#621: Hidelights

Objects, including aircraft, tanks and buildings are located both by image analysis and human observers in aerial photographs. Even though the objects may be surface-camouflaged, unless they are placed under a lot of scrim netting, they will cast characteristic shadows on the ground and thus be identifiable, relatively easily.

Today’s invention is to equip anything which requires to avoid aerial, visual detection, with a string of bright lights. These would be located on the lower circumference of the object, pointing at the ground.

A number of light detectors on the upper surface would constantly sense the direction of the sun and switch on the lights on the opposite, in-shadow side. These could then be fine-tuned to eliminate any shadows cast and thus minimise the optical detectability.

In fact, it might be a good idea to use the lights to disrupt the shadows rather than eliminate them completely.