Laser beams being aimed at airliners?

Happy Dog said about all that needs to be said about the topic. These are
unlikely to cause any serious injury. It is just like the mass hysteria
that followed the craze of pointing red LASER pens at people. (a) You are
not going to be blinded by one of these (b) Are you *really* frightened that
somebody is pointing a gun at you? Get over it.

Aviation is cause for a little more concern as even becoming distracted at a
critical moment can lead to or contribute to an accident chain...but will
not likely be the only cause. Sure, perhaps somebody with a military grade
LASER can aim it at you, the light attracts you to look at it (natural
response) and in the few milliseconds that you actually look at it, your eye
balls melt and both you and your co-pilot are blind. Wasn't this also the
topic of a Clancy novel and/or movie?

I also heard a rumor that we tested a weapon like this once. A giant LASER
with a mirror for high speed aiming powered by a huge diesel generator was
driven out onto the battle field and blinded a bunch of the enemy in desert
storm...so the story goes. But this source says they existed and were never
used....

["Laser Weapons. The United States also has developed advanced laser
weapons, which are designed to blind opponents or disable weapons' firing
optics, and are equipped its Army with it.

Rupert Pengelley, technical editor of Jane's Information Group, was quoted
by an Associated Press report as saying that the laser weapons also might
see their first use by US forces in Iraq. The US Army equipped its Bradley
Fighting Vehicles with laser weapons in the 1991 Gulf War, but they were
never used, the report said, quoting sources in the Federation of American
Scientists.

Human Rights Watch urged a ban on laser arms in 1995, calling it
"unnecessarily cruel and injurious." But media quoted Pengelleyas saying
that the US military, which has been developing lasers for roles that
include missile defense and air-ground attacks, believes it "can now use
this in a fitting and legal manner on the battlefield." ]
http://english.people.com.cn/200303/...9_114207.shtml


Guess I had a little to say too...