Plain English Meaning

When there is nothing in front of you for your eyes to lock onto, like a clear blue sky or thick haze, your eyes quietly stop focusing far away and settle on a point just a few feet in front of your face. You feel like you are looking outside, but you are not really seeing anything that is far away.

Full Definition

A visual condition in which the eyes, lacking anything specific to focus on, relax to a short focal distance of only a few feet ahead, even though the pilot believes they are looking far into the distance. This typically occurs when looking into a featureless sky or over haze, leaving the pilot effectively unable to detect distant traffic or terrain.

Context Anchor

Encountered in visual scanning, , , haze, and any where the outside view has few clear visual details.