First, the plan allegedly crafted by [Glendon] Crawford and alleged co-conspirator Eric J. Feight was ridiculous — the death ray wouldn’t work. The plan involved mounting a remote-control operated X-ray laser on top of a truck to kill people without them noticing.
Second, the death ray was inoperable. Crawford and Feight never got a real radiation source.
Third, the death ray was built with the help of the FBI. The undercover FBI agents or informants gave Crawford the tools to build his death ray — X-ray tubes — and technical specs on how to use it. (The specs were altered to change their output capacity.) Crawford had some engineering experience, and was trying to figure out how to make them more powerful. An FBI informant also financed the plot, giving Feight $1,000 to build the remote control device. Undercover agents told Feight they’d get him access to an X-ray assembly facility…