Truck drivers and a deputy sheriff in Alameda County, California, would like to know who's been shooting lasers at them.

Since May, truckers have reported being illuminated by a dazzling red light while driving in the vicinity of Altamont Pass Road. Early in July, Deputy Sheriff Richard Frish was on patrol in that area when a truck driver flagged him down for help at 2 a.m. The trucker told Deputy Frish a beam of light hit his vehicle. It seemed to come from the nearby railroad trestle on Altamont Pass Road.

Frish drove to the trestle, using his patrol car's spotlight to probe the dark bridge above him. A hundred yards from the trestle Frish saw a bright red glow come at him "from above," felt heat on his left cheek and in his left eye. The red glow went brilliantly white and the deputy lost his vision.

Pulling over to the shoulder, Frish summoned help. He was treated at a local hospital and released.

Lt. Dave Hoig of the Alameda Sheriff's Department doesn't see anything funny about people running around at night shining lasers at vehicle operators, especially when they're from his department. "It's pretty clear someone is out there playing games, or doesn't understand the ramifications of what they're doing."

Hoig dismissed theories that the laser beams were coming from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory -- the lab is too far away. Nor does he think the folks at Camp Parks marine base are involved. Lasers are very common devices these days; every supermarket scanner uses one. The blinding effect of even a low wattage laser is enhanced when its used in the dark, and there are commercial and scientific devices around that could account for the harassment of drivers on the lonely county roads late at night.

UFOs have not been linked to the laser "sniper's" activities -- at least, not that the sheriff's office has heard. Anyone with info on the mysterious (and potentially deadly) laser incidents in Alameda County are asked to contact the sheriff's department at (510) 667-3657, or (510) 667-3622.

(c) Copyright 1996 ParaScope, Inc.