[abibibo]

With your average presentation style red laser pointer I don't think there's any chance you'd be able to disturb a pilot. The astronomy pointer lasers and similar high powered units are what I understand to be the issue. They still look the same as a regular laser pointer pen, but emit a much more intense beam that remains visible for several miles.

When I played with a unit a friend had, at 200 yards the beam was already ~3' in diameter--so it's not exactly a tiny dot your trying to aim. In addition, you can see the beam as it travels through air, making it much easier to align if you were trying to aim it at something distant.

Edit: For a decent video of these handheld units in action, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAeF_bTF9CM. Units can be acquired relatively cheaply now (sub $100) which probably explains why this is an increasing trend.

[barrkel]

Were you at the other end of that 200 yard beam? I remember playing with presentation lasers when I was a teenager. At night, you could light up the side of a building, visibly, from over a kilometer away. The divergence factor is certainly substantial - this makes it easier to hit a plane from distance - but it's still very bright. I remember thinking that they would make useful point-to-point morse code transmitters at night, because the "dot" is highly visible at the other end of the beam, even over substantial distances.

But I'd certainly agree that the astronomy lasers are a far bigger threat, the presentation lasers are more likely to be just a minor nuisance over any kind of range.