So imagine you are playing a game of hide and seek with your friends in a big park. Sometimes it's hard to find your friends when they hide really well, right? Well, a SCR-658 radar is kind of like a big toy that helps grown-ups find things that are really hard to see, like planes flying in the sky.
The SCR-658 radar sends out special signals called radio waves. These radio waves bounce off of things like planes and come back to the radar, kind of like when you throw a ball against a wall and it bounces back to you. The radar can tell how long it takes for the radio waves to bounce back and uses that information to figure out how far away the planes are.
The radar can also tell if the planes are moving or not. If the radar detects a plane that's moving, it will make a special noise to let the grown-ups know. That way, they can keep track of all the planes in the sky and make sure they don't crash into each other.
The SCR-658 radar was used a lot during World War II to help the military find enemy planes. It was really important because it helped keep the soldiers safe. Nowadays, newer and better radars are used for lots of things, like keeping track of planes at airports and even helping scientists study hurricanes!