A wartime aircraft-damage example shows why evidence from survivors can mislead. Bullet holes on returning aircraft marked places where damage had been survivable; apparently untouched areas could be the places where hits prevented an aircraft from returning. The parallel at Taranto concerns the reconnaissance reports reaching Italian headquarters. British carriers were destroying scouts and restricting other reconnaissance near their own forces. Italian leaders associated missing aircraft with positions reported by survivors instead of recognising that the gaps in reporting could mark the strongest carrier groups. A quiet patch of ocean in the reports could therefore conceal the force they most needed to find.
Notable Point · 1:24:30-1:26:21
Missing scouts leave a misleading intelligence picture
Reports from surviving scouts could draw attention away from the waters where carrier fighters prevented reports from getting through.