Cloaking Device

A cloaking device is a piece of equipment that not only renders a ship invisible to radar and other sensors, but also to the eye. It accomplishes this by bending light rays around the ship in such a way that they re-emerge along the same trajectory they entered. (Thus appearing to "pass through" the ship.)

The latest approach has been to "curve" space around the ship so the light rays curve around it and re-emerge on the other side. This is done by an artificial gravity field surounding the ship that bends the space accordingly.

This technology is only theoretical. No working models are in existence to date, but research is continuing in this field despite early failures.


Early Testing

The first test of a cloaking device was conducted on an unmanned satellite. When the cloak was engaged, the gravitational field caused the satellite to implode, destroying it. This halted research for several months until a more reliable system could be devised.

The second test involved an unmanned ship, equipped with sensors and radio and other equipment, staying in constant contact with the observing science vessels. However, the gravitational field was incorrectly configured and the ship was "swallowed up" into a pocket of space, as the three - dimensional space closed around it entirely. No light, radio waves, or any objects could be sent to or from the ship, and it was considered lost forever.

Other techniques, such as absorbing and re-emitting the light and other radiation, have been discussed as being theoretically possible, but nothing else has been physically tested in the past several years.

However, research is still continuing in this area . . .


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Page last updated Thursday, January 29, 1999.
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