Basic assumptions used in the analysis of elastic differential cross section data will be discussed and the arguments for the transparency of nucleons will be analyzed. It will be shown that the transparency of nucleon is a direct consequence when a weak t dependence of hadronic amplitude phase is used in analogy with optics. The phase t dependence may be hardly uniquely determined from elastic scattering data, being only partially limited by the Coulomb-hadronic interference existing in a very narrow region of small |t| values. The given situation will be demonstrated with the help of data for \(\bar pp\) collisions at 541 GeV; nucleons being transparent or having hard cores may be admitted by the elastic data themselves. However, when further characteristic of inelastic and elastic processes are compared, the nucleon with hard core should be preferred. The most probable characteristics of nucleon structure derived from the data will be presented.