I'm fascinated by the description “laser-like” for this sound. Does this touch on a broader synaesthetic phenomenon or it based on the historical sci-fi presentation of laser/phaser guns? I suspect the latter.
I think the first use of that sound was in War Of The Worlds in 1953, they didn't even had lasers at the time :) I couldn't find any explanation, how they arrived at the sound (it's supposedly just electric guitar + reverberation).