Google Earth, it’s fair to say, has revolutionised our generation.
Anyone with an internet connection is now able to easily scour the globe
from the comfort of their own home. Entire online communities have been
formed online that have devoted their time and energies into
discovering some of the most bizarre, most unique, and of course
undiscovered locations around the world. Not only has their been
discoveries of some pretty cool sights which no-one would have realised
had it not been for the birds-eye view technology but Google Earth has
helped scientists, archaeologists and the police with its power. Here
are 10 of Google Earth’s most amazing finds.
This blood-red lake in Iraq has led to scary rumours that it has been
caused by a nearby slaughterhouse that is responsible for an insane
amount of bloodshed. An official explanation has never actually been
offered but sceptics believe that it is most likely the cause of sewage
in the water that has turned it into this polluted colour. The jury’s
still out on this one.
This amazing shot was taken over Alberta, Canada. Quite clearly a
face can be seen in what appears to be Native American headdress. The
face has since been nicknamed the “Badlands Guardian”. The face is made
up eroded clay in a valley. Some people have said that it looks like the
head is wearing earphones. That sight is actually a road and an oil
well.
Not surprisingly this heart-shaped island discovered on Google Earth
became a huge hit on Valentine’s Day. It’s located in the Adriatic off
the Croatian coast and is currently uninhabited. It’s 130,000 square
yards in size and has been named Galesnjak. The owner of the island was
not even aware of its shape until he was inundated with requests from
romantic couples who wanted to rent the island!
The S.S. Jassim was a Bolivian cargo ferry that ran aground and sunk
on the Wingate Reef off the coast of Sudan in 2003. Google Earth
captured a shot of it though and it has now become one of the most
searched for Google Earth images as well as becoming one of the largest
shipwrecks captured by the programme.
The Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in San Diego was built back in
1967. Little did the architect and builders know though that an aerial
shot taken by Google Earth in 2007 would unfortunately reveal that the
four unconnected buildings form the shape of a swastika. Horrified by
the revelation the Navy are now spending $600,000 to disguise the shape.
Dubbed the most powerful celebrity by Forbes and with her
iconic show and popular magazine, Oprah Winfrey is, without doubt, the
most influential celeb in America. One fan decided to pay tribute to
Oprah’s status by designing her own personalised corn maze in 2004. How
touching, but seriously how much time did this person have on their
hands? Still, at least their effort hasn’t gone unnoticed and has made
it into the top ten of Google Earth finds.
In 2006 the Oregon State University Linux Users group designed this
giant Firefox logo crop circle in a cornfield in Oregon. The huge crop
circle spans 45,000 sq. ft. and was created in celebration of the Web
browser’s 50 millionth download. Nice work!
After this Google Earth find people began wondering if it was the
lost city of Atlantis. Excited explorers certainly thought so (or hoped
so). The grid was found off the coast of Africa and the markings are
believed to be streets. The area is said to be the size of Wales. Google
Earth engineers quashed the hype by announcing that the grid was
actually a digital artifact created by the sonar boats collecting
mapping data, but some people still believe otherwise…
Remember those online Google Earth communities I mentioned back in
the intro? Well one of those members found this beauty. Going by the
name of ‘ear1grey’ they posted this discovery of a giant Santa, proudly
standing at an incredible 36 miles tall! Santa was found inconspicuously
hiding in Finland.
Mystery surrounds this find on Google Earth and the question begs an
answer: why is a fighter jet parked in what looks to be a residential
neighborhood car park near Paris? Some people have said that it is a
full scale model of a Mirage 2000 on a campus of the University of
Paris, while others state that it is an old Mirage based at a Dassault
Système office. Hmm…jury’s still out on this one too!
Source:
1. Iraq’s Bloody Lake
Image source - webecoist
2. Face in the Clay
Image source - zmescience
3. Heart-Shaped Island
Image source - techdigest
4. Lost Ship At Sea
Image source - theshitiputupwith
5. Swastika
Image source - techblog.aidan
6. Oprah Maze
Image source - techpaparazzi
7. Firefox Crop Circle
Image source - gearthblog
8. Atlantis?
Image source - crunchgear
9. Santa
Image source - freakitude
10. Fighter Jet in Car Park
Image source - oddee
Source:
