It is considered common knowledge by many workers in the field of detonation phenomena that transparent plastics quickly go opaque under strong shock wave attack. In this paper high‐speed photographs are shown, and it is seen that Lucite and Plexiglas do not go opaque until shattered by tension waves. The behavior of plate glass is somewhat similar. By adjustment of dimensions and lighting, events can be observed with good photographic quality through the shock front for an undetermined length of time.