lol, it certainly has some... perverted... uses. LOL That is, as long as you don't mind killing the one your looking at. XD >.>

Seriously though... I'm pretty sure that North Bay News, North Bay, Ontario, Canada, is perfectly credible. Its an official news website for that area, and Troy lives in North Bay, so its a logical place for this artical to popup first.
http://www.baytoday.ca/content/about/
I dont see any 'fake' stories on the whole site, and its mainly local news...
If/when I see a site like CNN or Discovery Channel or even French news post this artical, maybe thats a little more credible and then I'll post the link to that as well, but this site is pretty official enough as it is. =P
And like I said, he is a real inventor, and the Discovery Channel and G4 have done specials on him, that I have seen with my own eyes.

Although, I'll admit, its a big step to go from inventing bear proof armor, ~ to a matter changing ray-gun... XD but I guess its possible.