# TNG: why didn't starfleet develop cloaking technology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 22, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087 "2010-06-22T03:15:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/41 "2010-06-23T01:36:33Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > The other, and I don’t remember where this came from, was a finding that cloaking technology has an overall harmful effect on the mental health of those aboard the ship. That would work with TOS-era Klingons and Romulans, perhaps not the TNG-era Klingons, though. What are you talking about? Every one of 'em has a bulging brain tumor. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/42 "2010-06-23T02:02:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I have instructed the orderlies to take away your books, your drawings, and your toilet seat. You’ll get them back when I feel you have improved. Good gad, Old Fellow, you’ve been at the Gin and Tonics again, have you? Not to worry, Jeeves has this thing made of raw eggs and pepper sauce that will straighten you right out. Right Oh. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/43 "2010-06-23T02:06:30Z")
Also from a portrayal point of view, what fun would be watching an invisible ship fighting another invisible ship? “Oh, look a blank starfield, oh look, ANOTHER blank starfield” exciting…That’s why you had to have at least one that wasn’t cloaked. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/44 "2010-06-23T02:33:44Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Also from a portrayal point of view, what fun would be watching an invisible ship fighting another invisible ship? “Oh, look a blank starfield, oh look, ANOTHER blank starfield” exciting…That’s why you had to have at least one that wasn’t cloaked. Good point, and probably why they forgot about the cloak in TOS except for _The Enterprise Incident._ ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/45 "2010-06-23T05:07:37Z")
TNG had one episode about cloaking in season 7. I can’t watch it without getting furious. Riker’s old Captain comes aboard and they go salvage parts from The Pegasus. It was involved in a experimental cloaking accident 12 years earlier. Romulan’s show up and Riker cloaks the Enterprise to get away. Unfortunately Star Trek’s feel good message that everyone is nice and loving takes over. Riker uncloaks and reveals a critical Federation military secret to the Romulans. Because it’s the right and honorable thing to do. :rolleyes: I call it treason. Riker should have been shoved out the nearest airlock and used for photon torpedo practice. I love Star Trek, but that episode pushes my buttons. It is so sanctimonious. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/46 "2010-06-23T05:46:59Z")
I can’t understand Rodenberry’s sanctimony about the alleged perfidy of hiding. Taken not very far, soldiers can’t use cover. But Rodenberry must have understood the concept of the submarine, which is essentially the same thing as a cloaked ship. Good guys use them! ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/47 "2010-06-23T10:14:56Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > The other, and I don’t remember where this came from, was a finding that cloaking technology has an overall harmful effect on the mental health of those aboard the ship. That would work with TOS-era Klingons and Romulans, perhaps not the TNG-era Klingons, though. There was something along those lines in a novelization of “Star trek 3: The search for Spock” that I remember reading - it included passages from the Klingon captain’s POV as he discovered info about Genesis and flew off, under cloak, to the Genesis planet. Turning on the cloaking device was described as a very stressful experience for all aboard the ship, and just occasionally, it drove one of the crew crazy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/48 "2010-06-23T13:41:32Z")
Actual reason: Federation ships look cool on-screen. Cloaked Federation ships…don’t. The Enterprise gets a lot more screen time than anything Romulan; try replacing all those great visuals with empty space. Doesn’t work. Everything else is just an attempt to justify this. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/49 "2010-06-23T13:50:21Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > TNG had one episode about cloaking in season 7. I can’t watch it without getting furious. > > Riker’s old Captain comes aboard and they go salvage parts from The Pegasus… All true. I also didn’t buy there would actually be a mutiny by the ship’s crew over the illegal cloaking experiment. Strong protests, resignations, a report sent to the Federation President and leaked to the press when the _Pegasus_ returned, sure, whatever. But a _mutiny_? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/50 "2010-06-23T15:23:26Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > I can’t understand Rodenberry’s sanctimony about the alleged perfidy of hiding. Taken not very far, soldiers can’t use cover. Well, he got very, very sanctimonious. IN fact, when it comes down to it, he spent way too much time in Hollywood soaking up the atmosphere. And even TOS was intended (by him) to be waaaaay more like TNG, and thatw as back quite a while. But for TOS he didn’t have complete creative control like in the early days of TNG. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/51 "2010-06-23T15:36:03Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#): > > Also from a portrayal point of view, what fun would be watching an invisible ship fighting another invisible ship? “Oh, look a blank starfield, oh look, ANOTHER blank starfield” exciting…That’s why you had to have at least one that wasn’t cloaked. Could be a lot of fun, actually - would basically turn it into a submarine battle. Das Boot has some excellent, tense battle scenes, as have many other submarine movies. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/52 "2010-06-23T15:52:35Z")
TOS “Balance of Terror” essentially _was_ a riff on submarine movies. And I suspect that the idea of a cloaking device was invented by the writers to justify using the submarine tropes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/53 "2010-06-23T17:18:50Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > And I suspect that the idea of a cloaking device was invented by the writers to justify using the submarine tropes. Of course. And _The Enterprise Incident_ a great idea for another episode. After two good TOS episodes, the cloaking device, like time travel, would be used by authors wanting their stories to be as good as TOS. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/54 "2010-06-23T17:25:41Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > All true. I also didn’t buy there would actually be a mutiny by the ship’s crew over the illegal cloaking experiment. Strong protests, resignations, a report sent to the Federation President and leaked to the press when the _Pegasus_ returned, sure, whatever. But a _mutiny_? I think you have a point, if it was only because the experiment was illegal. Mix in some genuine concerns that this phase-cloaking stuff might end with the horribly painful deaths of all on board, and I think it’s easier to credit the mutiny stuff. (Of course, you could then file the fact that the mutineers managed to do just that to themselve when they tried to disengage the cloak under ‘I for Irony.’) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/55 "2010-06-23T17:32:43Z")
So then why didn’t the mirror universe Starfleet have one? Or did they? (I just reread Dark Mirror and I’m having a bad habit of visualizing people with goatees now). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/56 "2010-06-23T17:37:06Z")
I don’t remember any reference to cloaks in the Mirror Universe until DS9, when there was an episode with Quark and Rom carrying a cloaked cloaking device through the hallways of the station (giving the actors a nice opportunity to use their mime skills to imply the presence of a heavy object). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/57 "2010-06-23T17:59:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Actual reason: Federation ships look cool on-screen. Cloaked Federation ships…don’t. > > The Enterprise gets a lot more screen time than anything Romulan; try replacing all those great visuals with empty space. Doesn’t work. > > Everything else is just an attempt to justify this. Why would the _Enterprise_ have been cloaked most of the time, anyway? Even if we ignore the silly claims that Starfleet isn’t a military organization, neither Kirk’s ship nor Picard’s was primarily engaged in operations that would have required it to be invisible. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/58 "2010-06-23T18:27:48Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > not having money. Not entirely true. Traditional “money” had been rendered worthless by the invention of the replicator but the Federation had been using “credits” in TOS. > [@](#): > > _DS9 fixed a lot of these problems by putting our heroes in an alien environment. They can use money (because they are hanging around in a primitive culture with **sniff** an economy)_ Who were introduced during Roddenbury’s reign as executive producer and just happened to have discovered a substance that cannot be replicated. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/59 "2010-06-23T18:42:30Z")
I’ve been trying to remember. Were any of the alien ships in Voyager cloaked? I recall the Maquis spy (she was Romulain) tried to help her Kazon bf get cloaking for his ship. I think it failed. The Borg were too bad ass for cloaking. They just flew right up and assimilated everybody. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087/60 "2010-06-23T18:45:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I recall the Maquis spy (she was Romulain) Cardassian, surgically modified to look like a Bajoran. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tng-why-didnt-starfleet-develop-cloaking-technology/544087.md?page=4)