pigeons find their way at night by reading the sky by navigating according to the constellations the man spent the last of his savings in paying an institute to test his homing abilities. First they placed him in a circular cage and recreated the changing positions of the sun with mirrors, to observe how he shifted to compensate. they placed him in a round cage open to the sky in which he oriented himself in the normal direction for that locality and time of year, then they took him to the planetarium and projected night sky overhead: a familiar star pattern produced a normal orientation but unfamiliar sky caused him great confusion. He never did find his way home that day and has been reported missing ever since. next