Smokey23

Would love to hear some theories about this one. It's happened to me twice in the last few months. Cruising along in the mid-30s over central NM and again in west TX, and we get a brief green laser hit. It's one thing to get lased on final approach, but the Flight Levels? Seems to me that we're dealing something/someone with a lot more intent and sophistication than Bubba on his back patio with a laser pointer in one hand and a Budweiser in the other.

rickair7777

A laser beam will diverge with distance, reducing the energy delivered per exposed area (ie your pupil). The atmosphere will also absorb the beam's energy.

To cause eye damage in the flight levels, you'd probably need need a large-aperture military-grade laser weapon. Those are obviously made of pure unobtainium.

You might be able to do it with an industrial laser, but those are not designed or able to be aimed at a moving target at a distance.

A green laser hit in the flight levels was probably an astronomy pointer (maybe boresighted on a telescope), it should not have the power to harm you at that range.

SonicFlyer

LOLz ..... funniest thing I read today.... thanks for expanding my vocabulary!

DropTank

You can buy a retna damaging laser for $25-100 pretty easily.
It doesn't take much modification to boost the output so many bubbas actually have them.
They aim for the strobes. The airplane will illuminate (reflect) pretty easily even in the flight levels.

If you are being repeatedly illuminated, turn off strobes and everything but the nav and beacon.
Consider going dark if necessary.

rickair7777

How big is the aperture? Large aperture is required to keep a tight beam over distance (optical physics, no way around that). Bubba might be able to boost the power, but he can't increase the aperture.

Yes going dark will help if you're up high, maybe not as much in the approach environment (especially since the cabin windows are usually open and backlit).

Excargodog

Sounds like the Starfire guys are at it again

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfire_Optical_Range




They are supposed to coordinate those observations to make sure they have a clear sky.

TransWorld

Just for clarification. Lased is an incorrect work. It should be Lasered. Laser is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

It would be like using the word NASed for some who got selected to be an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, commonly called NASA.

rickair7777

I doubt a mil activity is lasering civilian airways in an uncoordinated manner... especially since their lasers might be of the large-aperture, high-power variety.

Excargodog

Well if it was, it wouldn’t be the first time. And then of course there is the Boeing connection, who seem to be fouling up by the numbers recently:

https://www.boeing.com/features/2016...ery-06-16.page


An excerpt:

Yeah, these are the guys who leave their McDonalds wrappers in the fuel tank of brand new KC-46s.

Or that a nuclear submarine would run into a long ago charted undersea mountain, or a Ticonderoga class cruiser would run aground in Tokyo harbor which we’ve had pretty good charts of since the 1940s and now GPS navigation for as well.

And I never would have guessed that someone would ACCIDENTALLY have transported 6 nukes from Minot to Barkesdale either, in violation of the SALT treaty and just about every standing order regarding nuclear surety either, but all those things happened.



And most of their LASERS really aren’t all that dangerous - they just provide a way of adjusting the adaptive optics of their telescope to offset atmospheric effects. The problem generally comes when they try using them quasi horizontally rather than directly overhead.

Smokey23

Thanks! I actually put some thought into the proper phraseology for this but couldn't find a definitive answer....so I made up my own word!