I'll agree that firing lasers at aircraft is dangerous ... for the pilot, and anyone in that aircraft's vicinity since it needs its pilot to fly properly. Makes total sense.

But ... it's hard to square that with articles like this one:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-23178484

Look at those pictures. Wow. Then you find out why the crowd was using the lasers ...

During the protests in Egypt, there came a point where there would be tens of thousands of people crowded into Tahrir Square, with military helicopters buzzing overhead.

Those helicopters would look like a rave party, thanks to darn near everybody in the crowd below firing lasers at them.

Initially journalists assumed it was to mess with the pilots, but after speaking to people on the ground the reporters discovered the protesters were very happy with the Army for trying to prevent Morsi's replacement from overstepping his authority.

That's right, they were firing lasers at the helicopters as a sign of solidarity, because they liked the pilots, and wanted to encourage them.

Given the topic of this thread, that activity seems utterly ridiculous (and, of course, dangerous). But I remember reading interviews with some of the pilots, and they didn't seem to mind.

Like I said, I figure firing lasers at pilots is not just a harmless prank ... but articles like that one sure cause a lot of cognitive dissonance with that perception.