Early detection could turn Pearl Harbor into a fighter trap

What if a US reconnaissance flight found the Japanese carrier force before Pearl Harbor?

US forces would verify the sighting, disperse and alert aircraft, and mass fighters at dawn, turning the raid into a likely trap.

The United States would first send another reconnaissance flight to confirm the carrier contact. Hawaii's defenders could then change alert patterns, disperse aircraft, and put the maximum number of fighters into the air at dawn. The available Army air forces were not prepared for a night strike, so early warning would not automatically produce an immediate counterattack. It could nevertheless turn the Japanese morning raid into an approach against a prepared fighter defense and impose much heavier losses.