LYON (69) 06.08.2015

On 6 August 2015 between 00:15 and 00:20, a witness watching television was startled when a very powerful green beam suddenly entered his apartment and moved across the walls for a few seconds. He ruled out a laser because he was on the 4th floor with no building directly opposite. No other account was collected. GEIPAN considers a bright green spot moving rapidly and randomly characteristic of a powerful handheld green laser operated by a prankster. Such a laser can reach several kilometres. At long range, a movement of the operator’s hand through only a few degrees shifts the spot a considerable distance more than 1 km away. The source states that this type of laser is prohibited from sale in France but nevertheless widespread, and that users face severe penalties for aiming at aircraft in flight. GEIPAN lacks the means to locate the operators. The case is classified B: probable observation of a manually operated green laser spot from a considerable distance.