Luckymommyx2
Wishing you a magical day
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2002
- Messages
- 10,770
While watching one of the news channels I heard about several laser incidents since Christmas but I'm having a hard time finding out anything more. Does anyone have any further info? I thought there was something that they were thinking of trying out to combat the use of lasers but I can't find that info either. Here's the only thing I found on my search...
FBI checks lasers aimed at airline pilots
The Associated Press Saturday, January 1, 2005
WASHINGTON Pilots from time to time encounter laser beams that stray into the cockpit on approach to an airport, but a recent rash of such incidents - at least seven since Christmas - has them worried about an organized effort to take down airliners.
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Though there have been no reports of accidents caused by lasers, they can temporarily blind and disorient a pilot and could lead to a plane crash.
.
The FBI is investigating whether the incidents are pranks, accidents or something more sinister.
.
U.S. agents are looking into two incidents in Colorado Springs and one each in Cleveland; Washington; Houston; Teterboro, New Jersey; and Medford, Oregon, according to law enforcement and transportation officials, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Scientists discount the possibility that pilots are merely the victims of a popular new Christmas toy or jokesters toying with a $19 laser pointer from an electronics store.
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Loren Thompson, who teaches military technology at Georgetown University in Washington, said a piece of equipment that could do the things the FBI is investigating would be "fairly expensive and fairly sophisticated."
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He characterized it as a reasonably powerful visible-light laser that can lock onto a fast-moving aircraft. "That's not the sort of thing you pick up at a military surplus store," he said.
.
Officials say they have no evidence of an organized effort to take down planes. Further, they say they have had reports of similar incidents since the technology became popular.
.
But a memorandum sent to law enforcement agencies recently by the FBI and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said that there is evidence that terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons, though there was no intelligence that indicated that they might use them in the United States.
.
Pilots and safety officials have long been concerned about the dangers of lasers used in light shows or to attract the public to an event.
.
Hundreds of cases of lasers shining into pilots' eyes have been reported over the past decade; in several, the pilots sustained damage to their eyes.
.
FBI checks lasers aimed at airline pilots
The Associated Press Saturday, January 1, 2005
WASHINGTON Pilots from time to time encounter laser beams that stray into the cockpit on approach to an airport, but a recent rash of such incidents - at least seven since Christmas - has them worried about an organized effort to take down airliners.
.
Though there have been no reports of accidents caused by lasers, they can temporarily blind and disorient a pilot and could lead to a plane crash.
.
The FBI is investigating whether the incidents are pranks, accidents or something more sinister.
.
U.S. agents are looking into two incidents in Colorado Springs and one each in Cleveland; Washington; Houston; Teterboro, New Jersey; and Medford, Oregon, according to law enforcement and transportation officials, some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
.
Scientists discount the possibility that pilots are merely the victims of a popular new Christmas toy or jokesters toying with a $19 laser pointer from an electronics store.
.
Loren Thompson, who teaches military technology at Georgetown University in Washington, said a piece of equipment that could do the things the FBI is investigating would be "fairly expensive and fairly sophisticated."
.
He characterized it as a reasonably powerful visible-light laser that can lock onto a fast-moving aircraft. "That's not the sort of thing you pick up at a military surplus store," he said.
.
Officials say they have no evidence of an organized effort to take down planes. Further, they say they have had reports of similar incidents since the technology became popular.
.
But a memorandum sent to law enforcement agencies recently by the FBI and the U.S. Homeland Security Department said that there is evidence that terrorists have explored using lasers as weapons, though there was no intelligence that indicated that they might use them in the United States.
.
Pilots and safety officials have long been concerned about the dangers of lasers used in light shows or to attract the public to an event.
.
Hundreds of cases of lasers shining into pilots' eyes have been reported over the past decade; in several, the pilots sustained damage to their eyes.
.
