"C J Campbell" writes:

"Corky Scott" wrote:

Has anyone been following the disturbing (to me anyway) news stories
about airliners approaching to land being hit with laser beams aimed
at the cockpits?

There are several possibilities:
[snip]

5) Pilots, alert because of government warnings, are over-reacting to
accidental contact with legitimate (but possibly careless) users of lasers,
including folks who got new telescopes for Christmas.

An argument against the idea that it's a new telescope owner is that
the green laser pens are typically over $100 (vs. maybe $10-15 for
a typical red laser pointer). Also, the green pointers are mostly
used in amateur astronomy by someone knowledgable about the sky,
who (hopefully) has a bit of common sense. (Of course, this doesn't
in any way say that it isn't a newbie; there are people with lots
of money who think an Astro-Physics 8" refractor is just right as a
first telescope, just like people who do their student training in
a Baron because they think a Cessna 150 is for the hoi polloi...)

I do hope that this doesn't lead to DHS outlawing the green laser
pens. I use one in an astronomy program I run with the National Park
Service inside the District of Columbia (in Rock Creek park, under
the flight path that choppers follow to and from the VP's residence
on the Naval Observatory grounds). And yes, I *am* careful to avoid
pointing it anywhere near anyone overflying the area; the program's
been running for over 50 years and I would hate to have it shut down.

Joe Morris