Proton Pack
| Proton pack | |
|---|---|
| Plot element from the Ghostbusters franchise | |
| Publisher | Columbia Pictures |
| First appearance | Ghostbusters (1984) |
| Created by | Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz |
| Genre | Science fiction, Comedy |
| In-story information | |
| Type | Paranormal elimination tool |
The proton pack is an energy weapon used for weakening ghosts and aiding in capturing them within the Ghostbusters universe. First depicted in the film Ghostbusters, it has a hand-held wand ("Neutrona Wand" or particle thrower) connected to a backpack-sized particle accelerator. It fires a stream of highly focused and radially polarized protons that electrostatically traps the negatively charged energy of a ghost, allowing it to be held in the stream.
The proton pack, designed by Dr. Egon Spengler, is a man-portable particle accelerator system that is used to create a charged particle beam - composed of protons - that is fired by the proton gun (also referred to as the "neutron wand"). Described in the first movie as a "positron collider", it functions by colliding high-energy positrons to generate its proton beam. The beam allows a Ghostbuster to contain and hold "negatively charged ectoplasmic entities". This containment ability allows the wielder to position a ghost above a trap for capture. The name proton pack is not used in the original movie at all, and is not used until the subway tunnel scene in Ghostbusters II, when Egon says that they should get their proton packs. The doorman to the Mayor's mansion also uses the term proton pack, asking the Ghostbusters if he can buy one from them for his little brother. Egon replies that "A proton pack is not a toy".
While the Ghostbusters' dialogue indicates that the accelerator system operates similarly to a cyclotron (and indeed Dr. Peter Venkman refers to the proton packs in one scene as "unlicensed nuclear accelerators"), modern particle accelerators produce well collimated particle beams. This is far different from the beam from a proton pack, which tends to undulate wildly (though it still stays within the general area at which the user is aiming). The proton stream is quite destructive to physical objects, and can cause extensive property damage.
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