An Answer Out of Sight
After finishing a repair he had been asked to do, a man recorded a short video on his phone.
When he watched it back, the picture was bright at first, went completely dark partway through, then became bright again at the end.
Seeing the dark part reassured him that the repair had worked.
What had he been asked to repair?
Question your assumptions, one by one.
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Hints
Use as many hints as you need, one at a time.
Hint 1
He was checking something he could not verify by looking directly inside.
Hint 2
While recording, the phone was inside the thing he had repaired.
Hint 3
Opening it to look inside turns on the light.
Check the Answer
Answer
The light inside a refrigerator. He had been fixing a fault that kept it on even when the door was closed.
He put his phone inside the refrigerator while it was recording, closed the door, then opened it again and took the phone out.
The video was completely dark only while the door was closed. This confirmed that the light was now switching off as it should.
Explanation
Opening a refrigerator door to look inside also turns on the light. Looking inside with the door open cannot tell you whether the light was off while the door was closed.
So the man recorded what happened while the door was closed. The beginning and end of the video were bright because the door was open when he put the phone in and took it out.
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