Loop Snarl
this was the descriptive name used to indicate a situation in which a tractor beam attempted to lock onto its own beam. The root cause was often a random reflection of the tractor beam back to its source. This was the desired outcome of a covert shroud gambit, in which a starship's operator ejected reflective particles in it wake as a countermeasure. These particles reflected the tractor beam back to its source, creating the loop snarl.