Airplane laser "attacks" the result of MEDIA, not terrorism

[Ian David]

Earlier, law enforcement officials speaking to CNN noted that the recent "flurry" of laser incidents followed national news reports on the topic, and it's likely the reports prompted some "experimentation" by individuals.

<snip>

"It's not a new phenomena," he said. "But it has drawn increased attention, so it's drawing increased effort to look at it because of that. But there can be a lot of different dynamics out there in the public that could result in this. We want to look at all of those."

<snip>

The officers spent much of Friday trying to determine the source of the laser beam reported by a Cessna pilot Wednesday night, Steve Coleman told CNN.

The man was questioned at his home by members of the FBI-New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force and FBI agents. Coleman said authorities also were trying to determine whether the man may have been involved in other similar incidents. (Full story)

Last Wednesday, a government official told CNN that incidents involving lasers aimed at commercial aircraft have happened "all over the place" and in "kind of odd places." The official would not provide specifics.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/03/laser.aircraft/index.html

[Gman]

1. A laser pointer for a presentation wouldn't make it to a plane

but would a laser scope for a rifle?

[BlueJazz]

2. My Theory about the Laser (s):

1. They're not Toys..They're industrial Lasers (Like for Light Shows..
costing $700.00 and up..sometimes WAY up.

2. They're mounted on a Equatorial Telescope...like the ones that simi-pro amateur astronomers use (I used to have one)...costing usually around a grand.
These scopes have motorized tracking on them and since the user could bring the plane within a hundred feet or so (through the scope), it would make tracking fairly easy.

[BiggJawn]

3. "Green Lasers".....I wonder....

Look in the back of any Astronomy/sky-watching magazine, and you'll find ads for green laser-pointers to mount on your scopes. If it's strong enough to use as a telescope pointer, I can imagine it being strong enough to be noted in a plane cockpit.

And I further wonder just how much of this is a move on the part of the BFEE to keep us in a continual state of "Be AFWAID! Be Vewy, VEWY Afwaid!"

[forintegrity]

4. The fear factor is losing its weight

The only thing we really have to fear is our current administration.

Example: this election fraud is domestic terrorism, plain and simple!

[dmkinsey]

5. On CBS News last night they reported

that the FBI had found two of the perps and they WERE using a laser pointer.
Last week the MSM had some "terrorism experts" who said these were "obviously sophisticated lasers to have the capability to track these aircraft".
Oops, actually just some bored suburbanites with regular household toys.

[brook]

6. It had ocurred to me...

that this whole thing was nothing more than people who had gotten laser 'toys' - like my son-in-law's laser key chain - for Christmas and were playing with them. Without the fear factor, this misAdministration has nothing going for it. They 'hawk' a new scare every day it seems. I'm sick of it.