The incidents of lasers being aimed at and into the cockpits of commercial jetliners in recent days have law enforcement officials and air travelers concerned. While the incidents seem unrelated, relatively benign, and are not thought at present to be terrorism-related, they are still potentially dangerous, especially for their potential to cause serious eye damage to pilots and others. And the Chinese have manufactured and sold military grade weaponized laser systems designed to "blind" aircraft pilots, and it is entirely possible that these systems have been sold to people who would do us harm.
A blog that is relatively new to my blogroll, this isn't writing, it's typing, has informative posts on the subject here and here , including links to additional posts by Michelle Malkin and others. There have been at least seven reported incidents since Christmas Day. Could that mean that kids who got lasers for Christmas are just fooling around with their new toys? If that's the case, why the concentration on airliner cockpits?
UPDATE 1/1: A related post here (via Instapundit) that while offering a different take, unfortunately isn't terribly reassuring.
Posted by dan at December 31, 2004 08:50 PM | TrackBack