I was working in the GE armament plant in 1970 when they were developing that beast. We were busy cranking out Vulcans, Minis, and Micros for SEA, but the rumor was there was something hush hush going on down in R&D. One day a lot of military brass showed up and R&D rolled a long cart with a tarp draped over it down the center aisle towards the loading dock, trailed by the test range crew and more brass than any of us had ever seen in one place. Well, halfway through the production floor the fire alarm went off, lights flashed, and a canned announcement came over the PA that all personnel must evacuate immediately and report to their section rally points outside. As we were milling about outside, several more cars full of brass pulled up, and a loud and vociferous contention ensued in the parking lot as our supervisors told us to go back to work. When we got inside we found the tarp off the cart, revealing the mother of all Gatling cannons. It was twice as long as a Vulcan, had more barrels, and was a spectacularly larger caliber. One of the guys stuck his thumb in one of the barrels and said it had to be 30 mikes at least. When the bigshots came back in we got the "Don't ever tell anybody, ever, what you think you saw" lecture and sent back to our work stations.
Cheers,
Wes