Laser beam? Unlikely. This happened during the daylight hours. How would the person know how to direct the laser beam without being able to see the beam was going?
The laser can be mounted on a beam similar to a rifle stock with sights. But I’m skeptical of the whole “light” thing anyway.
NSA actually revealed alien spacecraft have been experimenting on what NSA is calling, “Deer in the headlights” zombie ray...
NSA suspects they have tested their zombie ray on Sacramento and Washington D.C., for several years now.
“Laser beam? Unlikely.”
You sound like your far more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than I am so I’ll take your word for it.
Assuming the pilot is telling the truth, maybe some cockpit electronics malfunctioned, causing a flash of light temporarily blindeing him. I don’t know.
Particularly when you think about the geometry involved. Laser beams travel in straight lines, so in order to blind someone the beam has to be perfectly aligned with the persons viewpoint. Given the orientation of an airplane on final that's pretty hard to do unless the laser is located on another plane, or on the airport itself, which strains credulity.
Maybe the pilot saw sun glinting off of a reflective surface, such as the bay.
It’s unlikely, but it could have been an incidental flash rather than a directed attack. Could also be a habitual attack that finally zapped a pilot.
“Laser beam? Unlikely. This happened during the daylight hours. How would the person know how to direct the laser beam without being able to see the beam was going?”
True enough. While green lasers can go for a couple of miles or more, you can only see the beam itself from the reflection of dust (or moisture droplets) in the air, which you can see only at night.
Well, technically it's not rocket science - any telescopic sight would do the trick. Light rays do not bend much, usually, and when they do they do it identically for the laser and for the scope.
But I cannot imagine why would anyone want to paint an airplane with a laser in daylight. Human eyes at that time are adapted to bright light and are less sensitive to extraneous illumination. Whatever those laser guys do, they want some effect from their actions (they are illegal.) That effect would be minimal during daytime.
There could be plenty of reflections from glass buildings on the ground. That would be likely ... and at the same time expected and harmless.