helicopters ?

[lightenmyload.livejournal.com]

anyone have an idea why there have been helicopters circling overhead for the past hour ?  i'd guestimate they're (it's ?)  flying across the whole city, not just this neighborhood.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I thought the concern here was whether the laser pointer might blind the pilot (temporarily or otherwise). Are they strong enough to do that?

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

Yep. Google "Green Laser" for more info. You can buy affordable handheld versions that'll burn holes paper or skin (eventually). Wicked Lasers has a military/police version that's designed to blind the target, and the retail is only $600... and that's not their most powerful or expensive model.

You don't want to distract pilots during landing, and the laser can either light up the cockpit or actually damage the retina of the pilot or co-pilot. That's setting aside the idea that you're using it to paint the target so that you can hit it with a laser guided missile.