Follow the Hot Cycle From the Air

Let's say you're inclined to push your Harley up to … say … 100 mph on a busy East Bay highway.

For a few minutes you've got a police escort, but then you notice no more flashing lights on your tail. You're home free, right?

Wrong, brutha. There's the eye in the sky.

The Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office demonstrates on its Facebook page. The police pursuit in Oakley Tuesday stopped for safety when such a motorcycle got up to 100 mph. The sheriff's Facebook page has a video that shows the motorcyclist was picked up by the sheriff's helicopter, which followed the motorcycle to where it stopped. The helicopter directed a patrol car to the right place to make the arrest.

The sheriff's helicopter uses Forward Looking Infrared Radiometer, a device that tracks something like a motorcycle with its heat signature. It was developed by the U.S. military in the 1970s. The device senses heat differential and can see through fog, smoke and darkness.