Man quizzed about laser incidents

[TacticalPeek]

Man quizzed about laser incidents

Saturday, January 1, 2005 Posted: 0344 GMT (1144 HKT)


(CNN) -- Law enforcement officers were questioning a Parsippany, New Jersey, man who they say may have pointed a laser beam at an airborne police helicopter Friday night and a Cessna aircraft two nights before, said a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The officers spent much of Friday trying to determine the source of the laser beam reported by a Cessna pilot Wednesday night, spokesman Steve Coleman said. The flight was carrying about a dozen passengers.

As a Port Authority helicopter circled the New York area Friday, using information from the Cessna pilot, someone aimed a laser beam at the aircraft between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., Coleman said. He said the helicopter had Port Authority markings.

There were no injuries or other problems from either incident, he said.

more
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/12/31/aircraft.laser/

[WMliberal]

1. is this the same guy who was flying over ohio, or the one from colorado?

sorry- new years and all- too drunk to read the article.

[daleo]

5. That's cool - getting that way too. n/t

[NYC]

2. Strange.

There's something very strange about all of this, and I don't yet know what it is.

...Last month, the federal government warned police agencies that terrorist groups had expressed interest in using laser beams to try to down flights...

...On November 22, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security sent an intelligence bulletin to police agencies to alert them that terrorist groups had shown an interest in using laser beams to try to bring down flights...

[burn the bush]

9. yes, they are getting ready to take away some more of our rights

and they are going to use the guise of homeland security. Now what could they want? What kind of new law could they make that could somehow involve lasers? Or do they want some kind of new contract to protect us from these attacks?
I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure our govt is behind it.

[NYC]

12. Removal of private residences near airports?

Not that many people use lasers in personal life. There are laser levels, laser cat toys, lasers for dentistry.

Could they want to take over real estate near airports? Eminent domain.

[shadowknows69]

17. could be but why?

[NYC]

20. I don't know.

Might just be a land grab. You know how people profit from that.

Edit:
Think about Bush and eminent domain and that baseball team in Texas.

[ET Awful]

31. Hmmm, let's go way out on a limb here and say you might be right

about getting control of real estate near airports. If they control all neighboring property, it makes it easier to conduct activities unobserved at those airports.

[bystnder]

48. OT - Wow, what a pretty kitty

Off Topic
Your kitty Quinn is the most gorgeous cat I have ever seen--just down right beautiful :).

[ET Awful]

49. LOL . . . Thanks :) n/t

[bystnder]

52. OT - One question, please?

Your camera work is very good and captures incredible detail, highs and lows. If you don't mind sharing, is it digital and which, if so?
Thanks!

[ET Awful]

56. Yes, it's digital

It's a Minolta Dimage A1 (5 megapixel, 7x optical zoom).

When I bought it they sold for around $800, should be much cheaper now, they've gone through a few newer models since then.

[bystnder]

57. TY! n/m

eom

[ET Awful]

59. No problem

Too bad you can't accept PM's yet, I could give you more details, but I don't want to derail this thread anymore than it already is :)

But, do a google search for Steves Digicams and you can find some great reviews and info there, and digitalfotoclub.com is a reliable online vendor with excellent prices that I've used for digicam equipment.

[shadowknows69]

16. I said it on another thread

they've been tracking these lasers to residential areas and even a near a mall. They could just use a supposed laser attack to basically say "we tracked it to this neighborhood we need to lock it down, search all houses and detain any potential terrorists or terrorist sympathisers." Then they check the enemies list and go dissapear whoever they need to and create whatever frame job they need. A plane will never actually go down because of one of these lasers because the FBI's new super radar that can track beams of light to your neighborhood beat you to it.

[havocmom]

39. maybe they will outlaw laser gun sites and pointers

Or maybe they will just start rounding up anybody outside after dark.

I like being out at night. I see a lot of interesting patterns of aircraft NOT flying in commercial corridors. Helps me not sleep when I speculate on what might be going on up there.

[daleo]

3. This guy must get around

Since we have heard these "laser beam pointed at plane" stories repeatedly from so many different cities for the last little while.

[Guaranteed]

37. Well, someone had to do each of them.

Assumedly, it was a different person in each area.

[daleo]

61. Yes, I was just being facetious

I guess I tend to agree with other posters, that this whole story is weird. Consider the report of a jetliner being "lasered" at a distance of 14 miles. If you assume a pilot's window is about 2 meters or so, this would be equivalent to "lasering" an object the size of a coin from 2 football fields away. Without a scope, I doubt most people could even see such an object from this distance, let alone point a beam of light at it, hit it, and keep it there for any length of time. So, that seems to eliminate kids with laser pointers, or errant Powerpoint presentations.

Suppose that someone was using a scope and a tripod (I imagine I could construct something like that with my telescope, in principle). It would still be difficult to find an aircraft at that distance and nearly impossible to track it by hand (unless its relative velocity was directly toward you). So, I think you would need some kind of automatic tracking i.e. radar.

And, if terrorists were going to all this trouble, why would they just be shining laser beams into cockpits?

There is just something weird about the whole story - aliens make about as much sense as terrorists, I think.

[TahitiNut]

4. Chris Knight lives in Parsippany, New Jersey??

Who'da guessed? :silly:

[CO Liberal]

14. I Used to Live in Parsippany, NJ

The Princess and I had an apartment in the Lake Hiawatha section when we first got married.

[bettyellen]

22. omigosh my friend's parents live there

really cool people. the longos.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. This sets my BS detector off BIG TIME

Commercial flights are flown by 2 pilots, to try to blind both of them at once seems a little far-fetched, and last time I checked, pilots can turn their heads left and right.
This is not a laser-based thing... it has to be some kind of targeting device they are worried about. It would have to have some kind of tracking component because flights at angels8 move pretty fast.
And a window at that speed and distance is pretty small.
Eyeballs even smaller.

I don't know what, but there is some kind of bullshit coming down the pike on this one.

[shadowknows69]

7. maybe (hopefully) just convenient instant fear mongering device.

n/t

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. I thought so too at first, but I don't think they would fuck with

airlines. They have enough problems. Since 911, they have been constantly harping on shipping and trains being unsafe, that is the fear factor thing.
Airlines are too special in the food chain of the GOP juggernaut to just toss off with fear.

[screembloodymurder]

35. Remember flight 800

and the missle 150 people say they saw?

[burn the bush]

10. tracking? maybe thats the angle

they are going to somehow convince us that we all need to be tagged with a global tracking device so that.....I don't know,...I just know they are up to something.

[beam me up scottie]

11. Yes, I thought the same thing the first time I heard that BS

story. But why would they be feeding us this particular info? Has anyone seriously ivestigated these reports?
The public needs to become a little more paranoid and stop buying this crap.

[frankly_fedup2]

13. Yeah, especially since it has happend in seven places that .. .

spread across the U.S.

Are there a lot of immigrants in NJ? Especially Muslim or a typical mixture of America?

The reason I ask is because it seemed N.J. was brought up a lot after 9/11 regarding the anthrax, terrorists living there, teaching hate to American Muslims, and some other things I cannot remember.

I just do not understand why this is happening all across the country, it's a green beam (unlike the red that is used as a sight to line up a pistol or rifle), and why they state they have intelligence showing terrorists were interested in using lasers but no intelligence showing they had actually gotten the technology.

So now our intelligence is 100% right???

[beam me up scottie]

15. The idiot that owns the building where I work said that New

Jersey is where all the Puerto Ricans live.(this guy is a serious american taliban grunt) He didn't even realize I was joking when I said "wow, when did they make all the Ricans move to Jersey? I've gotta listen to fox news more often."
I am going to see how much info I can find on the internet regarding the laser sitings. I'm still new to du so if you would like me to send you anything I might find, tell me how to post or email you.

[frankly_fedup2]

18. That sounds great and welcome to DU. I'm with you on the . . .

laser stories. All these "incidents" in such a short period of time is too coincidental to me.

Here is one story I read today and saved.

<http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20041231/41d4dcd0_3ca6_15526200412311795524203>

You may have already read it somewhere else but thought I would share with you anyway.

Please do email me here on DU. All you have to do is click on the little icon beside my name that says "send IM" This will go straight to my DU mail file. I'll do the same for you if you want.

I love investigating stuff. That's why I'm so into politics.

Happy New Year new DU friend :headbang:

[beam me up scottie]

19. Thanks. I also love to investigate stuff. I mean, how great

would the internet have been when we were kids? I literally wore out the second hand encyclopedias my parents had. Maybe thats why I'm such an info addict now, there's no limit.

[frankly_fedup2]

23. When Air America first came on, I emailed Randi Rhodes (gotta

love this woman) and asked if I could do research on different topics and just email them in. Well, needless to say, no reply, so I haven't really bothered but with a few things if I don't hear her talking about them on her show. She may see some and use them and she might not, who knows???

I would love to do research for any news service, etc.

I'm disabled and unable to work outside of my home. At least with research, I can work 30 minutes or so and take an hour or two to rest throughout the day.

I would LOVE to pay the monthly subscription to Lexus/Nexus (What they all use to write their books. If you haven't heard of it, you have got to check it out. It is a researchers dream. It has every article ever published anywhere on anything (well . . . kinda). With a monthly membership, I would be free to search through their database ad nauseum (which I would); however, it's $75 a month the last time I looked. Also, can get public records, well, those that have been uploaded.


Anyway, I cannot afford $75 a month; however, Lexus/Nexus will let you search a particular subject, and then will bring up short paragraphs of articles. You can read some of the articles, but if you want the whole article (which could help you with your research and again might not), but each article will cost you $3.00. That is how I use it. It is absolutely wonderful. There are some free sites as well; however, this is what Al Franken uses, Randi Rhodes, Limbaugh (gag), Coulter (double gag), any serious writer doing research for their book or reporters as well.

[beam me up scottie]

24. I know of Lexus/Nexus-everybody quotes their research.

But, alas, I cannot afford membership either. I search the web (through Ixquick Metasearch) for the article I want, then I usually try to find it without having to pay. At work I get to search the net for customers when they can't find something. Doesn't make up for my piss-poor paycheck but it helps.
I use Ixquick a lot. I can type in just a phrase and normally will find at least one link. Saves time-no duplicates. Once in a while (very rarely) I might not find anything. If there are too many, I usually use the results to filter and search again.
Two links below for you, you probably have them already but just in case.
Who would you most like to research for?
My choice would be the Daily Show w/Jon Stewart-where do they find all those great pictures of Blinky the wonder-chimp?
I should go to bed now, I'm still really wiped out from this stomach virus.
I'll keep an eye out for research jobs. I would think you would be perfect for the job. You wouldn't need to do 9-5 or even commute.
The Immigration offices in Vermont encourage people to work from home.
I'll keep looking up the lasers.
http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/largest.dtl
http://www.citizen.org/litigation/free_info/

[frankly_fedup2]

46. No I didn't and thanks. Also, if you look up any University Library

they have mostly uploaded all the articles they have available and are free.

I'm going to have to check these two out.

Thanks.

[americanstranger]

58. Randi's notorious for her self-research.

The lack of response is not a slight to you - when she was getting ready to start the AAR gig, she sent me an email telling me how she had no staff to speak of. I volunteered to help her any way I could. She declined, because she's always done her own research (and she's serious about it, too - she spends hours off-air gathering articles for her on-air time).

Happy New Year, BTW!

-as

[LiberalEsto]

28. Puerto Ricans are Americans, in case he didn't know

and yes, there are many of them living in NJ.

There are lots of Italians, Irish, Chinese, Indians, Eastern Europeans in NJ too. Nj is ethnically very diverse.

My parents were Estonian immigrants, and I grew up in NJ.

[oneighty]

38. Puerto Ricans are Americans

Many Amerikans are surprised to learn that!

180

[ET Awful]

32. Damn, and all this time I thought Jersey was full of

Eyetalians! Who woulda thunk all the Puerto Ricans moved out there too?

[NYC]

21. Dental laser beams are blue.

I wonder why the different colors. Cat toys are red.

[LiberalEsto]

26. LOTS of immigrants in NJ

People come in through the 3 big airports (Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark).

[aikido15]

25. I agree...

was thinking similar thoughts..something along the lines of how we are going to hear about laser beams all the time now to cover up the REAL news.

[ET Awful]

33. Agreed. It sure as hell isn't some dude with a laser pointer trying

to blind a pilot. Couldn't be done. Not only is it too small a target for anyone to actually aim a pointer at, but the slightest movement becomes magnified over distance so unless the person had the miraculous ability to remain absolutely motionless (that would include breathing and such), there's no way it's simply someone trying to "blind" the pilot.

[Minstrel Boy]

41. That has to be it.

Good observation. That makes things add up.

[Stephanie]

47. It's like crop circles, or chupa cabra

So many hysterical news reports on this. So bizarre. Sounds like something Tom Ridge dreamed up to scare us.

[proud2BlibKansan]

50. I agree

I don't believe this story for a minute.

[americanstranger]

54. I sat and thought about this for a long time the other day.

Ended up with a lengthy blog post trying to sort out all the aspects of the story that defy the laws of physics and common sense:

http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=20041230145129400

My guess - the same type of cowboy military pilots who shot up that school in NJ are bored and laser-painting civilian aircraft. There really doesn't seem to be any other feasible explanation.

-as

Edited for spelling. My fingers are apparently still drunk.

[Lizzie Borden]

60. Yeah, I agree..

you can smell the bullshit with this one. Every one of us knows there's something really peculiar about this story. I'm not sure what it is, but my money's on the government being up to no good.

[merwin]

27. Next, the CIA investigates sharks with frickin' laser beams n/t

[LosinIt]

36. Good one!

[Cooley Hurd]

29. Has anyone read or watched a first-person interview w/ a pilot...

...who was "blinded" by a laser in any of the recent incidents? My question is; do these pilots even exist?:shrug:

[Soloflecks]

40. This one well publicized in 1997:

http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws002/ap036.htm

http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/14/russia.laser/

-- A Russian ship apparently fired a laser beam at a Canadian military helicopter, injuring the pilot and a U.S. Navy officer on board and prompting concern at the highest levels of the Pentagon, officials said Wednesday.

The suspected laser was fired April 4 from the bridge of a Russian cargo ship in U.S. territorial waters off the coast of Washington state. Both men are expected to recover.

Defense Secretary William Cohen said he is "concerned," but added there was "conflicting information" about the incident. An investigation is still under way.

...more

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

44. Yes, but the laser in that case was powered by a gigawatt of

power and had a lens the size of a buick!

[Trillo]

45. 'Laser Danger': Metaphor as MSM disseminated coded message?

Another take is as metaphor, and what is a more powerful man-made light source than a laser: What does it mean to have a powerful light shone from below to something high?

[Brundle_Fly]

30. BO-

GUS.

[Chimpanzee]

34. It took me 2 weeks to figure out NGU, now GUS??????

[TahitiNut]

42. BO-

NZO


:silly:

[Chimpanzee]

43. LOL

[reprobate]

51. Consider what is known and only one thing fits.

Different aircraft in different parts of the country indicates either a conspiracy or an airborne laser.

Aircraft at different speeds and altitudes tracked by laser indicates computer control and tracking.

Question: who has claimed to have an airborne laser capable of destroying incoming missiles?

Answer: The US Air Farce.

Someone on the board has claimed that the airborne laser is not yet operational. I don't know. What I do know is that this govt lies. Many secret ops are not acknowledged until they have no choice.

Consider the capabilities of an airborne laser that could destroy incoming missiles. Probably has a tracking laser to acquire and track it's target. Definitely would have hi speed and powerful computer to track its target. It would be mobile, so it could be responsible for the geographically separate occurrences.

And the purpose of the airborne laser targeting different civilian aircraft? Well, I can think of two possibilities:

1. It's just a test of the laser's capabilities. A cheap, effective first test of the acquisition and tracking computers. Doesn't require an expensive missile launch. Just fly around and target whatever you want.

2. A first test to prove the ability to target and destroy several civilian aircraft at effectively the same time in order to cause another 9/11. And with Lil Boots' numbers under 50%, isn't it time for another terra attack?

I don't know. Just putting pieces of a puzzle together the only way that fits. Enough people have debunked the MSM stories. If someone will show me another scenario that fits the known facts I'll be happy to consider it. Till then, consider the facts and what will satisfy them.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

53. who said airborne laser is not operational?

we have had airborne laser targeting systems for 20+years

[americanstranger]

55. Ding Ding Ding!

Winnah!

See the link to my blog post elsewhere in this thread. Nothing else makes sense - it's gotta be Air Force or ANG jets targeting civilkian aircraft.

-as

[daleo]

62. Another possibility, is to give cover to control land around airports

If terrorists actually do possess shoulder fired missiles in the U.S., this laser beam story could be some psychological operations to prepare the population for the military and civilian authorities to control all land on approach runs to airports. Presumably, these are the areas terrorists would actually use if they really did have effective shoulder fired weapons.

[Ratty]

63. You can order green lasers online

There are a few outlets where you can order pretty powerful, battery-operated green laser "flashlights." These aren't your standard 5 mW laser pointers, but frightenly powerful 100 mW monsters that *will* blind and *will* burn. It's not surprising that these incidents are happening right after Christmas. Right now they are legal but that's certainly not going to last long. These are ignorant morons who don't realize lasers aren't a toy, don't know that you NEVER shine one into the sky let alone at an aircraft. Nothing sinister going on here. I imagine the FBI just subpoened online payment records for those areas and questioned a customer. They'll make a very public example of these people to get across to the public that these lasers are NOT toys. As Mr. T would say, I pity the poor fool.

[ThoughtCriminal]

64. I don't think this has to be very sophisticated

contrary to news reports. If an aircraft is flying toward your position, it is not that difficult to track, even it the aircraft is flying over 500 MPH. A tripod and telescopic sight help.

The hype reminds me of the DC sniper when the media was acting like it could only be carried out by some kind of super-trained assasin.