I'm Chris Chappell.

Remember when laser weapons were the domain

of stormtroopers and Death Stars?

Well, the future of military-grade lasers has arrived

and it's...a little scary.

In a test,

this laser weapon developed for the US military

shot down five drones.

And check out this one:

a Tactical High Energy Laser code named THEL.

It can track, lock onto, and fire a laser

at an incoming missile or artillery shell

and shoot it down mid-flight.

In fact, some laser weapons are so dangerous

they've been banned.

Both the US and China signed

the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons.

It bans the use of lasers

that can cause permanent blindness.

But... it seems that the Chinese military

just used a laser weapon on American pilots.

I mean, it's been 20 years

since China signed that treaty.

Maybe they forgot.

And to be fair,

that was a long time ago.

I mean, back in 1998,

we were watching Young Hercules,

while playing Pokemon and listening to Britney Spears

and...oh my God I'm so old.

What's that, Shelley?

Oh right, lasers.

There have been about ten recent incidents

where Chinese military personnel

allegedly pointed high-powered lasers at US planes

flying near a US military base.

It's been happening in the African nation of Djibouti—

where both the US and China have military bases

within a few miles of each other.

In...Djibouti.

A DOD spokesperson said that in a recent incident,

two American cargo plane pilots

were injured by the Chinese lasers.

They are very serious incidents.

There have been two minor injuries.

This activity poses a threat to our airmen.

We have formally demarched the Chinese

and we have requested the Chinese

investigate these incidents.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry—

surprise, surprise—

denies everything.

Their spokesperson also demanded that reporters

“remind relevant people in the US

to pay attention to facts.”

Well the fact is that last year China

opened its first ever foreign military base

about a mile away from the US base in Djibouti,

on the horn of Africa.

And, according to the American general

that oversees US operations in Africa,

there goes the neighborhood.

U.S. Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser

diplomatically said there's a lot of “learning” and “growing”

going on because this is the first time ever

a “peer competitor” opened up shop

so close to an American base.

And that this poses some

“very significant operational security concerns.”

But whoever's tagging planes with lasers

on the Horn of Africa is also putting pilots at risk.

The Federal Aviation Administration last month published

a warning to pilots to use extreme caution in the area.

They said, “There have been multiple lazing events

involving a high-power laser in the vicinity.”

“Lazing events”?

I thought lazing events looked more like this.

But according to the South China Morning Post,

“Chinese military observers say the lasers

may have been used to scare away birds.”

Oh, yeah.

I can see how a C-130 Hercules cargo plane

that weighs 30 tons and has a wingspan of 120 feet

could be mistaken for a flock of seagulls.

And of course there's no way the Chinese military

could be getting freakishly possessive

about the air space

around their naval base in Djibouti.

At least until the Chinese government

issues a statement calling the airspace

around their naval base in Djibouti

part of Chinese territory since ancient times.

For now, though,

it seems the Pentagon is leaving open

the possibility that some overzealous Chinese personnel

might have been acting on their own—

and that it's not actually a top-level

policy-driven territorial dispute.

But just in case,

learning to deflect laser blasts

might not be a bad idea.

So what do you think about allegations

of Chinese personnel shooting lasers at US planes?

Leave your comments below.

Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

See you next time.

Stay where you are!

Because I'm going to answer another fan question.

This one comes from David Michael White.

He asks:

“Chris, what is your favorite piece of literature from China?”

I actually love Chinese literature, so I'm a bit torn on what answer to give.

I'd say my favorite of the Four Classics is Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But if you'd like something a little more modern,

I'd say The Three-Body Problem trilogy by Liu Cixin.

Some of the best science fiction I've ever read.

It ranks right up there with Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.

Thanks for the question.

As I mentioned on Wednesday,

at the end of each episode

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