Edited by author 10-11-2005 11:52 PM
Here's some simple empirical evidence that the goggles are IR. No instruments needed! Make a set of the goggles. Observe various types of black cloth during a sunny day. While wearing the goggles, you'll note that some black cloth will appear light grey. Now use a black felt-tip markter to write on this cloth. Draw pictures, make rude grafitti. Without the goggles it appears black on black, and normal human eyes won't see it. But if you're wearing the goggles, you'll clearly see the black writing on the IR-grey cloth. Black ink is based on carbon, which is a good IR absorber. But some black clothing dyes are not very "black" at IR frequencies, so infrared cameras (and eyes) see the cloth as grey.