Back in 2004, some fool back east decided that it would be a good idea to use one to point out a commercial aircraft from his backyard. What people don’t realize is that if you can see the beam, so can every body else. The pilot dutifully notifed the tower that he was getting lit up, passing on the location. A little while later, the idiot was getting aquainted with his new roomie in the house of many bars.

Which is why when I’m playing with any of my visible spectrum toys (532nm in 5mW, 10mW, 25mW and 60mW flavors, 405nm at 50mW and 635nm at 50mW) outside at night, I make darn sure that they are not pointed anywhere near an aircraft.

Colorado fans also put batteries in marshmellows and throw them at opponents, in and out of the stands. You don’t want to be a visiting band at CU…

Ouch. We just throw beer.

What I linked was clearly a high school football field dimensions, not a NCAA standard football field.

olympian2008 on November 19, 2008 at 2:38 PM

Hmmm… that sounds vaguely familiar…

Football coach Dan Hawkins has his call-in radio show tonight on 850am KOA and it will be interesting to see if he is asked about this.

I agree, plus these two:

powerful

powerlink

Glad to see another Poke onboard!

OhEssYouCowboys on November 19, 2008 at 12:59 PM

I like your theory! I would also like to include Jenny Carlson as a possible suspect!

He was ejected from the stadium.

Here’s a link that graphically shows all dimensions in feet for a high school football field. It *CLEARLY* shows 160 feet from sideline to sideline, not from stand to stand.

For those of you in the OKC area, the laser was pointed into the CU stands, where James Hale was sitting, thus allowing said laser to careen off of his dome, into the eyes of Zac Robinson.

These facts are undisputed.

That would be about right. A 5 mW laser easily has the range to do that, and unlike more-powerful green lasers, it is not necessarily visible in mid-air.

That is why laser pointers are banned from professional sports stadiums (can’t speak to college ones). Of course, given that it’s the size and shape of a pen, good luck in stopping the contraband.

steveegg on November 19, 2008 at 12:17 PM

Bingo.

And for those of you who might disbelieve, check out the action shots on that laser pointer I linked. Specifically THIS one. That is easily as far as a football stadium, and you can see how far the light beam is going.

I believe it is a criminal act, according to the CFR which governs lasers, to deliberately try to or accidently blind someone with any laser. Even our “dreaded baby Killing” military doesn’t use lasers to blind the enemy. Kill them maybe, but not blind them.

THIS is what the jerk was using. A common green laser pointer. Green laser light goes much further than red light, and is much brighter, due to the light wavelength.

wearyman on November 19, 2008 at 12:09 PM

That would be about right. A 5 mW laser easily has the range to do that, and unlike more-powerful green lasers, it is not necessarily visible in mid-air.

That is why laser pointers are banned from professional sports stadiums (can’t speak to college ones). Of course, given that it’s the size and shape of a pen, good luck in stopping the contraband.

THIS is what the jerk was using. A common green laser pointer. Green laser light goes much further than red light, and is much brighter, due to the light wavelength.