On 12 Jan 2005 22:18:35 -0800, wrote in
. com::

Should we blame the press for pushing these unstable folks over the
edge?

It would appear that the press may not be required to do any pushing:


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...aircraft_x.htm
Posted 1/11/2005 8:21 PM Updated 1/12/2005 2:29 PM

More reports of lasers being shot into airplane cockpits
WASHINGTON (AP) — Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said
Wednesday there have been 400 reports of lasers being beamed at
airplanes since 1990 and the Federal Aviation Administration will now
require pilots to immediately report such incidents to air traffic
controllers, who will be required to notify law enforcement officials.

The lasers can temporarily blind pilots. A cluster of incidents
received wide attention between Christmas and New Year's Day.
Authorities believe copycats who have heard news reports about the
lasers apparently have been involved in some of the more recent
incidents.

Mineta said in a news conference at the FAA's aeronautical research
center in Oklahoma City that 31 of these incidents have been reported
since Dec. 31, including one Tuesday night in Phoenix, Ariz. Nobody
was arrested in that incident, which involved a Southwest flight. The
new reporting requirements take effect Jan. 19.

....

The FBI and Homeland Security Department sent a memo to law
enforcement agencies in November saying they had evidence terrorists
have explored using lasers as weapons.

An FAA report released in June found that even the lowest-intensity
lasers temporarily impaired the vision of most of 34 pilots who were
studied in a flight simulator.