Nothing to see here ... move along.
Posted on 01/04/2005 3:29:45 AM PST by Reader of news
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI investigation into recent incidents involving laser beams aimed at aircraft has found no link to terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security's transportation security chief said Monday.
"There's not any evidence that these lasers are being used by terrorists," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of border and transportation security. "The FBI certainly continues to investigate and look at these fact scenarios. It's also a safety issue that the Department of Transportation would certainly want to look at."
The FBI is investigating eight incidents since Christmas involving lasers -- or lights believed to be lasers -- directed at various aircraft across the nation, including incidents in the District of Columbia, Ohio, Colorado and New Jersey. All of the pilots were able to land without incident.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Oh, I am so NOT reassured.
I think Hutchison was mis-translated. What he realy said was, "We have no idea WTF is going on."
I live on a lake close to a small airport. In the summer, we go spearing for trash fish. We use very high powered spotlights (I've got a CRAZY big one...10,000,000 candle-watts, but most are 1 or 2 million). When planes go over, we shine them. Sometimes they blink their lights, sometimes they don't.
There are new lasers out there now, much larger than the pointers that were popular a few years ago. I suspect these are Christmas gifts being used for "Fun".
Please please please don't make Asa the new head of HLS.....
Has anyone been CHARGED yet?
Why do I not believe this? When they are clueless about the whole thing?
No link? Yeah and I guess SeanPenn is a patriotic American
and really was no link between Mani Noriega and the drug
trafficking done in Panama before we brought him to the
CountryClub.
Makes sense to me; the whole thing was a self-generating media event; after the first reports people with lasers tried it, and pilots were far more likely to report incidents (and it's possible a number of the pilot reports may not be real.)
UFO sightings tend to follow the same pattern.
I told everyone it was just kids and adults. People believe anything the media say. This was NEVER a threat.
| Posted by backhoe to Blood of Tyrants; All On News/Activism 01/03/2005 1:24:45 PM EST · 6 of 56 Here's what I have so far: Person Questioned About Laser Beam, Planes -- Have we not heard about lasers and pilots before this? Anyone? Anyone? Yup--
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You are probably correct.But,this is what the government would say regardless.Job One for those in power-crowd control.You and I can cause them much more trouble if we get rambunctious than the terrorists can-at least in their minds.
It's just the media fear-story du jour.
Think about it. Any of you try to focus one of those handheld lasers on the wall across the room? It's difficult to precisely hit a target 15' away, right?!?!
Well, these guys are talking about lighting up the cabin of a plane at a range of over a half mile!!!
To even see the laser dot at a half mile, to be able to tell where you're shining it, you're going to need a significant scope. And, to be able to hold it steady, you're going to need some significant mounting hardware.
Now, if you've got all of that, and you're a terrorist wanting to take down a plane, consider your weapon of choice: green laser that may or may not hit the pilot exactly in the eyes; or a .50 caliber Barrett (or better), that can do significant damage even if you miss the pilot's eye (to either the pilot or the aircraft).
If you ask me...I'm banking on either pranks or hoaxes. Safety's a prime concern of the pilots, so it's not too hard to believe that their union would be feeding the media frenzy.
OT, but somehow needs to be said. When I was a kid, we lived near a railroad track. When we heard a train coming, we'd line up at the fence and wave to the engineer, who would wave back. Big thrill! Now we have people sending laser lights to say "hi" to the airline pilot hoping he'll blink his lights in reply. It's still the same thrill when we make contact, isn't it?
Yep! It's a big thrill when we get a response (Of course by that time of the evening, we've partaked in a number of adult beverages, so I'm sure it's not really as cool as we think it is).
My mom used to do the same thing when she was a kid in the 40s. The engineer would always throw her a 'mounds' candy bar when he saw her. My grandparents were quite poor and this was always the high point of her week.
"There are no sharks off the coast of Amittyvile".(it would hurt tourism.)
You might want to have actual knowledge of the weapon before you spend too much time thinking about it.
An industrial laser mounted on a good hobby telescope with motor tracking could paint a moving target all day.
On the other hand, hitting a plane at that distance, with ANY conventional firearm, is a statistical impossibility.
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