<5mW can see beam WHY

well
sorry
this will sound unusual
and stupid

I KNOW

but well:

i have a <5mW red laser...those cheapo ones, i've had for about 6 years. it fell from an elevator and still lives
yesterday
i took it out of its case
coz i was bored
and pointed it to a mirror
with a completely dark room
no fog
no dust
nothing
it was a clean room
the mirror was clean too

but the thing i noticed
with that <5mw RED laser
was that I COULD SEE THE BEAM throught the reflection in the mirror

i mean

i could NOT see the beam in "reality" like, by myself, i could ONLY see it "on" the mirror....

not sure if u get me


but well

i will post some pictures later so u can see for yourselves

also
i asked someone else to come into the room with me
and let me know if she could see the beam, so i confirmed that it was not me


anyone know why could this happen? i thought about it a lot and still dont know why i couldnt see the beam right off the laser but i could see it when i reflected it on a mirror..


thanx in advance. [smiley=cool.gif]

It's because the beam is a lot brighter when it is directed toward you. The same works for any color laser. I don't know if it's just me, but I can see the beam of a 5mW red going both ways at night outside. Merry Christmas!

Worlds longest haiku?

j/k You were seeing the beam coming towards you. You can do the same thing by turning the pointer on and go look back towards it or have someone shine it over your head.

oh!

did not know that

thank u a lot guys

yes

i like

creating very

very long

haikus =)

you must have good eyes, that and my crappy <1mw red lasers have too much scatter to see the beam