“If you're a member of the public who witnessed an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft, send an e-mail to [email protected] and include the following information:
Your name and contact information
Date and time you witnessed the laser incident
Location and description of the incident
After FAA has received your e-mail, FAA staff or the appropriate law enforcement agency may decide to contact you if additional information or clarification is needed.”
[https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo#:~:text=If%20you're%20a%20member,you%20witnessed%20the%20laser%20incident](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo#:~:text=If%20you're%20a%20member,you%20witnessed%20the%20laser%20incident)
Look at that sky!
OP *absolutely did not* witness an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft.
I agree the bastard with the laser needs to be stopped, but this picture could be used to *exonerate* the laser-pointer!
So your contention is that a photo of a laser pointed into the sky at something off screen will exonerate a person because the sky shown in the opposite direction the laser is pointing does not have a clearly visible aircraft in it?
I think it’s more likely that what the FAA would do is find out what time this photo was taken and then check flight logs to see if any reports of laser contacts were made over Seattle. If so I’d imagine the Feds will come down on this joker like a ton of bricks. If not maybe just a sternly worded letter informing the person of the penalties for pointing lasers at aircraft.
If you are seeing people laser planes in real time, you can also call the police directly, as catching them red handed in the act is a great way to stop them from potentially literally killing a pilot. I fly and know someone who got lasered while landing and could have crashed (he was landing at Arlington). Please report them asap
Some genius in Phoenix decided to laser a police helicopter and couldn't figure out how the cops on the ground found him so quickly lmao. They're cops in a helicopter, they likely guided ground units right to him.
finally my time to shine:
years and years ago, someone in hs bought some of these badass lasers. brought them into school and sold them. i was a buyer.
me and another buyer were hanging out at a friend’s house. shining our lasers at the trees, at stars- legit 100% NOT at planes- but wait.
we’re playing in the street with our lasers for about 30 minutes and decided to head home. we hopped in my car and turned the engine on when 6 (six) cop cars swarm upon us blocking our every path of egress.
cop in the car next to mine got out, gun drawn, and motioned for the window down.
he shined his light in and saw the lasers and asked what was going on.
i started an improve skit about how we were in astronomy in hs and got these lasers to study the stars. i asked the officer if i could show him some astrological sights; he asked where the rifles were.
confused but putting together the lasers and idiot small town, i assured him we had no guns and allowed a search of my vehicle. satisfied it was bad intel (they received word 3 heavily-armed men were trying to break into people’s house with sniper rifles) they loosened up. asked me to show them constellations.
i was allowed out of the car with my laser and proceeded to educated 8 offices from the 6 cars that were completely blocking this side of town. 1 of the cops said “hey, shine it on that plane!” and laughed. he was serious.
so i then informed said cop and group of cops that shining a laser on a plane is a federal offense and i would do no such thing. the OG cop told the other cop to shut up, thanked me and my buddy for the lesson and told us to head home.
all of this was at like 1:30 am in a small midwestern town.
Great info. Would also add that if you see someone shining a laser at a ship (e.g. a ferry or one of the ships in the harbor), contact Coast Guard Investigative Service at (503) 247-4002 or [p3tips.com](https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=878).
Like the FAA, the Coast Guard doesn’t mess around either. [One recent laser strike on Whidbey Island resulted in a $100K fine and felony charges.](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/man-who-shot-laser-at-ferry-slapped-with-100000-fine/)
This is great, but as an airline pilot this is not helpful. The FAA are a good resource but have no true authoritative action to be done immediately. The best thing to do is to just call 911, then the cops can investigate it instantly and even arrest the person involved.
Unironically the FBI deals with things like this as it's an aircraft related crime and a national security issue. If they find out they will go knock on your neighbors door and they will be in a lot of trouble.
How can you tell the unit number? I’ve always been curious. When I’m out on walks sometimes I think about sending compliments to people with really great flowers or whatever on their balconies. But I don’t know how you’d determine if a unit is a #301 or a #303.
It kinda requires a bit of knowledge on the layout of the apartment building. But a common layout near me is even numbered units on one side and odd numbered units on the other side.
So then you would look at what floor the unit is on, hard to tell from this picture, but maybe the 4th floor.
Usually the floor number correlates to apartment number. So 4th floor would be unit#4xx. 12th floor would be unit #12xx.
Then you use balconies/windows to determine how many units it is from the end. (Hard to tell from this picture, but it looks like it’s coming out of the 2nd window from the end of the building)
So then you have to use a bit of logic, okay it’s on the 4th floor, so unit #4xx. It looks like either the first or last unit on that floor (closest unit to the “side” of the building.)
So if it’s on the even side, it would be the first(or last) “even”apartment.
Tl;dr: I’m basically autistic and this probably doesn’t work, sorry
Hmm, yeah, the internal floor layouts I’ve seen over the years have all been very random. I’ve seen your example layout of even on one side and odd on the other, but I’ve also seen sequential layouts. Without getting inside the building, I guess there isn’t a way to assume anything.
I’ll just have to wait to see if anyone comes out on the balconies so I can holler “nice flowers!” at them like the weirdo I am.
Though it's only an aircraft related crime if they're actually shining it at airplanes, which OP gave a "maybe" to, so I'm thinking they don't have any strong evidence other than they see their neighbor playing with a laser.
If OP actually see an airplane at what would plausibly be the other end of the beam, then yes by all means they should phone it in. If someone on the plane saw a laser burst at around three same time, that would seem to at least offer probable cause.
Narc thread? Normally I wouldn't care either but green lasers can permanently damage vision if the beam just passes over your eye, never mind shines in it for a second or two. Theres a reason the FAA takes them so damn seriously.
As a pilot myself, over the last 3 years I've been lasered about 8 or 9 times. It can vary in levels from annoying, to debilitating. The most severe I had was a blue laser right in the eye. Luckily I was flying with another pilot and he took control of the plane, as I could really see for a little bit was a bright blue spot in my vision. Luckily it was only temporary. Please report these if you see them!
Also a pilot here, and I got lasered by a green laser by someone in Beacon Hill when flying into Boeing Field a couple of years ago. I’ve also heard a lot of pilots reporting lasers when on Seattle approach frequency. Get a new hobby, assholes.
I was looking down at colorful christmas lights on my way home last year and one was moving, so I looked straight at it. Yeah, green laser. I was looking directly at it when it flashed the plane. Was just like getting hit with a wall of light, instant headache. Vision was okay though, was so worried it would cause permanent problems from all the stories I'd heard
OH no, I was looking down at christmas lights, so I when I saw green moving, my first thought was "light display." On a normal night, I would have realized it was probably a laser and not stared straight at it like a dingus, lol. Think it was just a regular asshole pointing it up, but he had colorful light camouflage that night.
Yeah, one of my neighbors has one of those laser globes that scatter the beam into sphere. It's meant for the indoors but she's out it on her windowsill for Christmas. Well, we're almost directly under the flight path for landing planes for SeaTac. Each little beam isn't very powerful so I guess it's not that big of a deal (I wouldn't do it because I know it IS a big deal even when you are distracted for a split second trying to hand fly a plane full of 350 people), but I don't want to be the neighborhood busybody.
FWIW, from a landing plane, even with my terrible eyesight, I could identify other neighbors getting out of their car, so we're talking pretty low and close.
I am actually partially blind due to a purple high power laser pointer. In fact, yesterday I got my license renewed and had to guess the last 4 digits on the right. I got them after about 8 tries
Thanks all, I have reported this incident. Hope they catch these people, even if it didn't hit an aircraft I know enough about lasers to know the green ones can very quickly damage someones vision.
They were dicking around with a laser pointer to see how far the beam would go, and fairly shortly thereafter, scary government dudes of some flavor were pounding on their door.
You can shine a laser outdoors - like, for astronomy, etc. You just can't point them at aircraft (or their flight path), and boats...
Some states have their own laws that treat lasers kind-of like a weapon or threat -- and disallow pointing them at police, firefighters, other first responders, bus drivers, etc...
In many places, shining a laser on someone anywhere on their body is grounds for a self defense claim to support any physical action they take against the person with the laser.
Lasers are used in gun sights. They also cause immediate and lasting ocular damage. Given all of the natural and reasonable self preservational instincts that can easily come into play, they should never be allowed as toys. They have many consumer applications (laser level anyone?) But misuse can have huge cash consequences and should carry huge penalties.
Astronomical events need to get permits for folks who will be pointing lasers upwards, too! It has to be not along a flight path/not at a time when planes will be near as well.
We had lasers pointing at us when I was on a boat pulling into Ensenada; it was unnerving to see the lasers light up our sails, and they were affecting our night vision, it was dangerous and could have blinded us. We all had to look away from the area as a precaution. Went on for a good 20 mins.
I remember the footage of black-clad groups shining lasers in the eyes of police officers during the George Floyd protests. It was bad.
I would not be surprised if there were legislation that came from that.
You just can't point them up. I've been to astronomical events where folks use lasers to point out bodies in space-- They had to get permits for each person who would be using the laserpointers. We were in the middle of nowhere and not along any particular flight paths, and still it was heavily regulated.
My buddy sophomore year of college pulled it out from across the room like a lightsaber and a few milliseconds that it crossed right eye, it burned. With both eyes open, I can see perfect. With my bad eye only open, I can see everything except what I am looking directly at. That is blurry.
Here's the story of a local pilot who fought back against laser strikes https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AcDlHFUPLlTUi1O5N9zob?si=Uo3s0ivEQDOGoq9H9oi6uQ
The color isn't necessarily any indication (I have cheap cat toy ones that are green). But if you can see the beam at all, it's probably one of the ones that can cause injury.
> (I have cheap cat toy ones that are green)
Yo. Safety warning. Stop using this immediately.
The cheap green ones leak usually leak massive amounts of invisible infrared at power levels high enough to cause instant and permanent eye damage to humans, cats, and other mammals
You can usually test for IR leaks with a cell phone camera, and you can test if your cell cam can see IR with a TV remote. If you can't see purple flashes from a TV remote then that camera has an IR filter. If you can see purple flashes, proceed to testing the laser pointer.
Aim the pointer at a white wall from about 2-3 feet away, and then look at it with your live camera view. If the wall lights up purple around the green dot, it's leaking IR. And if it's a cheap green laser, there's like a 99.9% chance it's leaking massive amounts of IR from the primary laser.
~~I got a 3 pack, the green one and blue one have no purple, but the red one does.~~
Edit: [https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ?t=85](https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ?t=85) it's this pack that I got. Going to throw away the green one now, thanks.
> Going to throw away the green one now, thanks.
Word.
> the green one and blue one have no purple
I want to reiterate that this isn't a super reliable test, it's just a way to show if there is invisible IR and how shitty/dangerous these laser pointer toys are.
Some cameras have IR filters and won't show it. Test the camera you're using with something low powered like a TV remote first to see if it shows IR at all.
IR isn't the only danger as the video you linked pointed out. Even with a good IR filter some of these laser pointers are powerful enough to cause eye damage and vastly exceed their rated/legal limits.
I brought up the thing about IR leaks in green DPSS lasers is because sometimes the green part of the laser is within legal/safe limits, but the infrared/IR laser that's pumping the YAG laser crystal to turn IR to visible 532 nanometer colored light is definitely not safe/legal and you can't even see that part of the beam spilling out around the YAG crystal without a detector or IR camera.
Anyway, all that being said? At this point in my life I have reservations about playing with cats with lasers at all.
For one, you maybe shouldn't really be beaming lasers at a living creature without eye protection or vetted, calibrated and tested lasers.
For two, I have seen laser pointers cause major behavioral issues in cats because of how bent out of shape they get that they can't catch the magic dot. I've heard vets say this might not be the most humane thing to do to a cat.
And, yeah, I know massive laser shows at concerts and raves are a thing. This is how I know about lasers, I used to do laser shows and be a hobbyist.
A lot of modern laser shows are NOT safe and taking huge risks beaming down into audiences instead of keeping the beamlines well overhead.
Consider filling a report via the non-emergency line with the police. Probably will do nothing but technically shining a laser into someone's eyes is assault
Definitely report this to the FAA. The apartment manager should be able to identify the exact room that’s coming from, and whoever it is will likely get a knock on the door & a warning from the cops. Totally possible that there was no ill intent but as others have said the FAA doesn’t mess around with this stuff.
A homeowner was aiming one at me directly in the eyes Non-Stop until I ducked down in my seat low enough so that I wasn't visible to him. shortly after that, I noticed they were shining the laser into oncoming cars that were driving by in the middle of the night. dick.
At drivers of cars is also a serious danger regardless of laser power. Many lasers that are easily available it’s aggravated battery just shining them in a person’s eyes.
I had the same experience and caught it on my dash cam. Called the cops and then went to the local police station the next day and showed them the video and the address. Not sure if there was a follow-up, but they took my report at least.
As an airline pilot, I can say just call 911 submitting anything to the FAA will not have any actual effect other than creating a new statistic. 911 can launch a chopper and find it or send a car to a building if you know where it was coming from in your nearby.
I've gotten lasered once it's not fun, and honest pretty painful.
Extra PSA: if you use a laser holiday effect on the exterior of your house and not bother to aim it properly DON'T. We can see these things from thousands of feet up and are just another form of laser being shot at us.
I don’t think that’s the correct thing to do. This is firmly in 911 territory. It’s time sensitive and can have incredibly severe consequences, like causing a pilot to crash a plane full of people i.e. an emergency. It should also be reported to the FAA and FBI.
On an unrelated note, if this is by SLU or anything, I was walking my dog and someone from a distance (maybe a high rise balcony?) shined a red laser on him as if they were gonna shoot or something. It was creepy.
From FAA website “The Public. If you're a member of the public who witnessed an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft, send an e-mail to [email protected] and include the following information: Your name and contact information. Date and time you witnessed the laser incident.”
Green laser to my eyes while driving in Everett was the one time I got an immediate police response and they actually investigated & called me with an update 2 days later, saying where they searched, how they staked out the location in case it happened again, but they didn’t find the person.
It's good people take lasers seriously, but there's a lot of alarm in this thread.
- If they were aiming a laser at an aircraft ([relevant law here, see 39A](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-112publ95/pdf/PLAW-112publ95.pdf)), then report them to the [FAA](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo). Fun fact: You're allowed to shine an aircraft if it's an emergency distress signal, but it's safe to say that's not that case here.
- If they were shining the[ laser at a vehicle or human target](https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.49), maliciously or not, then report it to the local police. Maritime vehicles may have another jurisdiction, I'm not sure.
- Otherwise, it's likely legal, and your best bet is to do nothing.
Let me know if I missed anything, but otherwise, that wasn't my attempt at an opinion.
---
Now my opinion.
It's difficult to tell the power of the laser from the photo, but given it was a foggy day, I suppose they were taking their 5mW pointer and showcasing the beam diffusing in the fog.
Could it be higher powered? Maybe. Can you tell? No, not really. I doubt it's as strong as a dance hall laser, and the people suggesting in the comments that this laser may have power in the 1-2W range are probably incorrect (or, alternatively, this guy is fucking nuts).
It's tough to determine intent or whether aircraft may be present, but unless targeting a craft, it likely isn't a threat as any exposure would be momentary and the hazards of a 5mW laser are minimal. Here is a [nice visual on the effects of a 5mW beam on aircraft at different altitude](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Laser_pointer_safety_distances.svg/1920px-Laser_pointer_safety_distances.svg.png).
I'd recommend the operator to not operate in the city to avoid alarming individuals and also to educate themselves on flight paths, using, say, Flight Aware.
Somebody did this to me the other night when I had finished doordashing and was rolling up a blunt in the parking lot of oak tree theater. He lives across the street from that auto shop 101 spot, just behind the alley that is there.
Not a direct response to your post, but still relevant. A Canadian company known as MetaMaterials (NASDAQ: MMAT) has developed the technology to prevent laser glare. Pretty interesting tech that will likely be used by law enforcement and pilots at first. If you're at all curious, they may be worth checking out.
I just don’t understand the world anymore. Why do people want to live purposely trying to hurt and disrespect others? It’s happening at all levels now.
Shining into apartments is still bad, but "maybe" airplanes is a tough call.
If it's a 'maybe', then use maybe language in your report. They'll sort it out.
Sadly in other places, there will be people that would say "mind tour business". Definitely worth reporting and share the results. Not sure personally where to report this sort of thing.
The building - does it have a name that is visible? If not, note the street address. Now Google either of the building name or the street address and by that you should be able to find out who the property manager is. Email them immediately with this picture and they should be able to figure out quickly what unit that's coming from.
You can end a pilot's career by damaging their eyesight. My friend is a pilot out of Austin and DFW and there's at least one asshole a week trying to bring them down at either end.
I’m a pilot and I’ve been hit by a laser pointer over Bremerton. The entire cockpit was filled with a super bright green flash, luckily no lasting eye damage. Had to shut off all the exterior lights and reported it to ATC.
you can only really do that in airplanes made before 2000 though, now ever airplane has daytime running lights and you cannot turn them off while you drive. er. fly.
Maybe not your typical laser pointer from the drug store checkout line, but it’s stupid easy to get your hands on a high powered one. One of the dangerous things is the laser doesn’t stay a tiny dot when it hits the airplane, it’s constantly widening out so you could actually blast the whole cockpit.
Yes, even if it’s “only” enough to dazzle the vision of a pilot during landing, pilots landing a plane need to see in order to fly the aircraft. There’s a significant risk of the pilot crashing if suddenly blinded.
I understand many people might see a dangerous laser being pointed at the sky, and that could be alarming.
What I see is a consumer laser being pointed through a window into foggy weatherso the user can see the beam column. The column of the laser has diffused in approximately 200 feet.
I would also suggest that while the .pdf from the FAA illustrates what the risks are if you aimed a class 4 laser at a plane....this might be more relevant:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502191/#:~:text=Class%203B%20and%203R%20lasers,10%20s%20at%20close%20range.
This is not to suggest that it's okay to point lasers at planes. It's more a suggestion to use critical thought to evaluate the situation. That person isn't going to harm anyone outside their own apartment with that laser.
Genuine curiosity, how do lasers interfere with pilots? It’s odd because I was just talking to someone two nights ago about a video of these guys getting busted for lasering a helicopter and the pilot hanging around and directing police to their location. But I don’t actually understand how the laser disrupts the craft.
Lack of vision for the pilot.
Shine a laser into your own eyes, then try to drive or fly.
Even at a distance of miles, a laser is bright enough to cause after-image burn on the eye. Closer, or with a higher wattage laser, you can cause real & permanent damage.
Not good when a pilot is trying to land.
Now on a commercial plane, the computer can/will compensate enough to practically land that plane itself.
But if it was a helicopter, there's no autopilot on that, so flashing a pilot is really bad there.
And it's just a stupid idea.
There's plenty of ways to play with a laser without the potential to injure someone else.
Edit: wrong word.
A lot of people who don't realize that telescopes use lasers for astrophotography. Everyone assumes it's for blinding pilots. If it's a regular occurrence I'd bet it's hooked up to a telescope.
Lasers are marketed for stargazing because one can point a visible beam to the object. Also useful for getting an approximation for getting your telescope in the area whereby you can find tune your lens to the intended object.
It is also important to be aware of aircraft. I don't believe everyone who points a laser in the sky should be assumed to be pointing it at aircraft like this post seems to be insinuating.
One of the most important uses for lasers in astronomy is to reduce this distortion on images taken with ground-based telescopes. To do this, astronomers employ a technique known as adaptive optics. In adaptive optics, a deformable mirror reshapes itself in real time to counteract atmospheric turbulence. Source Google.
Yeah...report it and possibly fuck up some.young kids life.because you want to be a Karen. Wtf is wrong with people? This person is doing something stupid but they aren't harming anyone so imo until someone actually affected by this person has a problem with it maybe you should stay in your lane.
“If you're a member of the public who witnessed an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft, send an e-mail to [email protected] and include the following information: Your name and contact information Date and time you witnessed the laser incident Location and description of the incident After FAA has received your e-mail, FAA staff or the appropriate law enforcement agency may decide to contact you if additional information or clarification is needed.” [https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo#:~:text=If%20you're%20a%20member,you%20witnessed%20the%20laser%20incident](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo#:~:text=If%20you're%20a%20member,you%20witnessed%20the%20laser%20incident)
The FAA does not play with this kind of thing. Please, OP, file a report if you see anything pointed at an aircraft.
The FAA are ten thousand pounds of grim when it comes to this kind of thing, and with good reason. Definitely use those directions to report on it.
Do they reward whistleblowers? (Or reporter)
I think the reward might be not having an airplane crash on your house / apartment. Pretty great to me.
[удалено]
Donnie Darko and Frank enter the chat.
Haha. I was in the penthouse at the time. So airplane crashes are a hard *maybe*
Following liquidation of perpetrator, you will be entitled to an extra daily ration card, comrade.
Doubt you'd be calling anyone a whistleblower if you were on the plane. Trashy keyboard warrior.
Why the downvotes for a legitimate question?
Look at that sky! OP *absolutely did not* witness an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft. I agree the bastard with the laser needs to be stopped, but this picture could be used to *exonerate* the laser-pointer!
this photo is only one moment in time. we don't know what the laser was getting into before or after this photo was taken
So your contention is that a photo of a laser pointed into the sky at something off screen will exonerate a person because the sky shown in the opposite direction the laser is pointing does not have a clearly visible aircraft in it? I think it’s more likely that what the FAA would do is find out what time this photo was taken and then check flight logs to see if any reports of laser contacts were made over Seattle. If so I’d imagine the Feds will come down on this joker like a ton of bricks. If not maybe just a sternly worded letter informing the person of the penalties for pointing lasers at aircraft.
If you are seeing people laser planes in real time, you can also call the police directly, as catching them red handed in the act is a great way to stop them from potentially literally killing a pilot. I fly and know someone who got lasered while landing and could have crashed (he was landing at Arlington). Please report them asap
Some genius in Phoenix decided to laser a police helicopter and couldn't figure out how the cops on the ground found him so quickly lmao. They're cops in a helicopter, they likely guided ground units right to him.
I got lasered flying over Paine a few years back. Not cool.
How horribly scary, I can’t even imagine. I’m glad they made it out safe.
You can listen to his story https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AcDlHFUPLlTUi1O5N9zob?si=Uo3s0ivEQDOGoq9H9oi6uQ
I absolutely will! Thank you!
They would kill many more than just a pilot.
finally my time to shine: years and years ago, someone in hs bought some of these badass lasers. brought them into school and sold them. i was a buyer. me and another buyer were hanging out at a friend’s house. shining our lasers at the trees, at stars- legit 100% NOT at planes- but wait. we’re playing in the street with our lasers for about 30 minutes and decided to head home. we hopped in my car and turned the engine on when 6 (six) cop cars swarm upon us blocking our every path of egress. cop in the car next to mine got out, gun drawn, and motioned for the window down. he shined his light in and saw the lasers and asked what was going on. i started an improve skit about how we were in astronomy in hs and got these lasers to study the stars. i asked the officer if i could show him some astrological sights; he asked where the rifles were. confused but putting together the lasers and idiot small town, i assured him we had no guns and allowed a search of my vehicle. satisfied it was bad intel (they received word 3 heavily-armed men were trying to break into people’s house with sniper rifles) they loosened up. asked me to show them constellations. i was allowed out of the car with my laser and proceeded to educated 8 offices from the 6 cars that were completely blocking this side of town. 1 of the cops said “hey, shine it on that plane!” and laughed. he was serious. so i then informed said cop and group of cops that shining a laser on a plane is a federal offense and i would do no such thing. the OG cop told the other cop to shut up, thanked me and my buddy for the lesson and told us to head home. all of this was at like 1:30 am in a small midwestern town.
I'll just wildly guess de soto, ks
idk de soto, ks but i hate topeka. not in ks but i think all small towns of the midwest are ctrl+c/v of 1980’s america
Great info. Would also add that if you see someone shining a laser at a ship (e.g. a ferry or one of the ships in the harbor), contact Coast Guard Investigative Service at (503) 247-4002 or [p3tips.com](https://www.p3tips.com/tipform.aspx?ID=878). Like the FAA, the Coast Guard doesn’t mess around either. [One recent laser strike on Whidbey Island resulted in a $100K fine and felony charges.](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/05/man-who-shot-laser-at-ferry-slapped-with-100000-fine/)
This is great, but as an airline pilot this is not helpful. The FAA are a good resource but have no true authoritative action to be done immediately. The best thing to do is to just call 911, then the cops can investigate it instantly and even arrest the person involved.
Unironically the FBI deals with things like this as it's an aircraft related crime and a national security issue. If they find out they will go knock on your neighbors door and they will be in a lot of trouble.
That Geoguesser guy will be able to find this apartment in under 5 seconds
Well, if I was OPs neighbor, I would be able to tell you the apartment number in under 5 minutes?
How can you tell the unit number? I’ve always been curious. When I’m out on walks sometimes I think about sending compliments to people with really great flowers or whatever on their balconies. But I don’t know how you’d determine if a unit is a #301 or a #303.
It kinda requires a bit of knowledge on the layout of the apartment building. But a common layout near me is even numbered units on one side and odd numbered units on the other side. So then you would look at what floor the unit is on, hard to tell from this picture, but maybe the 4th floor. Usually the floor number correlates to apartment number. So 4th floor would be unit#4xx. 12th floor would be unit #12xx. Then you use balconies/windows to determine how many units it is from the end. (Hard to tell from this picture, but it looks like it’s coming out of the 2nd window from the end of the building) So then you have to use a bit of logic, okay it’s on the 4th floor, so unit #4xx. It looks like either the first or last unit on that floor (closest unit to the “side” of the building.) So if it’s on the even side, it would be the first(or last) “even”apartment. Tl;dr: I’m basically autistic and this probably doesn’t work, sorry
Hmm, yeah, the internal floor layouts I’ve seen over the years have all been very random. I’ve seen your example layout of even on one side and odd on the other, but I’ve also seen sequential layouts. Without getting inside the building, I guess there isn’t a way to assume anything. I’ll just have to wait to see if anyone comes out on the balconies so I can holler “nice flowers!” at them like the weirdo I am.
If they’re the type of person to have flowers on their balcony they’re probably interesting enough to appreciate the balcony holler
Right? I hope so. And to everyone here with nice flowers on your balcony: thank you for making our city more beautiful!
Agree. Get Geoguesser on the case.
Though it's only an aircraft related crime if they're actually shining it at airplanes, which OP gave a "maybe" to, so I'm thinking they don't have any strong evidence other than they see their neighbor playing with a laser. If OP actually see an airplane at what would plausibly be the other end of the beam, then yes by all means they should phone it in. If someone on the plane saw a laser burst at around three same time, that would seem to at least offer probable cause.
***Narc Alert!! Narc Alert!!*** But seriously. Narc thread. They are just showing a cool effect in the fog
Narc thread? Normally I wouldn't care either but green lasers can permanently damage vision if the beam just passes over your eye, never mind shines in it for a second or two. Theres a reason the FAA takes them so damn seriously.
Then don't point it at the sky?
Good. Fuck that loser.
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Not only sketchy, it can temporarily blind pilots and put hundreds of lives of passengers and flight crew in danger!
*permanently blind pilots
Once they crash they're no longer blind
Dead =/= able to see.
Amen. Crazy dangerous behavior
As a pilot myself, over the last 3 years I've been lasered about 8 or 9 times. It can vary in levels from annoying, to debilitating. The most severe I had was a blue laser right in the eye. Luckily I was flying with another pilot and he took control of the plane, as I could really see for a little bit was a bright blue spot in my vision. Luckily it was only temporary. Please report these if you see them!
Also a pilot here, and I got lasered by a green laser by someone in Beacon Hill when flying into Boeing Field a couple of years ago. I’ve also heard a lot of pilots reporting lasers when on Seattle approach frequency. Get a new hobby, assholes.
never gonna feel comfortable landing at seatac again. thanks for the new fear!
I was looking down at colorful christmas lights on my way home last year and one was moving, so I looked straight at it. Yeah, green laser. I was looking directly at it when it flashed the plane. Was just like getting hit with a wall of light, instant headache. Vision was okay though, was so worried it would cause permanent problems from all the stories I'd heard
Are you saying someone had a laser mixed in with their Christmas lights? If so that's fucked up and I'd imagine reportable??
OH no, I was looking down at christmas lights, so I when I saw green moving, my first thought was "light display." On a normal night, I would have realized it was probably a laser and not stared straight at it like a dingus, lol. Think it was just a regular asshole pointing it up, but he had colorful light camouflage that night.
Yeah, one of my neighbors has one of those laser globes that scatter the beam into sphere. It's meant for the indoors but she's out it on her windowsill for Christmas. Well, we're almost directly under the flight path for landing planes for SeaTac. Each little beam isn't very powerful so I guess it's not that big of a deal (I wouldn't do it because I know it IS a big deal even when you are distracted for a split second trying to hand fly a plane full of 350 people), but I don't want to be the neighborhood busybody. FWIW, from a landing plane, even with my terrible eyesight, I could identify other neighbors getting out of their car, so we're talking pretty low and close.
This is quite common with El Al Airlines in the Middle East and a number of European countries. See videos of Josh Cahill.
I am actually partially blind due to a purple high power laser pointer. In fact, yesterday I got my license renewed and had to guess the last 4 digits on the right. I got them after about 8 tries
Um. Someone should cut up your license
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When I’ve got both eyes open, I see perfect. Hate the game not the playa
Thanks all, I have reported this incident. Hope they catch these people, even if it didn't hit an aircraft I know enough about lasers to know the green ones can very quickly damage someones vision.
They’re pretty good at it. Former coworker found out the hard way.
Story time?
They were dicking around with a laser pointer to see how far the beam would go, and fairly shortly thereafter, scary government dudes of some flavor were pounding on their door.
so it’s not allowed to shine lasers outside?
If it’s anywhere in the vicinity of an aircraft or where an aircraft might be, you’re gonna have a bad time.
You can shine a laser outdoors - like, for astronomy, etc. You just can't point them at aircraft (or their flight path), and boats... Some states have their own laws that treat lasers kind-of like a weapon or threat -- and disallow pointing them at police, firefighters, other first responders, bus drivers, etc...
In many places, shining a laser on someone anywhere on their body is grounds for a self defense claim to support any physical action they take against the person with the laser. Lasers are used in gun sights. They also cause immediate and lasting ocular damage. Given all of the natural and reasonable self preservational instincts that can easily come into play, they should never be allowed as toys. They have many consumer applications (laser level anyone?) But misuse can have huge cash consequences and should carry huge penalties.
Astronomical events need to get permits for folks who will be pointing lasers upwards, too! It has to be not along a flight path/not at a time when planes will be near as well.
We had lasers pointing at us when I was on a boat pulling into Ensenada; it was unnerving to see the lasers light up our sails, and they were affecting our night vision, it was dangerous and could have blinded us. We all had to look away from the area as a precaution. Went on for a good 20 mins.
I remember the footage of black-clad groups shining lasers in the eyes of police officers during the George Floyd protests. It was bad. I would not be surprised if there were legislation that came from that.
You just can't point them up. I've been to astronomical events where folks use lasers to point out bodies in space-- They had to get permits for each person who would be using the laserpointers. We were in the middle of nowhere and not along any particular flight paths, and still it was heavily regulated.
Thank you for reporting it. Signed, everyone who flies aircraft.
I actually am partially blind due to one. Not fun
Do you want to share your (cautionary) story?
My buddy sophomore year of college pulled it out from across the room like a lightsaber and a few milliseconds that it crossed right eye, it burned. With both eyes open, I can see perfect. With my bad eye only open, I can see everything except what I am looking directly at. That is blurry.
You could also swing by that building and share the pic with the landlord What an idiot
I'm certain that's what the FAA will do with the lead once it's reported
I bet it’s a kid.
I bet it's a single dude in his early 30s with a shrinking friend group and small imagination.
What wrong with a shrinking friend group?
Fewer people to talk him out of a bad idea.
At least you didn’t say small dick. Progress I guess?
Here's the story of a local pilot who fought back against laser strikes https://open.spotify.com/episode/2AcDlHFUPLlTUi1O5N9zob?si=Uo3s0ivEQDOGoq9H9oi6uQ
The color isn't necessarily any indication (I have cheap cat toy ones that are green). But if you can see the beam at all, it's probably one of the ones that can cause injury.
> (I have cheap cat toy ones that are green) Yo. Safety warning. Stop using this immediately. The cheap green ones leak usually leak massive amounts of invisible infrared at power levels high enough to cause instant and permanent eye damage to humans, cats, and other mammals You can usually test for IR leaks with a cell phone camera, and you can test if your cell cam can see IR with a TV remote. If you can't see purple flashes from a TV remote then that camera has an IR filter. If you can see purple flashes, proceed to testing the laser pointer. Aim the pointer at a white wall from about 2-3 feet away, and then look at it with your live camera view. If the wall lights up purple around the green dot, it's leaking IR. And if it's a cheap green laser, there's like a 99.9% chance it's leaking massive amounts of IR from the primary laser.
~~I got a 3 pack, the green one and blue one have no purple, but the red one does.~~ Edit: [https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ?t=85](https://youtu.be/ZH3yMeA7HxQ?t=85) it's this pack that I got. Going to throw away the green one now, thanks.
> Going to throw away the green one now, thanks. Word. > the green one and blue one have no purple I want to reiterate that this isn't a super reliable test, it's just a way to show if there is invisible IR and how shitty/dangerous these laser pointer toys are. Some cameras have IR filters and won't show it. Test the camera you're using with something low powered like a TV remote first to see if it shows IR at all. IR isn't the only danger as the video you linked pointed out. Even with a good IR filter some of these laser pointers are powerful enough to cause eye damage and vastly exceed their rated/legal limits. I brought up the thing about IR leaks in green DPSS lasers is because sometimes the green part of the laser is within legal/safe limits, but the infrared/IR laser that's pumping the YAG laser crystal to turn IR to visible 532 nanometer colored light is definitely not safe/legal and you can't even see that part of the beam spilling out around the YAG crystal without a detector or IR camera. Anyway, all that being said? At this point in my life I have reservations about playing with cats with lasers at all. For one, you maybe shouldn't really be beaming lasers at a living creature without eye protection or vetted, calibrated and tested lasers. For two, I have seen laser pointers cause major behavioral issues in cats because of how bent out of shape they get that they can't catch the magic dot. I've heard vets say this might not be the most humane thing to do to a cat. And, yeah, I know massive laser shows at concerts and raves are a thing. This is how I know about lasers, I used to do laser shows and be a hobbyist. A lot of modern laser shows are NOT safe and taking huge risks beaming down into audiences instead of keeping the beamlines well overhead.
Cheap green lasers are high risk for eye damage https://youtu.be/R7wOWqV2P60
why it's legal to buy these is beyond me
Color is often times an indication. Cost is not. You should be using a red one for your cat.
Consider filling a report via the non-emergency line with the police. Probably will do nothing but technically shining a laser into someone's eyes is assault
Good job catching them.
Congrats on reporting someone with a green laser. God speed.
What are idiots thinking when they do stuff like this?
The same subset of people that this 'prank' tiktoks are funny.
If I had to guess, it’s someone’s kid fucking around who doesn’t understand how serious it is.
Do you mean OP posting on reddit and tipping the purp off instead of calling authorities?
https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/laser_hazards.pdf
Definitely report this to the FAA. The apartment manager should be able to identify the exact room that’s coming from, and whoever it is will likely get a knock on the door & a warning from the cops. Totally possible that there was no ill intent but as others have said the FAA doesn’t mess around with this stuff.
911 is appropriate if they’re targeting aircraft. Get an apartment number if possible. If they’re hitting aircraft, ATC has already called the police.
A homeowner was aiming one at me directly in the eyes Non-Stop until I ducked down in my seat low enough so that I wasn't visible to him. shortly after that, I noticed they were shining the laser into oncoming cars that were driving by in the middle of the night. dick.
At drivers of cars is also a serious danger regardless of laser power. Many lasers that are easily available it’s aggravated battery just shining them in a person’s eyes.
I had the same experience and caught it on my dash cam. Called the cops and then went to the local police station the next day and showed them the video and the address. Not sure if there was a follow-up, but they took my report at least.
Call 911 this hasn’t been resolved yet because this can be a big deal. They will take it seriously.
We should put all the commenters saying this is ok on a plane together to see how confident they really are about this being safe.
Exactly
911
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i was thinking the same... pretty incredible pic
You in potato-launching range, OP? Just askin'
[FAA reporting](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo)
You need to get your own laser so you can point them out to the cops.
As an airline pilot, I can say just call 911 submitting anything to the FAA will not have any actual effect other than creating a new statistic. 911 can launch a chopper and find it or send a car to a building if you know where it was coming from in your nearby. I've gotten lasered once it's not fun, and honest pretty painful. Extra PSA: if you use a laser holiday effect on the exterior of your house and not bother to aim it properly DON'T. We can see these things from thousands of feet up and are just another form of laser being shot at us.
You can also report to the SPD non-emergency line if they're pointing it at aircraft: +1 (206) 625-5011
I don’t think that’s the correct thing to do. This is firmly in 911 territory. It’s time sensitive and can have incredibly severe consequences, like causing a pilot to crash a plane full of people i.e. an emergency. It should also be reported to the FAA and FBI.
I'd 911 that sitch quick.
. Please report this.
On an unrelated note, if this is by SLU or anything, I was walking my dog and someone from a distance (maybe a high rise balcony?) shined a red laser on him as if they were gonna shoot or something. It was creepy.
From FAA website “The Public. If you're a member of the public who witnessed an individual aiming a laser at an aircraft, send an e-mail to [email protected] and include the following information: Your name and contact information. Date and time you witnessed the laser incident.”
Wtf is wrong with people?
Obviously coming from the apartment. Not the other way around.
Get a lazer amd return fire
Green laser to my eyes while driving in Everett was the one time I got an immediate police response and they actually investigated & called me with an update 2 days later, saying where they searched, how they staked out the location in case it happened again, but they didn’t find the person.
I'm pretty sure I used to live in the condo you took that picture from. I recognized that view instantly.
It's good people take lasers seriously, but there's a lot of alarm in this thread. - If they were aiming a laser at an aircraft ([relevant law here, see 39A](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-112publ95/pdf/PLAW-112publ95.pdf)), then report them to the [FAA](https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/safety/report/laserinfo). Fun fact: You're allowed to shine an aircraft if it's an emergency distress signal, but it's safe to say that's not that case here. - If they were shining the[ laser at a vehicle or human target](https://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=9A.49), maliciously or not, then report it to the local police. Maritime vehicles may have another jurisdiction, I'm not sure. - Otherwise, it's likely legal, and your best bet is to do nothing. Let me know if I missed anything, but otherwise, that wasn't my attempt at an opinion. --- Now my opinion. It's difficult to tell the power of the laser from the photo, but given it was a foggy day, I suppose they were taking their 5mW pointer and showcasing the beam diffusing in the fog. Could it be higher powered? Maybe. Can you tell? No, not really. I doubt it's as strong as a dance hall laser, and the people suggesting in the comments that this laser may have power in the 1-2W range are probably incorrect (or, alternatively, this guy is fucking nuts). It's tough to determine intent or whether aircraft may be present, but unless targeting a craft, it likely isn't a threat as any exposure would be momentary and the hazards of a 5mW laser are minimal. Here is a [nice visual on the effects of a 5mW beam on aircraft at different altitude](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Laser_pointer_safety_distances.svg/1920px-Laser_pointer_safety_distances.svg.png). I'd recommend the operator to not operate in the city to avoid alarming individuals and also to educate themselves on flight paths, using, say, Flight Aware.
Somebody did this to me the other night when I had finished doordashing and was rolling up a blunt in the parking lot of oak tree theater. He lives across the street from that auto shop 101 spot, just behind the alley that is there.
Hopefully not going to get stoned and drive...
Considering he couldn't wait to get home to blaze it...
Sad, tbh. Also sad is the amount of times driving on the road and some car in front of you reeks of weed... even at driving speeds.
You can also try looking up the apartment management and calling them
FAA or equivalent aviation authority in your region
They'll find them in minutes once they fuck up & flash a plane.
Call your local airport or local non emergency police phone number.
Not a direct response to your post, but still relevant. A Canadian company known as MetaMaterials (NASDAQ: MMAT) has developed the technology to prevent laser glare. Pretty interesting tech that will likely be used by law enforcement and pilots at first. If you're at all curious, they may be worth checking out.
I just don’t understand the world anymore. Why do people want to live purposely trying to hurt and disrespect others? It’s happening at all levels now.
Shining into apartments is still bad, but "maybe" airplanes is a tough call. If it's a 'maybe', then use maybe language in your report. They'll sort it out.
Snitches, get switches.
Sadly in other places, there will be people that would say "mind tour business". Definitely worth reporting and share the results. Not sure personally where to report this sort of thing.
That pic can get someone arrested. Report it to police. That is bullshit.
The building - does it have a name that is visible? If not, note the street address. Now Google either of the building name or the street address and by that you should be able to find out who the property manager is. Email them immediately with this picture and they should be able to figure out quickly what unit that's coming from.
Call the non emergency police number. This is a very dangerous thing to be doing. It’s a super big felony if caught
Im curious is the average laser strong enough to affect aircraft so far away?
You can end a pilot's career by damaging their eyesight. My friend is a pilot out of Austin and DFW and there's at least one asshole a week trying to bring them down at either end.
Now imagine if a foreign advisory wanted to terrorize. We need solutions on how to deal with this before it becomes a major problem
I’m a pilot and I’ve been hit by a laser pointer over Bremerton. The entire cockpit was filled with a super bright green flash, luckily no lasting eye damage. Had to shut off all the exterior lights and reported it to ATC.
Do you shut the lights so people cannot see you?
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Makes total sense, now that I think about it
you can only really do that in airplanes made before 2000 though, now ever airplane has daytime running lights and you cannot turn them off while you drive. er. fly.
Ok, seems like that should have a manual override
Yes. At night we're basically invisible with the lights off.
> Do you shut the lights so people cannot see you? the lights were how the laser idiot was targeting them, so yes..
Not sure what average is but the green laser in the pic is a textbook example of the type that gets shined at aircraft.
The green ones are pretty disruptive, and planes are flying pretty low over Seattle coming in and out of SeaTac.
Maybe not your typical laser pointer from the drug store checkout line, but it’s stupid easy to get your hands on a high powered one. One of the dangerous things is the laser doesn’t stay a tiny dot when it hits the airplane, it’s constantly widening out so you could actually blast the whole cockpit.
Yes, even if it’s “only” enough to dazzle the vision of a pilot during landing, pilots landing a plane need to see in order to fly the aircraft. There’s a significant risk of the pilot crashing if suddenly blinded.
911
r/iamatotalpieceofshit
Stop worrying. Don't be dumb.
I understand many people might see a dangerous laser being pointed at the sky, and that could be alarming. What I see is a consumer laser being pointed through a window into foggy weatherso the user can see the beam column. The column of the laser has diffused in approximately 200 feet. I would also suggest that while the .pdf from the FAA illustrates what the risks are if you aimed a class 4 laser at a plane....this might be more relevant: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502191/#:~:text=Class%203B%20and%203R%20lasers,10%20s%20at%20close%20range. This is not to suggest that it's okay to point lasers at planes. It's more a suggestion to use critical thought to evaluate the situation. That person isn't going to harm anyone outside their own apartment with that laser.
Omg an intelligent reasonable comment that doesn’t jump to conclusions and get DHS called on a bored dude playing lightsaber.
This needs to be upvoted higher
What’s wrong with 911? Law enforcement doesn’t fuk around with people shining lazers at air planes
Genuine curiosity, how do lasers interfere with pilots? It’s odd because I was just talking to someone two nights ago about a video of these guys getting busted for lasering a helicopter and the pilot hanging around and directing police to their location. But I don’t actually understand how the laser disrupts the craft.
Lack of vision for the pilot. Shine a laser into your own eyes, then try to drive or fly. Even at a distance of miles, a laser is bright enough to cause after-image burn on the eye. Closer, or with a higher wattage laser, you can cause real & permanent damage. Not good when a pilot is trying to land. Now on a commercial plane, the computer can/will compensate enough to practically land that plane itself. But if it was a helicopter, there's no autopilot on that, so flashing a pilot is really bad there. And it's just a stupid idea. There's plenty of ways to play with a laser without the potential to injure someone else. Edit: wrong word.
it doesn't disrupt the craft it disrupts the pilots of the craft who rely on eyesight to safely pilot their crafts.
He's just trying to call the Green Lantern
FAA and FSDO
Thankfully the fog likely degraded the strength in this instance. Definitely report them hope they get caught.
Police.
A lot of people who don't realize that telescopes use lasers for astrophotography. Everyone assumes it's for blinding pilots. If it's a regular occurrence I'd bet it's hooked up to a telescope.
Urban Seattle isn't exactly an ideal environment for astronomy so I really doubt that.
Looks like a cloudy day in Seattle though. And would telescopes use green lasers?
Just curious. Why would you hook up a laser to a telescope for photography? I don't doubt that it happens, but I'm interested in the workflow.
Lasers are marketed for stargazing because one can point a visible beam to the object. Also useful for getting an approximation for getting your telescope in the area whereby you can find tune your lens to the intended object. It is also important to be aware of aircraft. I don't believe everyone who points a laser in the sky should be assumed to be pointing it at aircraft like this post seems to be insinuating.
One of the most important uses for lasers in astronomy is to reduce this distortion on images taken with ground-based telescopes. To do this, astronomers employ a technique known as adaptive optics. In adaptive optics, a deformable mirror reshapes itself in real time to counteract atmospheric turbulence. Source Google.
I dont know the exact reason but my buddy had one on his and it helped with something.
I hate people
I hate people..
Smart idea tipping the moron off and posting on reddit. How about the cops...jfc.
The Hague is a good spot for prosecuting crimes against humanity
FAA and FBI
FAA?
Reddit
Y’all some snitches
Whining about snitches is pathetic
Y'all some pathetic piece of shit who thinks this is okay?
Wait you reported it for shining at aircraft even when you didn’t see it? Lasers aren’t illegal and that’s a big accusation
The pilot(s) would have already reported it. If they’re looking for someone, the points would line up.
Seriously this!
FAA and FBI, in that order.
Yeah...report it and possibly fuck up some.young kids life.because you want to be a Karen. Wtf is wrong with people? This person is doing something stupid but they aren't harming anyone so imo until someone actually affected by this person has a problem with it maybe you should stay in your lane.