Spooky flights

Sometimes some people get spooked when driving out in the middle of
nowhere (especially the desert southwest of the USA) for various
reasons. Obviously darkness, isolation, and a lack of signs of
civilization and humanity can play a role in getting one's mind to
wander in the wrong directions. These must all be greatly magnified
when flying alone at night in relatively unpopulated regions.

Have any of you ever been slightly spooked while flying alone? (And
are you prepared to admit to it?)

They say the area around Groom Lake in Nevada is particularly prone to
do this. I recall someone else mentioning being out in the desert and
the only noise was the eerie sound of power windmills that went on for
miles, and after a while that got to him. I recall being on a hill
once (on a cycle, not in the air) and accidentally thinking about
stories of alien abductions, and reflecting on the fact that I was in
exactly the situation that most abductees described when the little
green men came to call. That was a mistake, but I did make unusually
good time getting back into town.

A related question is whether or not you've ever seen anything in the
sky while flying alone at night that truly did not match any type of
airborne craft you could think of.

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Think about what you see or think you see while working in a contro tower at
night
Al


"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
Sometimes some people get spooked when driving out in the middle of
nowhere (especially the desert southwest of the USA) for various
reasons. Obviously darkness, isolation, and a lack of signs of
civilization and humanity can play a role in getting one's mind to
wander in the wrong directions. These must all be greatly magnified
when flying alone at night in relatively unpopulated regions.

On Sun, 28 Jan 2007 23:40:53 -0500, "Allan9"
wrote:

Think about what you see or think you see while working in a contro tower at
night

Visions of a nice soft, warm bed.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Allan9 writes:

Think about what you see or think you see while working in a contro tower at
night

I had not considered that. I suppose if one is working the tower
alone at night, and there's no traffic, and one is in an isolated
area, one might get a bit spooked at times, especially if things other
than recognizable aircraft appear in the sky. But at least you can
readily leave the tower if necessary (although I guess the tractor
beam of the Borg could still sweep across the parking lot and snatch
you up). In an aircraft, you can't just open the door and get out
while in flight, so if you get a chill down your spine or a bright
green light starts scanning the cockpit, you're stuck.

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In article ,
Mxsmanic wrote:

Allan9 writes:

Think about what you see or think you see while working in a contro tower
at
night

I had not considered that. I suppose if one is working the tower
alone at night, and there's no traffic, and one is in an isolated
area, one might get a bit spooked at times, especially if things other
than recognizable aircraft appear in the sky. But at least you can
readily leave the tower if necessary (although I guess the tractor
beam of the Borg could still sweep across the parking lot and snatch
you up). In an aircraft, you can't just open the door and get out
while in flight, so if you get a chill down your spine or a bright
green light starts scanning the cockpit, you're stuck.

If that bright green light starts scanning your cockpit, DON'T LOOK AT
IT!

It is probably a green laser, with which there have been several
illuminations of aircraft, with temporary to permanent eye damage.

The son of a friend of mine had it happen, although his eye damage
appears to be temporary. The crew in the plane behind him nmay have
permanent damage, however.

Orval Fairbairn writes:

If that bright green light starts scanning your cockpit, DON'T LOOK AT
IT!

It is probably a green laser, with which there have been several
illuminations of aircraft, with temporary to permanent eye damage.

Unfortunately, laser beams are so thin that you might not notice it
before it hits you.

Were they really green lasers? Did anyone ever find out who was using
them?

The son of a friend of mine had it happen, although his eye damage
appears to be temporary. The crew in the plane behind him nmay have
permanent damage, however.

What was the situation?

I recall a rash of these attacks (because attacks is what they are)
some time ago, and then it seemed to quiet down. Unfortunately, I
can't think of any simple way to protect against laser attacks.
Throwing anyone who does one into a Supermax might serve as a
deterrent, though.

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MX offered the opinon that

"Unfortunately, laser beams are so thin that you might not notice it
before it hits you."

There are a couple of problems with that statement. 1 if the beam is
that thin it would take exquisite marksmanship to hit someone's eye,
and 2 - visibility of a green laser beam is very high and it will
bloom big time on the windscreen, for example. I know of no windscreen
that's of a sufficient optical quality so as to not have that happen.
Off axis scattering in atmospheric transmissions is a serious problem
for high power lasers.

There would probably be an instinctive glance towards the source of
that pretty green light at night.

Infra red lasers would be a different sort of problem.

There was some stuff going on, maybe in Nevada, where very high
powered lasers were being used to perhaps target the moon, and there
were temporary restrictions on that airspace. (1970s or early 80s).
These were big power hungry lasers though, not the sort of thing that
are easily available for bad guys.

Tony writes:

There are a couple of problems with that statement. 1 if the beam is
that thin it would take exquisite marksmanship to hit someone's eye ...

True, but if you spread the beam, its intensity drops very rapidly.
Also, you need glass to spread the beam, and you'd need a way to focus
it so that it would be wide enough to sweep the cockpit but narrow
enough to not lose too much intensity. (Of course, if this is a
60-kilowatt laser, intensity shouldn't be a problem, but I don't know
what the bad guys have been using.)

Maybe they swept the cockpit in a pattern very rapidly? I wonder how
they managed to hit the pilots in the eyes with a collimated beam.

If they were really evil, they could use a laser outside the visible
light range. The pilots' eyes would be damaged and they wouldn't even
know why.

Off axis scattering in atmospheric transmissions is a serious problem
for high power lasers.

Just what kind of lasers have these people been using, and where are
they getting them?

I have a strong aversion to laser light shows. Even when projected on
a screen, the beams are highly collimated, and if the screen is
specular (as many projection screens are), you can still get bits of
the beam aiming straight at you.

There would probably be an instinctive glance towards the source of
that pretty green light at night.

Yes, looking towards a bright light is a reflex, but not always a safe
one.

Infra red lasers would be a different sort of problem.

Yes, as above.

There was some stuff going on, maybe in Nevada, where very high
powered lasers were being used to perhaps target the moon, and there
were temporary restrictions on that airspace. (1970s or early 80s).
These were big power hungry lasers though, not the sort of thing that
are easily available for bad guys.

There are corner-cube reflectors on the moon that can be used to
bounce lasers. The beams spread to a mile or two at their
destination, IIRC, so they have to be pretty strong.

Not only is a laser attack bad in the same way that any other attack
is bad, but it's also especially evil in that it can leave a pilot
blind, which is probably about one of the worst things that can happen
to a pilot, above and beyond the fact that it would obviously end his
flying days.

I think Shuttle pilots have been blasted by lasers, too, but I don't
remember the details.

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Mxsmanic wrote:
I have a strong aversion to laser light shows. Even when projected on
a screen, the beams are highly collimated, and if the screen is
specular (as many projection screens are), you can still get bits of
the beam aiming straight at you.


Is there anything out in the real world that you aren't afraid of Anthony?

Gig 601XL Builder writes:

Is there anything out in the real world that you aren't afraid of Anthony?

You answered my helicopter question without a personal attack, so I
remain optimistic.

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