I can just parse that as being sensible. Classical interferometers were first developed in the late 1800s, and if you put a laser in one then it will hit a beam

I can just parse that as being sensible. Classical interferometers were first developed in the late 1800s, and if you put a laser in one then it will hit a beamsplitter. (Similar: "In a steam locomotive, first developed in the early 1800s, a robot arm shovels coal into a furnace") Not the best writing, though.