Several papers splashed earlier this week on thermal imaging pictures allegedly proving that nine in 10 tents at Occupy London are left empty overnight. The claim prompted thoughtful reflections on the nature of “part-time protest” but it has now fallen apart under the slightest scrutiny.
Some of the protesters hired the same camera from the same company (see video above) in order to put the story to the test. What they found immediately was that the heat signature disappears when someone walks behind a tent. Even when no fewer than five protesters climbed into a tent (which is, after all, designed to retain the maximum heat possible) the camera barely registered their presence.
Their conclusions are supported by a military scientist specialising in camouflaging soldiers against thermal imaging technology, who told the Guardian:
They cannot make the assumption that they have made from those images. The way they are set up, you wouldn’t be able to tell if there’s anyone in the tent or not, especially if someone is sleeping in an insulated sleeping bag … I wanted to set the record straight because that’s just rubbish science.
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