Steven Correia's competing light sculptures in UTC

Oh Wise One: What are those blue-green laser lights emanating from an office building in UTC most nights of the year? Somebody testing communication systems? Bored physics students trying to pick off low-flying aircraft? Answer this and there just might be a little something extra in your paycheck next time. — Chuck Doyle, the Net

Make that Chuck Doyle and about half the population of San Diego, judging from my mail. Attention Alicelanders: Make 20 copies of this column and send one each to 20 of your friends. Have them do the same, and their friends, too. Soon everyone in San Diego will know what the lights are and they’ll stop asking me. (If you break the chain, of course, you’ll have big-time bad luck. M.A. and all the research trolls will show up at your house for lunch everyday. You’ve been warned.) This query has replaced the twirling billboards befuddlement as the most asked. Ordinarily, I don’t give much ink to subjects well covered in other sources, so I’ve stowed the UTC-laser questions for years. But a new storm of them lately has pushed me over the edge. Don’t you people do anything but muck around the Internet and read “Straight from the Hip”? I’m flattered, but in some areas you’re severely out of touch.

So here goes. The beams form a kinetic laser sculpture, “Southern Lights,” the first such permanent sculpture in the country. It’s the creation of Steven V. Correia. He grew up in Point Loma, went to UCLA, and during the ’70s and ’80s became known internationally for his blown-glass art. In 1984 Collier Junior High on Point Loma was renamed for the artist. His computer-controlled display, installed in late ’86 on what’s now the Union Bank building at 4660 La Jolla Village Drive, is probably the only piece of art that ever required FAA approval. Now leave me alone.

Feb. 15 update

Dear Matt the Knatt: You got yourself so worked up about everyone asking about one source of laser emissions that you became hopelessly attracted to that source, like a knat, and could not see the other origin of the same laser type coming from a building a couple of miles north and to the east of 805. I happened to be at the Union Bank in La Jolla when I saw the light at 6:00 p.m. on January 19. Let’s see if you configure out this one. — John (cashing-my-check-in-La Jolla) Sattler

Here’s your answer, straight from Matt (that’s-gnat-not-knat) Alice. It appeared in the Matmailbox even before I got your note, John. Franklin Antonio, senior VP of engineering at Qualcomm, volunteered these details. “The second [laser sculpture] is on the Qualcomm headquarters building (formerly the Design Center) at 6455 Lusk Boulevard. Both [Union Bank and Qualcomm laser sculptures] were built by Steve Correia. The Design Center piece was built later and is more complex. The Union Bank system uses mirrors and open-air transmission of the laser over their rooftop to the exit points around the building. The Design Center system uses fiber optic cables to move the light from a centrally located laser to 24 exit points located around the roof. The system also includes three articulated (computer-controlled) exit points at the tips of the three pyramids on the roof.

“When Qualcomm bought the building a couple of years ago, the laser system was in disrepair. We had various pieces repaired at various times since then, but maintenance problems continued to plague the system. Within the last few months, a Qualcomm employee has taken on the task of rebuilding various parts of the system, and it’s now on the air again regularly, three nights a week.

“For the last few weeks, we’ve been having a little fun with the laser, sending a message in Morse code. One thing we’ve learned is how few people know Morse code.”

And to you, Franklin, dah dit-dit-dit-dit dit-dah dah-dit dah-dit-dah dit-dit-dit.