Star Trek cloaking device

The devices were first introduced and used by the Romulans in the original series episode "Balance of Terror". The invisibility came as a surprise to the crew of the starship Enterprise, who considered it only a theoretical possibility. In a later episode, the Enterprise is sent on a mission to try and capture one of the devices.

It was next seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture being used by Klingons. To explain this, fans have speculated that as part of an earlier mentioned Romulan-Klingon alliance, the cloaking device was given to the Klingons in return for warp drive. Critics of this theory point out that it requires the Romulans to have fought an interstellar war without faster than light drive. The Enterprise episode "Minefield" shows cloak-using Romulans far away from home. Certainly the alliance existed, and Romulans were seen using Klingon ships, as stated in "The Enterprise Incident".

Cloaking is not perfect. In "Balance of Terror", the Enterprise was still able to detect the Romulan ship on motion sensors, and in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "The Search" we learn that running at a high warp speed may allow detection. A major plot element of Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country was the invention of a new type of cloaking device that would allow firing whilst cloaked. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Redemption", the Federation discovers a way to use nets of tachyon beams to set traps for cloaking ships. As detection methods advance, so too do cloaking devices.

Many have wondered that after Kirk captured a cloaking device, why the Federation have not used them on their ships. Gene Roddenberry claimed that this is because Starfleet are scientists and not sneaks - but this was addressed in "The Pegasus", which claims that the Federation is bound by a treaty with the Romulans not to develop them. This treaty is known as the Treaty of Algeron.

The Next Generation also featured phased cloaking experiments that differed from traditional cloaking techniques. In "The Next Phase", Geordi LaForge and Ro Laren are accidentally cloaked when helping a Romulan ship secretly testing phased cloaking. This technology was different in that it was capable of acting on a personal scale, did not require a cloaking device to stay cloaked, and allowed the cloaked people to pass through solid objects. Geordi and Ro were able to see and communicate with one another though and they discovered, with Data's help, how to detect and deactivate such cloaking. "The Pegasus" also speculated on a phased cloaking experiment performed by Starfleet that had gone bad.

Star Wars cloaking device

Cloaking devices play a much less significant role in the Star Wars universe. None of the movies show a ship cloaking. The first Star Wars reference to cloaking devices is heard in The Empire Strikes Back when Captain Needa states that the Millennium Falcon is too small to be equipped with a cloaking device. In comparison, Star Trek cloaking devices are equippable on spaceships even smaller than the Falcon. The only other Star Wars movie that mentions a cloaking device is The Phantom Menace, but again only in passing. Expanded universe Star Wars books and games have included and elaborated upon cloaking devices. The plot of the Rebel Assault II video game concentrates on the danger presented by a type of TIE Fighter that can cloak.