Matt BlazePrediction: until this panic dies down, more damage will be done by hyperactive idiots shooting at, laser pointing at, or being distracted by innocuous things in the sky than by any mischief involving actual drones.
Also, let's assume for just a second that their wildest fantasy explanation for some random light in the sky is somehow actually correct: it's a military drone on a secret mission from a hostile country. Exactly how do they expect it to respond when they start shooting at it or shine blinding lasers at it or whatever?
Tito Swineflu@mattblaze Look man, you're just buying in to the coverup. They're flying with their lights on so that we'll think they're legit flights when they're actually Iranian chemtrail dispersers. If we shine green lasers at them, they'll get spooked and turn their lights off, and then the deep state will know they're a threat and send our other top secret alien technology to get them. It's so clear!
nardis_miles@mattblaze
If they aren't visible-blind, it would interfere with reconnaissance. We worry about that for our space assets and, I'm guessing, our reconnaissance drones. However, if this is night reconnaissance, then aiming relatively broadband IR would be more appropriate. Just sayin'.
If they aren't visible-blind, it would interfere with reconnaissance. We worry about that for our space assets and, I'm guessing, our reconnaissance drones. However, if this is night reconnaissance, then aiming relatively broadband IR would be more appropriate. Just sayin'.
Darryl RammI have advocated for this before, but all we need are a few Reaper drones flying mid-level cover to identify and defeat threats using laser pointers or laser weapons. A nice calm rational response. Laser designated (how ironic 🤷♂️) Hellfire missiles will tend to ruin the day (or rather night) of laser pointer using weenies.
C.I too wondered what these idiots were hoping to accomplish.
Pardon my ignorance, but can someone enlighten me on how a plane thousands of meters up and possibly more thousands away in the XY plane can be meaningfully blinded by a laser pointer on the ground?
In many countries, laser pointers available without a permit are limited to 1mW; in the USA, it's 5mW. And laser beams diverge, so the power drops with distance. At a few thousand meters, the beam is going to be at least a significant fraction of a meter across.
Do these low-powered lasers pose a danger to aircraft, or is the problem with people using "illegal" high-powered lasers that don't obey the 5mW limit?
I've read a few pages that describe pilots being dazzled and such, but none of them have an explanation for the power required to do so.
Alexander The 1st@cazabon @mattblaze My understanding is that the glass window of the cockpit ends up refactoring the light back into their eyes.
Like a prism, but for lasers.
Kevin Lyda@mattblaze And in the end New Jersey will still exist. Worst timeline ever.
NosirrahSec 🏴☠️ guillotine enthusiast@mattblaze I live under the flight path into Logan.
These people would shit their pants at everything in the sky 24/7.
@NosirrahSec Right. If you pay attention to the sky, especially near a busy airport or flight path, but even just on a clear night, you'll see a lot of things that you don't understand. Because there's a lot of stuff up there.
David, a Bostonian in Tokyo."Flight path ... lots of things"
Tell me about it. My next door neighbor here in Toko is the Imperial Family Residence, and it used to be illegal to fly over it. But Tokyo's local airport would be way more useful if flights over said family and some of Tokyo's most densly populated areas were allowed. So now they are. And my overhead is now dense of massive CO2 generators. Sheesh.
Hope none of my neighbors are as jumpy as New Jerseyites...
Andy FletcherI've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, ..
Oops, wrong meme :)
mvarioOne of these days one of these yokels is gonna end up shooting down the planet Venus and then the Planetary Council is really gonna be pissed 😡
gz
Ainsley Lowbeer@mattblaze Wait unitl the fireflies come out!
Jon@mattblaze I believe it was David Brin who proposed the "B-2 Lottery" to see just how good its stealth actually was. One would have to fly on a randomly chosen path over the U.S. every night for a month. Anyone who shot one down got a (edit: billion(*)) dollars.
(*) I blame Dr. Evil.
Skand Hurkat@mattblaze They might end up going to jail. Laser strikes are no joke. Here's a story of a GA pilot who experienced a laser strike that could have caused a crash. He tracked down the perpetrator and brought charges. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/may/pilot/proficiency-beating-the-beams