Nashville
Federal agents are investigating several incidents in which laser beams were apparently aimed at jetliners and other aircraft in Tennessee, Ohio, Colorado, Oregon, and New Jersey. The pilots of a United Airlines flight reported seeing a green laser shortly after they took off from Nashville for Chicago. FBI investigators said that lasers could conceivably blind pilots and cause a plane to crash, and Homeland Security officials believe terrorists have considered using lasers. But most of the incidents appear to have been pranks. Police hauled in a New Jersey man, David Banach, for questioning after pilots spotted a green beam coming from his backyard. Banach had been entertaining his 7-year-old daughter with a laser pointer. “They were pointing it at houses, and up at the stars,” his lawyer said. “It’s not terrorist activity.”
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