Geek tries to set balloon popping record using a laser

There are laser pointers, and then there are LASER pointers. Wicked Lasers certainly makes the latter with some of the most powerful handheld lasers you can buy anywhere. The company even has some lasers that are powerful enough to blind satellite sensors in orbit, and others can burn things and pop balloons. A geek has taken one of those Wicked Lasers powerful handheld units and used it to try to set a Guinness world record.

The record-setting attempt by a guy named Scott used a Wicked Lasers Spyder III Krypton of 750 mW to 1000 mW variety and set up a long line of 100 air filled red balloons. The laser was mounted on a little tripod, and the laser beam was fired through a burning lens. That burning lens looks a lot like a magnifying glass to me.

The laser pops the first 20 or so balloons quickly and then slows is the laser beam intensity declines further down the line. The balloons were placed in special cups filled with water to hold them in place to prevent one balloon that pops from forcing the other balloons out of place. The final balloon took a while to pop, but laser was able to pop all 100 balloons surprisingly quickly.