Plain English Meaning

At night, your eyes can fool you. With fewer things visible to give you a sense of position and distance, lights and shapes can trick you into thinking you are higher, lower, closer, or further away than you actually are.

Full Definition

Visual misperceptions experienced by pilots during night flight, caused by reduced visual cues, unusual lighting patterns, and the limitations of the human eye in low-light conditions. These illusions can lead to incorrect judgments about altitude, attitude, distance, terrain clearance, or aircraft position relative to the runway or horizon.

Context Anchor

Encountered during night operations, especially on , , , and dark or .