasers to phasers , thinking that would sound more futuristic. Phasers have been a common element of “Star Trek” since the beginning, and the phrase “set phasers on stun” has leaked into the pop lexicon, even outside of “Star Trek” circles.

Why This Matters

The sound the phasers make — a prolonged, high-pitched trilling — is deeply embedded in the brains of Trekkies everywhere. It was used dozens of times throughout the run of the 1966 series. The phaser sound was once analyzed , editor, and director Ben Burtt, perhaps best-known for his sound work on “Star Wars” movies and the “Indiana Jones” franchise (but with dozens of credits besides).

The entertainment world moves fast, and this is a prime example.

The Bottom Line

The phaser sound was once analyzed , editor, and director Ben Burtt, perhaps best-known for his sound work on “Star Wars” movies and the “Indiana Jones” franchise (but with dozens of credits besides). Burtt spoke with TrekMovie back in 2009, and with the sharpest ears in the business, he was able to identify that the phaser sound effect was actually a repurposed version of the Martian warship sound effects from Byron Haskin’s 1953 movie “War of the Worlds.

How do you feel about this development?