there was an old thread entitled "the unit that hid factories" or something similar. it was about large-scale camo to hide large industrial facilities. well these are the best pictures i've seen so far. below is a boeing aircraft plant. see how in the last photo you notice the camo layer distinctly, and the facilities under it.
I've seen some pretty impressive ones from Germany as well. I seem to recall a "pasture" that looked incredibly real.
Samohi AlumniAssociation saved to Santa Monica Past Douglas Aircraft Company plant, 3000 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, Calif. with camouflage designed by Edward Huntsman-Trout during World War II to conceal the manufacture of military aircraft.
The Navy called it passive defense and I've posted some of the instructions for it here. I haven't found as much on the Army side, but I have found and posted "Cantonment Area Camouflage."
I think it was more of the 'threat' early on in the US involvement than anything. There are plenty of cases where such camo did work. I believe I read that Cairo or somewhere in Egypt was camouflaged, with a 'fake' city set up elsewhere. It fooled the Germans and they bombed the desert where the fake camo was setup.
IIRC, there were two "fake" Ploesti sites nearby the real one. The Germans had constructed a "fake" Skoda Works not far from Pilsen(it worked...once).
No Axis bomber (in any kind of numbers) could reach it. It made people feel safe and kept them busy. the massive runway a short distance away would have been a dead give away.
Well, the plants were within range of the Aichi D3A Val, and Nakajima B5N Kate. One of the main reasons Hanford was chosen as the site for an atomic facility was because it was more than 200 miles from the coast - beyond the expected range of carrier=based aircraft. As was said in the statement before yours
Two books I have just finished on this subject that I found very enlightening were: https://www.amazon.com/Masquerade-amazing-camouflage-deceptions-World/dp/0801549310 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trojan-Horses-Extraordinary-Deception-Operations/dp/0370311272 TD