My buddy has one of these green lasers. They're called star pointers, and as you can imagine, they're used to point at stars.

If you have never seen one of these in person, you just cannot imagine how powerful they are. With new batteries in it (two AA), the green beam will track all the way to the star (from your perspective).

If pointed at a balloon, it will pop the balloon after a number of seconds.

They're really useful tools is used properly, and they're neat lasers.

But for the poster who said "you probably didn't suffer damage", you are very mis-informed. I hope anyone who gets one of these in the cockpit ends up alright.

Fly safe!

Was the location of this laser located west of the field?

I was lased from this general area about a year ago on final to 5R.

Link

Fair enough, my buddy has one(the green kind) and ive seen people get it in the face, they were ok and that was from like 10 feet, I just like to play devils. I was not, and am not, trying to minimize this. It does seem like I am right though(correct me if I am wrong) dudes still flying, with both eyes.

Not all lasers are the Class I laser-pointers that you describe. I worked with high power lasers (Class III and IV) in undergrad and the lab was actually funded with "Star Wars" anti-missile funding. I can assure you that there are lasers in the visible spectrum that are capable of producing blindness if you happen to look down the beam.

There are green lasers and then there are green lasers. You can buy cheap ones in Shanghai for 5 bucks that look great but aren't very powerful. You can also buy other types from places I won't mention (don't want all of you rushing off to get them) that can light a match at 10 feet. Maybe your buddy has one those cheap ones that is more or less just a toy but is still dangerous.

All lasers and bright light sources are dangerous and even the toy ones can cause lifelong damage to your eyes!

And there are many different types of lasers slipped - and of course not all are dangerous. are you willing to play devils with which are and are not when they are shining lasers into the cockpits? In this case - let's hope that he is OK. If you don't know that there are different kinds than the ONE that you friend might have then I suggest a little research on the internet.

USMCFLYR

Happened to me awhile ago too... not sure if anyone else said it but be sure to file a NASA ASRS report ASAP!

I think the droogs version would be more appropriate. As opposed to the experimental (but effective) Ludovico Technique the state used on Alex.

I worked with Class IV lasers before getting into flying which can be very dangerous. I've been around lasers for awhile and you could very well receive eye damage from the handheld powerful green laser pointers. Here's an example, shot this about 4 years ago before the "laser fad" hit. About 300 yards away reflecting off a stop sign, this is a medium power laser. The regulations now a days with these things is scary. 12 year old kids can buy them without anyone asking a question.

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/p...t/100_0233.jpg