In my opinion, the video is very clear. Nearby sodium lighting experienced a surge of power at nearly the same time as the Guidestones exploded into pieces, indicating a powerful electric field in the area.
There was no orange flash indicating high explosives and no saboteurs were caught on camera.
A lightning strike can be ruled out because there was none in the area at the time of the strike. Even if it was lightning, the time of the strike, 4:03.33, is a message only capable of being delivered by a DEW, which travel at 186,000 miles per second.
If it is known that this was a DEW strike, that would mean the US Military is responsible. They are the only ones with the available technology and control of Theater.
I had strong suspicions about the strike on the George Floyd mural for similar reasons.
I believe the fruits of POTUS45's formation of Space Force are now being realized.
Yoicks! Well, thank you for the kind respect. Somewhat rare in this environment.
Let me see if I can be helpful in this environment. I don't know of any DM feature in this page and I have scruples about dropping my pseudonym.
Just to set the stage, it seems pretty clear that the stones were damaged by an explosive charge placed by a person unknown but caught on video. That is the obvious and expectable explanation, completely consistent with the video of the blast. No need to pursue any other.
But you have to realize that laser weapons (DEW entails other categories, but only lasers have been brought to a point of utility) are expensive, not commonly available, and exist at the test and trial level today. They are classified and under tight access control. You can see where I am going. There is no way that such technology will be allowed to participate in a stupid and illegal fraternity prank. It is out of the question. Anyone who imagines otherwise has no idea of how classified programs are pursued, how the military operates, or why illegal acts are beyond the pale.
But to get back to laser weapons. Early it was determined there were two basic categories: pulsed weapons and continuous-wave (CW) weapons. The pulsed weapon stores up all its lethal energy to be released in a single pulse of electromagnetic radiation that lasts maybe milliseconds or microseconds. The target surface ablation can result in kinetic effects, like pressure, as well as heat deposition. But the research rather quickly determined that there was a lot of effort to make the pulses, and the target effects were not easily predictable or impressive. So, research bent toward the CW laser, whose effect is like a blowtorch (heat deposition) spread over several seconds of dwelling on a target aimpoint. Easy enough to attain the melting temperature of most common aerospace metals. This is what current weapons are.
Hypothetically, the stones could have been a good target...if the air was clear, there were no density ripples (convection), and the target effects were well understood and predicted, and the beam sightline did not have to move out of alignment with the target aimpoint. I'm not so sure the actual event (explosion from behind) would have been consistent with the only available sightline (from the front). But there is no point in elaborating that hypothesis, since it has been found to be otherwise.
As for target effects, you have to approach it scientifically. Given what you know, what effects would ensue? You can't wave your arms and say "why wouldn't it be possible?" You have to establish that it would be possible. I have seen a benchtop CO2 laser raise a hot spot on a piece of firebrick that went white-hot, probably for a beam intensity of 10 watts/cm2. The equilibrium intensity of molten aluminum is about 1.4 W/m2. Titanium is a bit higher. But the brick was not affected. When the beam was turned off, the glow dimmed and the brick went back to its previous condition. Why would I think that a dressed stone would be any different? A hot spot might provoke cracks if the stone had a high coefficient of thermal expansion, but did it? And how high is high enough, given that firebrick was immune?
There are other aspects to a laser engagement. One of them is the likelihood of stray scorch marks on other parts of the target or surroundings. The beam does not go into a single spot. Diffraction effects will cause some of the beam to be distributed in "rings" around the main beam. At high centerline intensity, these rings can also cause significant damage. (I think I once squelched an ambitious project by pointing this fact out.)
Why do we build laser weapons? To engage high-speed targets, mainly, because nothing is faster than the speed of light. And if something is coming at you, you want to deal with it as soon as possible. Or maneuvering targets, for much the same reason (thus, boosting missiles). Engaging static blocks of stone is not even on the list. Setting things on fire is maybe on the list, but it is usually a frivolous addition. Like burning down a forest with artillery firing incendiary shells. A waste of an asset that has more important uses.
I hope that is helpful. It is probably not a complete answer, but I wanted to give you the Big Picture first.