- This article refers to the Federation prototype for a cloaking device as seen on "The Pegasus". For other meanings, please see Interphase (disambiguation).
The Federation interphase cloak
The interphase cloaking device was an advanced type of cloaking device that allows a starship to travel through solid matter and high-energy fields. A molecular phase inverter moves the ship out of phase with the spacetime continuum.
In 2358, a branch of Starfleet Intelligence illegally developed such a device in direct violation of the Treaty of Algeron, which explicitly banned the Federation from developing cloaking technology.
- The illegal actions and the fact that it was refered to as "a secret division of Starfleet Intelligence" implies that the 'branch' was Section 31. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")
A test aboard the USS Pegasus was initially successful, but misconfiguration of the device led to an explosion in engineering and later the crew, angry at the breach of the treaty, mutinied against the Captain, Erik Pressman. Starfleet Intelligence attempted to cover the incident up, but the truth was revealed in 2370 when Pressman attempted to recover the device. (TNG: "The Pegasus")
Several other races have either experimented with, or utilize interphasing technology:
- The Romulans were expirimenting with an Interphase generator to create an interphase cloak. The experiment failed, heavily damaging the vessel on which the experiment was being run. (TNG: "The Next Phase")
- Interphase technology was used extensively by the Srivani to hide their scientific experiments. (VOY: "Scientific Method")
- The Voth also used interphase cloaking technology. This allowed Forra Gegen and Veer to covertly observe the USS Voyager and its crew. (VOY: "Distant Origin")