How to hide an aircraft plant - amazing 1940s photos show you how

To paraphrase fictional British magic-trick-designer-cum-sleuth Jonathan Creek, what’s often most amazing about illusions is the lengths the tricksters go to to pull it off (he was referring at the time to a trick which involved identical-twin trained gymnasts). The point is that with imagination, organisation and a mammoth effort, it’s possible to do the seemingly impossible – like making an aircraft base disappear.

These images found over at Stories-etc show how the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant in California was disguised from a possible Japanese air attack during the Second World War. It’s not only a magnificent glimpse of an unusual moment in American history, but also a testament to the power of creative thinking.