By early next week, most of the passengers boarding airplanes at Indianapolis International Airport will be asked to stand in full body scanners to get through security checkpoints. Workers are installing one scanning machine each night for four nights until all four of the electromagnetic millimeter wave devices are in place in the airport's two security checkpoints.

 

In response to liberties activists who have complained that some types of body scanners amount to a virtual strip search because they can reveal a high level of intimate body detail, James Fotenos, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, said, "These scanners produce a fuzzy black-and-white image that looks like a photo negative. It does not show colors or personal details."

 

The machines, made by L3 Communications, cost $130,000 to $170,000 each.