MythBusters · Video summary

Can You Pull Off A Kidnapping Using Nothing But A Dust Storm? | MythBusters

The Mythbusters team tests whether a dust storm created by cars can fool a spy drone, as seen in the movie "Body of Lies."

MythBusters · August 18, 2026 · 22-min episode · 1-min read

Can You Pull Off A Kidnapping Using Nothing But A Dust Storm? | MythBusters

Key takeaways

🎬The myth of using a car-induced dust storm to fool a spy drone originates from the movie "Body of Lies."00:11
⚠️Driving in a dust storm, even a simulated one, is incredibly dangerous and requires precise planning and safety measures.01:21
🚗💥The team's initial attempt to simulate zero visibility with opaque paper on windshields led to immediate crashes, highlighting the difficulty of driving blind.02:41
🚁For their desert tests, the Mythbusters used a helicopter with a high-resolution camera to simulate the spy drone's aerial perspective.08:23
⭕The movie's 'ring method' of creating a dust storm by circling a target proved ineffective against a high-tech camera, as the center remained visible.12:42
💨A high-speed flyby technique, where cars zoom past the target, was successful in visually obscuring the target from a standard video camera.16:03

Chapters

0:00The Myth: Dust Storm Deception
2:25Initial Challenges: Driving Blind
5:04Plan B: Burlap and Safety Systems
11:51Desert Test 1: The Ring Method
21:56Desert Test 2: The High-Speed Flyby
25:23Thermal Imaging Challenge
32:23Final Showdown: Beating Thermal Cameras

The digest

In the high-stakes world of espionage, cinematic escapes often feature ingenious methods to evade surveillance. One such scenario, depicted in the movie "Body of Lies," involves creating a dust storm with cars to blind a high-altitude spy drone and facilitate a kidnapping. The Mythbusters team, consisting of Tory, Grant, and Kari, set out to determine if this Hollywood tall tale holds up in reality.

The Myth: Dust Storm Deception

The core of the myth is simple yet audacious: a group of bad guys kidnaps a target while driving SUVs in a circle, generating a massive dust cloud to obscure their movements from an overhead spy drone. The question is, can a dust storm manufactured by motor vehicles truly blind state-of-the-art military technology? Grant, initially optimistic, points out that driving behind someone on a dusty road can make the car in front disappear. However, Kari quickly counters that this is different; the myth involves an observer above the dust cloud, not within it. The team decides to use a helicopter equipped with a high-resolution camera to simulate the drone's perspective.