At 09:46 AM 1/9/99 -0800, Jack Bowling wrote:

>While on training back in Toronto in September 1998, I met an airforce
>chopper pilot who was in the process of being medically discharged for
>retinal burning and scarring, apparently caused by a laser device. He
>had been out in the Pacific on manoeuvers accompanied by "watchdog"
>Soviet vessels. He felt a momentary burning sensation in his left eye
>and his fellow officer with him noticed an intense small red light such
>as is typical of lasers located on the Soviet vessel. Although it
>cannot be proven beyond a doubt, the circumstantial evidence suggests
>that he was "hit" by a laser beam, probably of greater power
>than those readily available as audio-visual aids.

>The risk is there and real, but at what power levels the risk becomes
>appreciable I do not know.

The lasers the Russians have used at times to paint pilots and cause
burn damage to their eyes are not probably of greater power, but certainly
of greater power. They're designed to be a weapon, i.e. to hurt. Laser
pointers aren't.

I'm not saying that they're harmless, simply that you can't compare them
with a military weapon. X-ray machines can hurt you, too, if you subject
yourself to diagnosis too often, but your chance of being hurt by these
x-rays are far less than of being hurt by the x-rays emitted by a nuclear
weapon dropped on your front porch (not that the x-rays are your only
problem in this case, simply sufficient to alone cause your instant
death).


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net