From 2016 already. Note from the wikipedia page of the filer of this patent: "His patent applications on behalf of his employers have attracted international at

From 2016 already. Note from the wikipedia page of the filer of this patent: "His patent applications on behalf of his employers have attracted international attention for their potential military and energy-producing applications, but also doubt about their feasibility, and speculation that they may be misinformation intended to mislead the United States' strategic adversaries about the direction of United States defense research." In particular it's pretty wild that: - this effect does not seem to have been replicated in outside laboratories - the US military would willingly share details about how it works through the patent system while they can also just not tell anyone.