There are concerns that outdoor Christmas decorations could be accidentally flashing lasers at planes in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley.

Police have warned against purposely point lasers at planes for years because of the risk they could blind a pilot mid-flight, but investigators suspect the culprit in an incident over the weekend could actually be automated.

An Air Canada Jazz pilot who was preparing to land in Penticton on Sunday spotted a laser flashing at the aircraft. Mounties couldn’t turn up a culprit, and suspect laser Christmas lights could be to blame.

“If it’s pointed in the wrong direction or some of those light streams are going past the house, it is possible it could hit a plane,” Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth said.

It wouldn’t be the first time one of the devices, which blanket homes with thousands of laser lights from the outside, has caused trouble. Since the decorations appeared on the market, there have been complaints all over North America, even prompting a Federal Aviation Administration probe in the U.S.

Pilots in B.C. warn the concern is a serious one.

“Depending on how they’re directed, it can actually affect the pilot before landing because he’s fairly low,” said Ed Festel of the Penticton Flying Club. “He’s at 1,000 feet and then below that.”

Laser Christmas lights already come with warnings to suggest they could damage your eye if improperly used. Pilots ask people who set them up to insure they are pointing directly at their homes – and not the sky.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Kent Molgat