N.J. man indicted in laser beam case (faces 20 years in prison)

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 3/23/05 | Jeffrey Gold -AP

[ClintonBeGone]

I ain't saying where ya get 'em, for fear of needing to have to fly someday... and knowing how dumb the majority of this country's populace has become lately. :)

We've got a good history. I'd never suggest someone target your plane :)

[Anti-Bubba182]

Jasper is the brightest, most reliable laser you can operate without a special permit

N.J. man charged with shining laser at airplane

"..NEWARK - The pictures on the Web site for the company selling the Jasper laser pointer show a bright green beam of light ascending into the night sky. Use the cigar-shaped gizmo to point out stars, the Web site says.

A Parsippany man who bought the pointer and, according to authorities, shone it into the sky above his house is facing 25 years in federal prison for temporarily blinding two pilots during their approach to Teterboro Airport last Wednesday.

David W. Banach, 38, appeared before a federal magistrate Tuesday on charges that he violated a portion of the Patriot Act when the laser he was using in his back yard struck a chartered Cessna Citation owned by Atlantic Aviation Flight Services of Teterboro...."

[NormsRevenge]

That's OK, I haven't flown in years anyway,,

I take the Mole People Express these days,, It's much more safe and always on time. ;-)

[jeremiah]

Since when do pilots look at the ground when flying? How can they be blinded when they cannot even see over the nose of the plane until they are nearly touching down? The angles seem to be all wrong for a laser on the ground to affect anyone on an airplance, except in the most narrow of circumstances.

[Cobra64]

Where do these people get these items? Are they high-tech or simply the laser pointers you find in classrooms or lectures?

A friend of mine developed a pulse laser in 1968 at the University of Denver that could punch a hole through a razor blade a 250 yards.

Connect the technology dots.

[Alberta's Child]

This incident occurred on one of the approaches to Teterboro Airport in northern New Jersey.

[Leo Carpathian]

He was looking for the stars inside of the airplanes, he is just stargeezer.
Leave him alone, he just wanted to scare off the planes flying overhead over his house when they are lining up for the Newark airport. Too much noise, can't you see his hair scared?
Wonder how he would like to have laser in his eyes when driving.

[festus]

The green ones are different. The primary market is to astronomers. They actually let you point at the stars. That is you see a slim green light going up far enough that to the eye it looks like you are pointing at the star. There is no green dot at the end like the red dot, instead you see the shaft of light.

Of course you can also point it at other things.

[Walkingfeather]

19 months, 5 years probation.