Dive summary:

• During World War II, it was an abundance of caution that made officials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology cover a skylight at the apex of the great dome atop one of the school's landmark buildings so it couldn't be a beacon for enemy bombers – well, possible bombers – attacking the school where researchers were developing radar.
• Now, MIT is reconstructing a 32-foot oculus, installing a stainless steel frame and 2-inch-thick glass blocks with the strength to withstand any student pranks that might wind up atop it like the ones that have graced the blacked-out skylight.
• MIT is coming up on the 100th anniversary of its move from Boston to Cambridge, and that prompted removal of the war-era precaution, which evidently worked because MIT was never bombed by the German Luftwaffe.

From the article:

Pranksters have perched replica police cruisers and airplanes atop MIT’s Great Dome, and have even turned it into the R2D2 character from “Star Wars.” ...