Has your coach been used for target practice?

[NotSoFast]

Dear Fellow Class A Owners, During this summers travels in the west I was confounded by a mark which I found on my drivers side window. At first I thought it was some kind of scuff but under close inspection it appears to be the result of having been hit with a rather powerful laser. While this sounds far fetched, the resultant damage has all the telling traits of such an impact. The mark is actually two separate sets of marks. One being on the outside of the glass and the other being an almost exact duplicate pattern on the inside of the glass. It also has the stippled type of spot pattern which laser produce due to its coherent nature. As I cleaned my glass before leaving on each days journey I can fix this damage as having happened somewhere around the Utah and Arizona border. Having had many years of experience in lasers in industry and in school I thought it might initially have been some individual who obtained a system out of an old cutting system, however the pattern was too regular and well formed and powerful enough to etch both sides of my window.

I sent pictures of the damage to a friend who was involved in air combat missions and he sent me back a technical ad showing a new laser targeting system used by the military. Below is the link to the site he thought fit the description.

https://www.raytheon.com/news/feature/high_energy_laser

Now here is the wild part of the story. While visiting Newell this past month for service, I was speaking with one of the men who moves coaches around the country for Newell and discussed the event. He mentioned that he had something similar happen to him only he was confounded by its cause and thought he might have somehow caused the damage. I showed him my damage and he thought his was of the same type.  Upon inspection of the various coaches which were presently at the factory a total of 9 coaches have been found to have damage I believe were laser caused. The service department also discussed having to repair additional coaches for damage to there paint which seemed to be of the same nature.

Many of the coaches were in the same area as mine during there travels (Arizona/Utah border) and it would be a reasonable conclusion that during training missions the pilots are looking for moving targets to practice on, and well, a Newell is allot bigger target then a Prius. Also most of the damage is done mid location on side windows. Which from the air would be an easy area to target as they are seen as a distinct area to aim for and these systems are very accurate. Some of the impacts are actually a series of spots that are spread out over 2 or 3 feet showing the pulsed nature of the beam.

I would like to get information from anyone else on the forum who thinks they may have also suffered similar damage. If you have pictures and remember where and when it happened it would be useful. I will post as many pictures as I can on the thread. My intention is to file a formal complaint with the Dod and have this practice stopped. In my case the beam striking my drivers side window passed within 3 or 4 inches of my face.

Regards,

Mike

[manholt]

Notsofast Mike. Welcome to the Forum! 

Since Prevost, Foretravel and several other high end coach's, at 45+ feet are driving in that area. I wonder why this is the first, I have heard of it?  Per most of the photos, it can't be deadly & driving thru hail would leave the same pattern!

[elkhartjim]

Rogue pilots?

[rsbilledwards]

No Carl hail would not do that, particularly considering it is on the inside as well. The glass is not broken and for hail to have had an effect inside it would have broken the glass. 

[kaypsmith]

Have you been near Lincoln Co., Nevada? Strange things seem to happen near area 51. Sorry for your misfortune, I sincerely hope that you find a solution.

[manholt]

rsbilledwards.  We only have the OP's word for it being inside.  All photos are from outside!

Kay.  I think your onto something!  Area 49 is in the Utah/AZ corridor.

[elkhartjim]

Maybe its simply a financial situation. Think how much money the DOD can save by targeting expensive motorhomes rather than a military drone. 

[rsbilledwards]

look again Carl. There are pics from outside looking in and inside looking out. Never the less strange

[manholt]

I sent out 2 mails, both Newell owners who service their coach in Miami, OK.  2014 & 2016.  We shall see what they come up with.  

[elkhartjim]

Carl, the OP stated that during his visit "this past month" there were 9 other coaches there with similar damage. I would think this would be major news in the rving industry.

[richard5933]

Could the damage not be from the DOD but from someone who bought one of the high-powered LASER pointers available overseas? An acquaintance travels to China frequently, and reports that at one time it was possible to purchase a small blue-light LASER pointer that was strong enough to light objects on fire from a distance. These devices would possibly be able to cause damage like this. There are news reports of planes being forced to land due to LASER pointer incidents.

I've got a LASER engraver, and the marks it makes on glass look like what's in the photos. There is a kiosk in the local mall that sells glass blocks with 3D images inside which have been etched from the inside out by two intersecting LASER beams.

I don't doubt that the damage was done by a LASER. Who caused the damage is the big mystery to me.

Was a police report ever filed about this? The Federal agencies have actually had success located and arresting people in the airplane incidents, so if the authorities were not notified they should be.

[manholt]

There are 4 roads leading into AZ from UT. and that includes I-15.  Why would a Newell delivery driver be on any off them?  Closest to White Sands, is hwy. 191, south of Hollbrock on I-40.  9 Newell's + the OP's and several other reports, per Newell Tech!  Why not Prevost or Tour Buses?  Why not tell us witch hwy he was on?