In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a fiber-optic cable attenuator is presented. An assembly is presented for encasing a cable and providing an airtight chamber around the fiber-optic cable. The fiber-optic cable is then deflected within the assembly to allow a reading of the deflection point by an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). In one embodiment, the fiber-optic cable is deflected with pressurized air. In another embodiment, the fiber-optic cable is deflected with indenters fitted through the airtight chamber. As a result, initial reference data and cable location may be obtained and found without damaging the cable (i.e., using splices and other disruptive means).