Did the U.S. Navy admit that the Earth is flat in "their defense magazine", by claiming that a Navy laser weapon can shoot down cruise missiles from 100 miles away? No, that's not true on several counts: The Navy said no such thing. A short video clip circulating on social media has sensationalized points made by Pastor Dean Odle during a flat-Earth debate with Pastor Greg Locke. Odle's citations of Navy statements were wrong and/or misunderstood. National Defense Magazine is not a publication of the U.S. Navy, but of the nonprofit trade association, National Defense Industrial Association. The Navy has said its HELIOS laser weapon has a range of about five miles, not one hundred. And finally, lasers do not always follow a perfectly straight path. In uncontrolled conditions a laser may bend due to refraction. Laser beam "proofs" for flat-Earth have been thoroughly debunked.
The 49-second video clip (archived here) was published on TikTok by @flatearthersproofs on Aug. 31, 2025. The caption featured these hashtags:
Flat earth admitted by the navy #flatearth #flatearther #flatearthtruth #flatearthers #flatearthsociety
This is what the video looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of @flatearthersproofs post on TikTok)
Lead Stories used Google Lens to find the source of this clip. A video (archived here) posted on YouTube on Dec. 3, 2023 by Parable of the Vineyard is titled, "Biblical Cosmology Debate: Pastor Greg Locke vs Pastor Dean Odle (MIRROR) 2023". In the caption the channel explains that this video is a mirror, or duplicate, of the one which had once been posted on Locke's channel, but had been removed. The caption also contains this disclaimer:
Please note: the views expressed by either party do not necessarily reflect the views of Parable of the Vineyard, this is for research/study purposes only
This is how the video appeared on YouTube at the time of writing:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot of @ParableoftheVineyardpost on YouTube)
The debate video is over four hours long -- the clip in question happens at the 56:57 timestamp (archived here) when Odle says:
The Navy admits in their defense magazine that their laser weapon that has no curvature to it whatsoever -- it's not curving, can shoot down Russian and Chinese cruise missiles flying 50 feet over the water over a 100 miles away. Now let me explain to you what 100 miles is because you didn't, you didn't know a minute ago what curvature supposed to be. There at 100 miles, I'll tell you -- If the Earth is a sphere 24,900 miles in circumference, the 8 in per M squared on average means that in 100 miles there should be 6,666 feet of curvage. That's well over a mile of curve. There is no laser weapon shooting from a Navy ship doing this to hit a missile moving at mach four. I'm sorry but the Navy admits by that -- the Earth is level and non-rotating.
Lead Stories can not guess what defense magazine or article Odle is referencing. The official magazine of the U.S. Navy is called "All Hands" (archived here). "National Defense" is the name of a magazine from the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) not the U.S. Navy. A National Defense article (archived here) published on Oct. 19, 2022 is titled, "Navy Destroyer Adds HELIOS Laser to Arsenal (UPDATED)". HELIOS stands for High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance. That article refers to an email from a Lockheed Martin spokesperson who estimated the range of the system is up to five miles:
The Navy received its first high-energy laser with integrated optical-dazzler and surveillance, or HELIOS, system in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 from manufacturer Lockheed Martin, according to the company. The system -- which can blast more than 60 kilowatts of directed energy at targets up to five miles away -- is currently being installed on a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that is undergoing upgrades, a company spokesperson told National Defense in an email.
The Navy didn't say the Earth was flat, and they didn't say the HELIOS laser would take out targets a hundred miles away. The calculations offered by Odle are aimed at disproving a claim that hadn't been made. Odle then incorrectly concludes that if it is possible for a straight laser to hit a target 100 miles away, that means the Earth is flat.
The scope of this fact check will not delve further into the question if lasers can prove the Earth is flat based on the belief lasers can only travel in a perfectly straight path -- that is incorrect. This theory has been thoroughly debunked. Examples include a fact check from USA Today, and an article (archived here) from the Te Awamutu Space Centre in New Zealand, a small private museum, written to specifically address the flat-Earth claims. Lasers can bend by refraction caused by the atmosphere, and laser beams get wider as they travel.
