FBI Probes More Lasers Shot at Airplanes

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - The FBI (news - web sites) is investigating several more reports of lasers being beamed into aircraft cockpits following a rash of similar incidents at the end of 2004.

The most recent sightings of lasers, which can temporarily blind pilots, come as Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta (news - web sites) planned to brief reporters Wednesday about the issue at the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites)'s aeronautical research center in Oklahoma City.

Mineta is expected to announce new measures for alerting pilots and preparing them to react when lasers are shined at their aircraft. He is also expected to outline ways to notify law enforcement investigators more quickly.

Cathy Viray, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles, said the bureau is looking into a report that a green light was beamed onto the nose of an aircraft last week as it was taking off from the Burbank airport.

"It's happening all over the place," Viray said Tuesday.

Beginning on Christmas night, there were reports from all over the country of lasers pointed at aircraft cockpits: in Cleveland, Houston, Colorado Springs, Colo., Medford, Ore., and Nashville, Tenn. Many of the reports described a green beam.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20050112/ap_on_go_ot/laser_beam_aircraft

[shraby]

1. The aliens have landed!!

[Occulus]

2. Um, hi.

Cats chase laser pointers. It's quite fun.

[janx]

11. So do some dogs.

It's hilarious.

[Redstone]

17. Oh, I remember that!

We had a dog who would chase the laser-pointer spot around the floor, too. It was utterly hilarious, and good exercise for the dog on bad-weather days.

Thanks for bringing back the memory.

Redstone

[tanyev]

3. Maybe we need to ask the lightworkers

in the astrology forum if they can shed any light on this (so to speak). And although I say that in jest, I mean no disrespect to them. It's very odd how this is happening more frequently in more and more places. Could it just be kids messing around?

[NYC]

7. When the man in New Jersey was arrested,

it was mentioned in that thread that lasers are common used for star watching. I would suspect that is the cause of lasers hitting planes. Is this always happening at night? Has anyone noticed?

[SmokingJacket]

18. Sounds like a bunch of people got them for Christmas

Had some time off and goofed around with them.

Still... there seems to be something weird about the story.

Is it being hyped to maintain our fears of terrorism?

[sweetheart]

4. Pretty soon afgan wedding's 'll be illegal

And nobody will be able to shoot machine guns in to the air any more!

dang! .. or at least they CAN use green lazers for all its worth
until the spectre gunships arrive and destroy all living flesh in the
neighborhood.... what a cool thing the US military has become... i
mean what a cool thing to be able to destroy entire neighborhoods of
Americnan cities with bush-license because people are using laser
pointers to point at the sky... crime!!!! oh my god.... bring on
the howitzers.... lets kill everyone!

[CornField]

5. What I find interesting is

all of the aircrafts affected thus far seem to be jets of varying sizes. I think there's only been one case of something other than a jet (a helocopter) being struck by a laser. Since many have stated that tracking a jet with from the ground with a hand-held laser would be a difficult, if not impossible, task; why haven't we heard from prop pilots? They are slower and closer to the ground. If it were just kids playing around, why wouldn't they shine the lasers on the Cessna 151?

This whole mess reminds me of when my oldest daughter was coming to me and telling me that her chair was making funny sounds. This went on for several weeks until we heard a big boom from her bedroom. The chair was making funny sounds because she was tilting backwards in it -- and eventually broke it. She eventually fessed up that she knew the chair was going to break and was trying to set us up so we wouldn't discover what she was doing.

[goddess40]

20. yes, someone tell me how it is even possible

I believe this is just a "some people say" diversion story.

[tuvor]

6. Why is it "happening all over the place"?

Something about the newer laser pointers I don't know about?

These things have been around for YEARS, and until the past month I've heard absolutely nothing about this happening. Now it's "happening all over the place".

:wtf:

[MADem]

8. Maybe we are being set up to be VERY AFRAID

Maybe they have intel that some clown has a bunch of stingers that were hauled in on one of our many unscreened, unchecked cargo ships. Maybe they are afraid that said clown intends to launch one, they can't find him, so they are screaming about 'green lasers' in a hope to energize the public to do their work connecting the dots, finding the guy, and saving the day. And if not, they can always say they had the intel, it just wasn't specific enough. All they had was a PDB entitled "Insane Assholes With Green Lasers Determined to Shoot Down Passenger Airliner Within the United States."

Who knows? They are incompetent buffooons...too busy locking up swarthy innocents and pawing little old ladies and kids in the airport, not enough time finding people who come in on visas and NEVER FUCKING LEAVE. Morons!

[MisterP]

9. SYRIAN ECOTURRSTS DOWN PLANES; IRANIAN BAATHISTS RELEASE DISEASES IN SF

DIRTY NUKE IN LITTLE ROCK, AR, WORK OF WHITE SUPREMACISTS, DISREGARD!

[MADem]

10. Ha!!!

Except for the Iranian Ba'athists (that's an Arab political unity type deal, no Iranians--who aren't Arab, they're Indo-European-- involved, but hey, change it to Fundies and it works) that's probably close enough to their mindset!

[MisterP]

21. they don't know that: they think the Baathists and "turrsts" are all

working together: that'sm wha wee gott'm nuwk them Airbs a'for' they'm gits us.

[shadowknows69]

13. ok, well I'm officially VERY AFRAID now.

make it stop please.

[shadowknows69]

15. allow me to don my shiny chappeau for a moment.

could this be the beginning of a campaign to start to ban some technologies for private citizens? can't have laser pointers or trackers anymore, they might hurt planes. your personal computer has components that could be use in bomb making. For the sake of national security have to consficate those. the internet can be used to hack government computers, can't allow it. you'll all just have to get your information from state run radio/tv again and learn stuff from our christian coalition approved libraries. far fetched I know but hey with this group, all bets are off. <foil hat gone now>

[HuffleClaw]

12. this smells like an excuse conveniently laying in wait

for when an airliner goes down. then they'll scream 'laser attack downs plane' and voila! instant terra crisis.

[MADem]

14. Code orange, code orange!!

Geeeeez, Martha, lock up the kids, call the dog, set the deadbolt, close the curtains, hunker down, run, hide!!! Don't complain when the feds break down your door and rough you up, they are fighting against terra!!! Give up your liberty, and be happy about it!

Hitler was democratically elected in 1933. Who knew????

[Orsino]

16. Copycats...

This is what happens when you pump up a non-story. Thousands of Elmers, or their children, decide to try out their laser pointers in a way that otherwise would not have occurred to them.

[goddess40]

19. how is it physically possible to shine a laser in their eyes ?

Think about it. From the ground there is no way that you could pull this off.

I believe this is just another scam meant to derail the public from the real crap that is going on in this country.

[AlCzervik]

22. I talked to my dad about this on Saturday

he is a pilot. He thinks it's bullshit unless there have been some very powerful laser lights that the public can now purchase. He thinks it's another way of raising hysteria and the the govt comes along to reassure us about how they are "On the Job and no need to worry until we tell you to worry"