On top of aging aircraft and conventional terrorism threats, add this to the flying fears of the Russian public: a “dangerous new craze sweeping the country,” reports Al Jazeera, in which young people point high-intensity laser beams into the cockpits of passing aircrafts. Police in Moscow arrested a 24-year-old discovering lasers capable of directing beams – and blinding people – from a distance of 40 km (or 25 miles). Apparently, over 30 cases nationwide in the last few months have led officials to consider longer prison sentences for laser criminals while the government discusses tighter control over the sale of such lasers, which can be had for less than $100.It’s a terrifying “craze,” and it may have the edge of Russian lawlessness, but it’s by no means a Russian phenomenon: between 2009 and the end of 2010, the number of pilots reporting laser attacks almost doubled across the U.S. to 2,800, leading the nation’s largest pilots union to call for laser-free zones.