A portable high speed, low cost, wide spectrum light scanning unit with an aiming device for receiving reflected light from an object and diffracting the light into segments of wavelengths and a linear sensor array having elements positioned to receive the segments and to measure the relative magnitude of such segments to define a spectral distribution of the object for transmission to a remote site for identification and/or analysis without augmentation. In addition, the specification discloses the use of a micro-controller to process the distribution and to identify and/or analyze the object.