He first tried this out on the Natural Bridge of Virginia in 1927, where his team installed a controllable system of concealed floodlights that bathed the arch and adjacent rock walls at night in varying combinations of colors, which highlighted features not visible in daylight.

[3] The skill and artistry of this display were also warmly received by the public, and Hibben went on to design similar systems for Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico and Crystal Caves in Bermuda (1937).

Hibben devised a combination of high power incandescent and mercury vapor lamps that created the illusion of a flaming torch, and also redesigned the floodlighting of the statue itself.

In another wartime activity, Hibben was appointed to a committee of lighting experts, to study blackout techniques for defending cities against possible bombing attacks.

Concluding that total blackouts were counterproductive, he introduced reduced lighting or ‘dimout’ techniques that would give protection while allowing nearly normal vehicular and industrial activity.

His research in the bactericidal properties of the ultraviolet band—so-called black light —led to a myriad of new applications in sterile environments such as hospitals and food processing plants.

He lectured and published widely on the subject in both the professional and popular press, mainly in publications of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), where he was a lifelong member.