The Neuralyzer comes from Men in Black, the 1997 sci-fi comedy starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as agents policing alien life on Earth. The pen-sized device erases memories with a blinding flash, and its rising electronic sound became one of the film's most recognisable audio signatures. Clips of the effect spread through meme edits and reaction videos, where creators pair the flash with a cut to signal that something should be forgotten. Decades later it still works because the joke needs no explanation: one flash and the audience is in on it.