A man in his late 20’s who authorities believe aimed a laser at an airplane and a police helicopter, possibly on multiple occasions, was questioned after being located by an Omaha (Nebraska) Police helicopter. He was released without arrest, though U.S. officials are investigating further.

The incident happened early in the morning of July 11 2012 in the backyard of a home in a suburb northwest of Omaha. As of July 16, no arrest had been made.

A police evidence technician displays the laser pointer that was confiscated from the Omaha man. The Omaha World-Herald reported that the laser emits red light.

A spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said "We're also told he might have been doing this on prior occasions. And on those occasions, it involved planes flying into Eppley [Airfield]. We're going to be investigating those allegations."

From Fox 42 News, KETV 7 and the Omaha World-Herald

UPDATED April 24 2013: Michael A. Smith, 30, was convicted of the July 11 2012 lasing. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22 2013. More is at this LaserPointerSafety.com story.

Tags: US, Nebraska, Omaha, Airplane, Police, Helicopter, Age: 20-29, Color: Red

A Glendale, California police helicopter was illuminated by a red laser beam three times on April 27 2012. The beam was easily traced to two men in a home’s backyard. 18-year-old Dylan Chavez and 20-year-old Jason Phillips were arrested on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft. As of April 30, they were not charged under the new federal anti-laser law signed Feb. 14 by President Obama.

From the La Cañada Valley Sun

Tags: US, California, Glendale, Police, Helicopter, Age: 10-19, Age: 20-29, Color: Red

A man dressed strangely and acting suspiciously demanded to see the pilot of his American Airlines flight, about 15 minutes after takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 16 2012. Passenger Lori Barber said “he was wearing two pairs of glasses, one with a red beam coming out of the lens.” The unidentified man was subdued and the flight continued to its destination, Los Angeles International Airport. He was taken into custody by the FBI after AA flight 2401 landed. American Airlines officials said the man had no weapons.

The nature of the glasses is a mystery. Although a Gizmodo headline said the man wore “laser glasses”, the word “laser” was not used in the original CBS DFW story used as Gizmodo’s source.

A photo (above) taken by Barber shows the man wearing two pairs of glasses. A Google Image search for “laser glasses” and “laser pointer glasses” turned up one type of laser-emitting glasses but these have a different design: thick rims with a silver laser embedded above the nose. An eBay search turned up a similar pair; these do not appear to match either of the man’s glasses.

A search for LED (non-laser) glasses turned up a few with thick temples and a white area near the hinge, such as this pair and this pair, both of which emit a broad beam of white light:

However, LaserPointerSafety.com was unable to find commercially-sold glasses that emit red light and which look like one of the two pairs shown in Barber’s photo.

From CBS DFW and NBC DFW

Tags: US, Dallas, Airplane, Color: Red, FBI, Laser inside aircraft, Photo: Suspect, Photo: Other

A 16-year-old boy was arrested by San Diego police, after two incidents of a red laser being pointed at a police helicopter. The first happened January 18 2012, in the Shelltown neighborhood. Ground officers were not able to find the source of the laser. The same crew was patrolling eight days later, and was illuminated from the same location. This time, a teenager was arrested in a backyard. He was charged with one count of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

From the San Diego Union Tribune and 10News.com

Tags: US, California, San Diego, Police, Helicopter, Age: 10-19, Color: Red

A Pakistan International Airlines Airbus flight was flashed by a red laser beam for more than 15 minutes, while on final approach to Benazir Bhutto Airport on October 20 2011. The pilot told air traffic control he was distracted by the light which came from Mandra, about 25 miles south of the airport in Rawalpindi.

The airport manager said he would contact police, to try to find the person who tracked the aircraft with the laser.

From Dawn.com

Tags: Pakistan, Airplane, Unknown perpetrator, Color: Red

Indian aviation officials have doubts that a mysterious red light, being aimed at aircraft landing at Chennai Airport, is a laser. A spokesperson said it is “impossible to track an aircraft flying at high altitude using laser pointer lights.... Laser is an invisible spectrum and cannot be targeted at aircraft flying at high altitudes”. A press account noted that aircraft are at “over 1,000 feet while coming in to land.” The article also said that planes overseas are often targeted using “green LED lights” but this has not been reported in India.

From the Times of India

Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: The spokesperson does not seem well informed. Lasers can emit visible light; red and green are the most common colors for pointers and handheld lasers. Further, light from a pointer or handheld laser can be visible to pilots at many thousands or even tens of thousands of feet. LED lights have a much broader beam and thus far, there have been no reports of an LED flashlight or device being used to interfere with pilot vision while airborne.

UPDATE, June 26 2011: Two supervisors of a construction site were detained for questioning. Police found that employees used pointers “as a communication tool at the site. The laser beams are pointed at colleagues to call them over instead of using phones or walkie-talkies.” The lasers cost about Rs 500. A local planetarium and the Indian Institution of Technology were cleared, since officials told police they had not used lasers at night. From the Times of India

Tags: India, Chennai, Unknown perpetrator, Color: Red