An infrared (IR) emitter projects a spherical IR pattern. The IR emitter may include one or more IR lasers to produce two IR laser beams, two beam expanders, two diffraction screens to each produce diffracted radiation, a top wide angle lens, and a bottom wide angle lens. The wide angle lenses may each receive diffracted radiation from a respective one of the diffractions screens and may emit a spherical IR pattern including a plurality of longitudinal lines, each longitudinal line including a first portion of the spherical IR pattern emitted from the top wide angle lens and a second portion of the spherical IR pattern from the bottom wide angle lens. The IR emitter may be part of an object detection system in an aerial vehicle.