From WIKIPEDIA, news reports and personal experience comes the following:

An EFP or explosively formed projectile/penetrator has a liner in the shape of a shallow dish. It was first extensively used in about 2002 and is much more destructive than conventional land mines or bombs. The force of the blast molds the copper, or other type of metal liner, into any of a number of configurations that can pierce even the most formidable armor, going easily through armored Humvees and even Abram tanks. EFPs can be expertly manufactured or crudely made. I.E.D’s or improvised explosive devices are less accurate but can be just as deadly.

An EFP eight inches in diameter can throw a seven-pound copper slug, becoming molten after discharge, at Mach 6, or a rough estimate of over 3,000 MPH or 2,000 meters per second. As a comparison, a .50-caliber bullet, among the most devastating projectiles on the battlefield, weighs less than two ounces but has a muzzle velocity of only 900 meters per second. (So… this projectile goes faster than the bullets coming out of a .50 caliber machine gun).

Some sources quote that over 75% of the U.S. fatalities in Iraq are from EFP’s. Despite fervent efforts to beef up armor in new ways, there have been no successes in opposing the effects of this weapon. Such devices create a greater fear for death in the average combat Soldier or Marine than any other device. They are constant reminder that adversity comes in many forms for both the military member and the families who suffer from the loss of their loved ones.

An Attorney’s Testimony

The following is taken from the book, History of Joseph Smith by his Mother, Lucy Mack Smith, page 176. She is quoting an attorney’s journal, by the name of Esquire Reid, wherein he recounts how he came to defend Joseph Smith in an 1830 court case:

“I was so busy at that time, when Mr. Smith sent for me, that is was almost impossible for me to attend the case and never having seen Mr. Smith, I determined to decline going. But soon after coming to this conclusion, I thought I heard someone say to me, ‘You must go and deliver the Lord’s Anointed!’ Supposing it was the man who came after me, I replied, ‘The Lord’s Anointed? What do you mean, The Lord’s Anointed?

He was surprised at being accosted in this manner and replied, ‘What do you mean, sir? I said nothing about the Lord’s Anointed?’

I was convinced that he told the truth for these few words filled my mind with peculiar feelings, such as I had never before experienced; and I immediately hastened to the place of trial. Whilst I was engaged in the case, these emotions increased and when I came to speak upon it, I was inspired with an eloquence which was altogether new to me and which was overpowering and irresistible.

I succeeded, as I expected, in obtaining the prisoner’s discharge. This, the more enraged the adverse party and I soon discovered that Mr. Smith was liable to abuse from them, should he not make his escape. The most of them being fond of liquor, I invited them into another room to drink and thus succeeded in attracting their attention until Mr. Smith was beyond their reach. I knew not where he went, but I was satisfied that he was out of their hands.”