Black-Hole Approach Illusion

The black-hole approach illusion can occur during a nighttime final approach, with no stars or moonlight, over water or unlit terrain toward a lighted runway, when the horizon itself is not visible and there is nothing to see between the aircraft and the runway but a visual black hole. Pilots affected by it often proceed confidently on a visual approach rather than relying on instruments, and the resulting lack of peripheral visual cues below the aircraft can cause them to overestimate the glide path, and with no surrounding visual orientation can make the pilot feel upright while the runway itself seems tilted, often producing an unsafe, overly steep descent below the intended glide path. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/