There has been an influx of ads, sales pitches and the like concerning the use of laser thermometers for use during psychic investigations. The ads state that so and so was able to detect a psychic cold fifty feet away. First, let’s discuss the basic principle on how laser thermometers work and the applications they were designed for before we discuss their uses in psychic investigations.
A laser thermometer uses, as the name suggests, a laser to detect the heat radiated by any particular object at which it is aimed. A red or infra-red dot is projected onto an object and the hotter the object is, the more of that dot will be reflected back to the sensor. Conversely, the cooler an object is, the less the dot will be reflected back. The temperature sensor located in the gun “sees” the dot, computes the difference between the transmitted levels and the received levels and translates that difference into a temperature measurement. The key point here is that a reflection must be received at the sensor in order to achieve an accurate temperature measurement.
These units were designed to enable technicians to take temperature measurements of machinery and electronics (fuses, circuit boards, etc) that are not easily accessible or just to take quick measurements without the need of placing a bulky thermometer actually on the item of interest.
In short, laser thermometers are not designed to be pointed up into space and give an accurate temperature measurement of the atmosphere. They CAN be of use, however, in a house where psychic colds can typically appear against walls or in corners of a basement. The question you need to ask yourself is, is it worth the several hundred dollars to measure temperature when a twenty dollar digital thermometer will work quite adequately?