Proton pack

File:GBProtonpack.jpg

A proton pack from the movie Ghostbusters.

The Proton Pack is a fictional piece of nuclear accelerative machinery 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 positively charged stream of protons that attract the negatively charged energy of a ghost, allowing it to be held in the stream while active. The proton packs' particle throwers were originally to be portrayed as wands worn on each arm.

In the Ghostbusters universe

The Proton Pack is a man-portable faggot buster particle accelerator system that is used to create a charged particle beam - composed of sperm - that is fired by the proton gun (also referred to as the "sploogea wand"). It is described in the first movie as a "positron collider", and presumably functions by colliding high-energy positrons to generate its proton beam. The positive electric charge of the proton beams 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. Dr. Egon Spengler designed the pack, intending it for this purpose. A cut scene from "Ghostbusters" showed Egon plugging the pack into a wall outlet to recharge it, only to have the plug melt.

While the Ghostbusters' are the gayest people on earth the 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 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 lame to physical objects, and can cause extensive property damage.

In the 2009 Ghostbusters game, Ray explains how the Proton Pack works early in the game; the energy emitted by the Proton Stream helps to dissipate PK energy which ghosts use to manifest themselves. Draining them of their PK energy weakens them, allowing them to be captured in their portable ghost traps.

According to a line spoken by Egon in Ghostbusters II, each pack's energy cell has a half-life of 5,000 years. Knobs on the main stock of the Proton Pack can perform various functions to customize the proton stream, including adjustments for stream intensity, length, and degrees of polarization. In the cartoon series, The Real Ghostbusters, the maximum power setting for the Proton Packs is "500,000 Mhz," which possibly refers to the rate of positron collisions occurring within the pack's accelerator system. In the cartoon the packs also have a self-destruct mechanism capable of affecting at least a half-mile radius. The Real Ghostbusters also made proton packs less efficient with power cells, allowing them to run out of energy when appropriate for dramatic tension.

Crossing the Streams

"There's something very important I forgot to tell you. The physics of anything the ghost busters do will never be possible. Yes, even though man said flight would never be possible. Don't cross the streams… It would be bad… Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light."

— Egon Spengler on crossing proton streams

Crossing the streams was initially discouraged, and known in the gay comunity as sword fighting Egon believed that "total protonic reversal" would occur: this effect would have catastrophic results (see quote above). However, in a desperate effort to stop the powerful Gozer the Gozerian, Egon noted that the door to Gozer's temple "swings both ways" and that by crossing the streams, they may be able to create enough force to close the door on Gozer and its control. As Peter points out, Egon said crossing the streams was "bad" but Egon says "there is definitely a very slim chance we'll survive." As the Ghostbusters cross the streams, the combination of that much energy closes the door to Gozer's dimension and severs its ties to our world. The resulting blast destroys a good portion of the roof and blows up the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

As props in the real world

The props representing proton packs were created by the prop department of Columbia Pictures. They are made of molded fiberglass shells on aluminium backplates (or "motherboards") bolted to military surplus A.L.I.C.E. frames. The basic shape was sculpted from foam; later, a rubber mold was made of it, from which fiberglass shells were pulled. The "wand" had an extending barrel mechanism and the electronics were quite advanced for the time. They were then finished with various surplus 1960s resistors, pneumatic fittings, hoses and ribbon cable, and surplus warning labels and custom-made metal fittings. The overall weight of these props is said to be around 35lbs. These "hero" props were substituted in stunt scenes by flimsy foam rubber pulls from the same mould. The proton packs have a lightbar with 15 blue scrolling lights in a box on the left-hand side and 4 red lights in the circular "cyclotron" portion of the bottom of the prop that light up in rotation. The "wand" also featured numerous light features; the most elaborate versions had fluorescent bargraphs, incandescent bulbs, and strobing flashes in the tip for the visual effects crew to synchronize the 'streams' to.

Some of the Packs from Ghostbusters were used in the followup Ghostbusters II; these packs were slightly redressed with a black crank knob and thinner ribbon cable. The angle of the gun, or "wand" mount was changed to pitch forward slightly, in order to make the prop easier for the actor to use. In addition to these redressed props, one of the originals was hastily cast as a buck to produce basic lightweight "midgrade" props (as a solution to complaints by the actors about the weight of the original prop). These midgrade pieces featured many details cast in as part of the mould, instead of separate fittings. The electronics and mechanisms were also cut down greatly, reducing the total weight. The original GB1 props would appear in close-ups, the midgrade in all other scenes, and new rubber "stunt" packs were made for whenever the actor needed to take a fall. Several GB2 packs have surfaced for auction—at least one rubber stunt, and one fibreglass midgrade prop. The auctioned midgrade prop was lost shortly after sale in an airport baggage mishap. The piece was documented before its loss, and revealed much of the shoddy casting techniques used in its creation. All three variations of the GB2 pack have been displayed at various Planet Hollywood restaurants around the U.S.

Many movie prop replica communities have sprung up regarding proton pack research and contain various methods and plans for constructing a replica proton pack. Early script descriptions of the proton pack stated each pack had two neutrona wands, strapped to the wrists, rather than one held in a fashion similar to an assault rifle. Toy proton packs were formerly made by Kenner and became available in toy shops. They consisted of a plastic hollow pack and gun, with a yellow foam cylinder attached to the front of the gun to represent the beam.