Lasers vs Airplanes on ABC

Broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America tomorrow morning.

Ah crap... I hate ABC. What pessimists.

I'm sure it will be lovely report, full of ignorance, and poor calculations.

They never describe the REAL issues behind it.

Meatball said:

Ah crap... I hate ABC. What pessimists.

I'm sure it will be lovely report, full of ignorance, and poor calculations.

They never describe the REAL issues behind it.

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What do you mean by that?
The reality is that lasers do pose some element of danger to aircraft pilots. Lasers are inherently dangerous. There is no other way to spin it.

In any case, I'm sure you are right. Not many people know much about lasers and there is a bit of misunderstanding surrounding the topic.
"Lasers vs. Airplanes" is a great way to attract viewers, and I am sure that this report is more geared to getting views than public safety.

News is entertainment these days. There is no information in it.

RA_pierce said:

What do you mean by that?
The reality is that lasers do pose some element of danger to aircraft pilots. Lasers are inherently dangerous. There is no other way to spin it.

In any case, I'm sure you are right. Not many people know much about lasers and there is a bit of misunderstanding surrounding the topic.
"Lasers vs. Airplanes" is a great way to attract viewers, and I am sure that this report is more geared to getting views than public safety.

News is entertainment these days. There is no information in it.

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I completely agree with you.

Nowadays you have to seek out your own information and educate yourself.

Thanks for posting this ZapU! I'm definitely going to watch

I agree with meatball also (can't believe I just said that) - abc often takes stories to the extreme negative on topics like this that have 'potential danger with misuse'

Here's the story broadcast today.

Quoted the owner of Awesome Lasers(forum discussion), give me a break.
David J Todeschini in Jersey City, NJ - Criminal and Sex Offender Registry by Homefacts.com - Learn more about your community.

Arctic got specifically mentioned as an legal laser. (edited earlier post, had to listen closer)

I dvr'd it & finished watching it just now... IMO this report didn't tell folks anything overwhelmingly bad or negatively surprising about HPLs that they didn't already know. They mentioned that reports of 'laser strikes' on cockpits are up this year from last and in a few cases 'temporary blindness' or 'blurred vision' have also been reported from pilots. This increase activity from years past has drawn the interest of the authorities, another no surprise to anyone...

All in all the report (again IMO) wasn't terribly damaging to the laser community or responsible laser hobbyists. They covered factual concerns about HPLS and their growing popularity, as well as the dangers that follow using them. I've seen abc cover reports like this before (ex: 'raves, ravers & the drugs everyone's trying & dying from') from a few yrs ago that were grossly misrepresented and taken far out of perspective for entertainment purposes. That did not seem to be the case here, unless they would've had some 14 yr old w/ a bandanna over his face disguising his identity while talking about how he 'lases' aircraft all the time & recruits gang members to do the same.

The only thing that pissed me off about this story was what the news lady said just after the story.. "I don't know why anyone would want one of these, the question is what are they used for?" We're hobbyists dammit, the world of full of hobbyists!

danefex said:

The only thing that pissed me off about this story was what the news lady said just after the story.. "I don't know why anyone would want one of these, the question is what are they used for?" We're hobbyists dammit, the world of full of hobbyists!

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Exactly. They might as well ask why do people have aquariums? Why do people fly kites? Why do people make ice sculptures? For the most part they're all hobbies with very few practical purposes.

Hmm. One of the guys that they interviewed in that ABC video is a guy that was a member here recently and was apparently busted for sex crimes against a small boy... Yikes!! He also doesn't have much real expertise regarding lasers..He's the guy at 2:26 in this video who shines a laser towards a building.. it might help if they actually found an expert to consult.. and maybe someone with a little bit less of a disgusting criminal record.

Can't remember the guy's name on here to save my life though..

ElektroFreak said:

Hmm. One of the guys that they interviewed in that ABC video is a guy that was a member here recently and was apparently busted for sex crimes against a small boy... Yikes!! He also doesn't have much real expertise regarding lasers..He's the guy at 2:26 in this video who shines a laser towards a building.. it might help if they actually found an expert to consult.. and maybe someone with a little bit less of a disgusting criminal record.

Can't remember the guy's name on here to save my life though..

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David Todeschini.
Look up^ a couple of posts (#6).

Ahh.. well there you go!

Yeah, let's use a convicted child molester to demo lasers and show the world what kind of people use these things.

I can just see the follow-up.

I call bullshit on "laser vs plane"! It's just like a cellphone ON a plane. They would rather be safe than sorry! No cellphone has ever taken down or affected a plane in any negative way. Just like a laser... Yes they are dangerous but come on? When someone falls out of the sky cause "Billy" was playing with a laser then it will be a problem.

I bet it's not evin our high-powered lasers doing this stuff, were not that dumb! It's more likely little kids with 1mw lasers you can get from the dollar store.

Ps I wish everyone would check if the sky was clear of aircraft and everyone on LPF would shoot their lasers up into the sky on the same second of the same night! Let's get some more UFO sightings... Lol

I did not see the newscast, but there is also this web page:

Blinded by the Light: FAA Warns Pilots of Laser Dangers - ABC News

Notice this statement: "The powerful laser beam can hit a target miles away and can also burn though thick plastic"

Let's just create a panic! "The lasers are coming! The lasers are coming!"

Sheesh...

Stephen j gilman said:

Ps I wish everyone would check if the sky was clear of aircraft and everyone on LPF would shoot their lasers up into the sky on the same second of the same night! Let's get some more UFO sightings... Lol

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I've often wondered what would happen if a bunch of us got together and pointed at ISS as it went over - what would it look like from orbit?

wbp said:

I've often wondered what would happen if a bunch of us got together and pointed at ISS as it went over - what would it look like from orbit?

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HA! Probably like planetary fiber optics or like there's glitter of some of it's continents