The sound comes from StarCraft, Blizzard's science fiction real-time strategy series first released in 1998, where the Protoss are an advanced alien race known for psionic power and energy-based technology. Their units and structures are associated with glowing shields, plasma weapons and electric discharge effects. Clips like this one circulated among players and editors who reused game effects outside matches, and it remains popular because the crackle instantly signals alien technology, even for viewers who have never played the original game.