[IP] Jasper Green Lasers: useful tool or terrorist weapon?
Title: Jasper Green Lasers: useful tool or terrorist weapon?
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From: "Dr. A. Michael Berman" <amberman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2005 14:46:45 -0800
To: <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: RE: [IP] Jasper Green Lasers: useful tool or terrorist weapon?
New Jersey man admits to pointing laser at aircraft
Last Updated Tue, 04 Jan 2005 15:51:00 EST
NEWARK, N.J. - Federal authorities in the U.S. have charged a New Jersey man who caused a safety scare by pointing lasers at aircraft.
It's the first arrest in connection with a rash of laser-beam incidents involving aircraft in late December. Pilots have reported having lasers directed at them in Colorado Springs, Cleveland, Washington, Houston and Nashville during the Christmas period. All the aircraft landed safely.
Last week, the FBI and U.S. Homeland Security Department sent out a memo warning of terrorist plans to use lasers as weapons, but not necessarily in the United States.
David Banach, 38, was arrested New Year's Eve after a police helicopter spotted him playing with the laser on his back porch near Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. He is expected to appear in court Tuesday afternoon. Banach's lawyer says her client is not a terrorist and has no ties to terrorist organizations.
On Dec. 29, pilots preparing to land a chartered jet at Teterboro with 13 people on board reported seeing three green laser beams hit the windshield, blinding the pilot and co-pilot briefly. Two days later, a helicopter in the same area reported it was hit by a beam.
Court documents indicate Banach originally claimed his daughter aimed a laser at the helicopter but later admitted he pointed the light beam at two aircraft, including the helicopter.
Banach faces charges of interfering with the operator of a mass transportation vehicle and making false statements to the FBI.
Written by CBC News Online staff <http://www.cbc.ca/bios.html>
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