Share your GoogleEarth 'what is that?'

[NinjaChick]

I was going to post a question in GQ, then thought better of it and said - hey, we've all done this: you're bored, you're poking around with Google Maps, checking out how things look from the sky...then you pause, squint a little bit, and wonder what in Thor's name are you seeing? (by "we've all done it," of course, I mean I've done it and I now I've seen a few other similar questions posted here).

Mine's right here. It's just south of the National Air Force Museum, which is on Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. If you're interested in planes and happen to find yourself in Dayton, I recommend it. Anyway, two things in the picture have me curious. One: that...thing carved out of the grass at the bottom, that looks vaugely like it ought to be on the power button of my laptop.

Two: That...thing, up on the concrete (that I think was once a taxiway to the runway). Here's a closer look. It looks like it could be 'masking' whatever's actually on the ground there, for 'security purposes', but I don't recall seeing anything else like that before.

So, shall we share mysteries?

[St_Ides]

The thing on the concrete is a setup for calibrating cameras used for aerial photography - The same cameras used to take that picture.

The more southern part is for adjusting contrast and the more northern has to do with resolution... I think. I don't recall what it's actual use is.

[Armilla]

This thing at Heathrow airport.

I figure it's either a mock-up to practice firefighting on, or the strange offspring of the forbdden love between an F-104 Starfighter and an Airbus.

[Lionne]

X marks the spot

[NinjaChick]

Originally Posted by LunaV

X marks the spot

Just wait until the alien invasion comes - this place will be the first to go. They built it for target practice.

[Auntbeast]

If you think that X marks the spot place is wacky from above.....

It's a HUGE retirement community, each building is themed, seriously, THEMED. Note the street names. Jeb Bush spoke there, most politicians do. It is a huge place and distinctive in that in all the years it's been there, they have never had a condo assessment, and it is pretty immaculately maintained, pretty cheap and you can play golf for free. However, the weirdness factor is hard to deal with. A few years ago, you could buy a unit for about $55k.

It's called Top Of The World. It's like visiting a theme park.

[jayjay]

Originally Posted by Auntbeast

If you think that X marks the spot place is wacky from above.....

It's a HUGE retirement community, each building is themed, seriously, THEMED. Note the street names. Jeb Bush spoke there, most politicians do. It is a huge place and distinctive in that in all the years it's been there, they have never had a condo assessment, and it is pretty immaculately maintained, pretty cheap and you can play golf for free. However, the weirdness factor is hard to deal with. A few years ago, you could buy a unit for about $55k.

It's called Top Of The World. It's like visiting a theme park.

If you zoom in all the way on that photo, you can see some of what Auntbeast is talking about. It kind of looks like some of the buildings have something like a rooftile canopy over the front pavement, and there's at least one that looks like it might have a "castle" facade, with end and center towers and crenellations on top of the front walls. Oh, and can't forget the one that looks like it has a HoJo orange roof entry on each end.

[Richard Pearse]

Originally Posted by Armilla

This thing at Heathrow airport.

I figure it's either a mock-up to practice firefighting on, or the strange offspring of the forbdden love between an F-104 Starfighter and an Airbus.

I think you're probably correct about it being a firefighting mockup.

[Sublight]

I'll try and ride by this place to figure out what it really is, but from the photo it looks like someone tried to build a stadium with a river running through the middle of it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=&t=k&l...5,0.014441&t=k

[mhendo]

Can you work out what this thing in the middle of Tokyo Bay is?

If you want the answer, look here.

[GorillaMan]

Originally Posted by 1920s Style "Death Ray"

I think you're probably correct about it being a firefighting mockup.

Yes, it is, and it's a rather disconcerting to see, halfway through take-off!

[Armilla]

Originally Posted by GorillaMan

Yes, it is, and it's a rather disconcerting to see, halfway through take-off!

Damn, that's a shame. I had in mind the image of an F-104, in the twilight of its years, stealing one night of passion with a much younger Airbus. Years later the child would go on a search for its father in an attempt to explain why it felt the urge to both ferry passengers along established commuter routes and fire a sidewinder up the tailpipe of a Chinese MiG.

They could make a movie of it or something.

[NinjaChick]

Originally Posted by Sublight

I'll try and ride by this place to figure out what it really is, but from the photo it looks like someone tried to build a stadium with a river running through the middle of it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=&t=k&l...5,0.014441&t=k

WAG: a divided bridge (eg, one 'branch' goes east->west, the other the opposite).

Or...a car test track, inexplicably plopped over a river.

[UncleRojelio]

Here are a few of my favorites:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.10...2168&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.17...5171&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.84...7585&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.06...7585&t=k&hl=en

[Dorjän]

I've always wanted to see what this very weird crater in Siberia looks like up close and personal.

[GorillaMan]

Originally Posted by NinjaChick

Or...a car test track, inexplicably plopped over a river.

I like this theory. It's not 'inexplicable' in the context of a city as crowded as Tokyo, and appears to have an outdoor (offroad?) section to the east.

[UncleRojelio]

Originally Posted by Dorjän

I've always wanted to see what this very weird crater in Siberia looks like up close and personal.

Maybe it's just me, but I can't wait until the whole world is photographed in full detail. Daily updates would be cool too.

[Lute Skywatcher]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...7,0.007886&t=h

SPOILER:

It's a corn maze!

[Dorjän]

Not sure what this is:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=33.626341...3,0.082912&t=k

Massive reflection or giant white square something?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by Dorjän

Massive reflection or giant white square something?

I'm thinking "giant solar collector".

[Lute Skywatcher]

The Million-Dollar Bridge

When the highway was put through, they found out that this pedestrian overpass had been built in the wrong place, meaning it had to be torn down and rebuilt! Total cost: somewhere in the neighborhood of a million bucks.

[Pork Rind]

Here 's my favorite. Note that it makes no more sense in real life than it does in this picture.

[UncleRojelio]

Originally Posted by Dorjän

Not sure what this is:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=33.626341...3,0.082912&t=k

Massive reflection or giant white square something?

Looks like it's in the middle of White Sands Missle Range, so its probably an ... ah ... you know ... missle thingy.

[HubZilla]

UFO, above the lake:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33409&...7875&t=k&hl=en

[GorillaMan]

Originally Posted by HubZilla

UFO, above the lake:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33409&...7875&t=k&hl=en

My guess - hot air balloon?

[DanBlather]

Originally Posted by HubZilla

UFO, above the lake:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33409&...7875&t=k&hl=en

Water tower

[Richard Pearse]

Originally Posted by DanBlather

Water tower

Then why would it be out of focus when other tall buildings on Google maps are not?

[Dorjän]

I think it's a drop of water on the lens of the camera equipment aboard the photo-aircraft. There was a discussion about it on the Google Earth forums a while back, IIRC.

[Dorjän]

Originally Posted by Dorjän

I've always wanted to see what this very weird crater in Siberia looks like up close and personal.

Well I found it it's not a crater, but a very large placer platinum deposit and the site of the Kondyor Platinum Mine !

[racer72]

It was pointed out at work the other day that Boeing lost an airplane in Lake Washington. It can be seen just offshore.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=47.50327,...5,0.001207&t=h

[Richard Pearse]

Has someone rung Boeing to tell them they found their aeroplane?

[Khan]

Originally Posted by UncleRojelio

Here are a few of my favorites:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.10...2168&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.17...5171&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.84...7585&t=k&hl=en

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.06...7585&t=k&hl=en

Nice, with the AMARC and James River stuff. It's especially fun to try and identify the various aircraft types with the former. Here's something I thought was neat:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=48.998071...5,0.067291&t=h

It's on hybrid, but change it to just the satellite and look at where the border between the US and Canada was marked. Apparently they went and effectively MOWED all the trees and stuff for a few dozen yards on either side of the border. Apparently it helps with the illegal Marmot problem.

I'd find more pictures, but my usual site is unfortunately bogged down tonight for whatever reason.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by Khan

Here's something I thought was neat:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=48.998071...5,0.067291&t=h

It's on hybrid, but change it to just the satellite and look at where the border between the US and Canada was marked. Apparently they went and effectively MOWED all the trees and stuff for a few dozen yards on either side of the border. Apparently it helps with the illegal Marmot problem.

Google Earth indicates that the line corresponds to the northern edge of some sort of park.

[Dorjän]

I think this might be the ship graveyards of Mumbai?

[wevets]

Apparently not all the sides of the photos match up exactly. Either that, or I have reason to be glad I moved away from this road.

[Omniscient]

So what happened to Indiana?

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Omniscient

So what happened to Indiana?

Well, those grey areas usually indicate areas of higher resolution, so it seems the whole of the state has high-res images associated with it.

Not sure why.

[Encinitas]

The Happiest Place on Earth ^TM.

[Dorjän]

Big car accident in Chicago?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by Dorjän

Big car accident in Chicago?

I don't think so. Those are three ladder trucks; my guess is they responded to a fire alarm in McCormick Place.

[Sublight]

Originally Posted by NinjaChick

WAG: a divided bridge (eg, one 'branch' goes east->west, the other the opposite).

Or...a car test track, inexplicably plopped over a river.

I got a good look at it this morning. It's apparently just a scenic (and staggeringly expensive, no doubt) jogging/walking path. It's not even useful as a competitive track because the bridge part of it is arched. Looks nice, but man what a waste of tax yen.

[mnemosyne]

Originally Posted by racer72

It was pointed out at work the other day that Boeing lost an airplane in Lake Washington. It can be seen just offshore.

http://maps.google.com/?ll=47.50327,...5,0.001207&t=h

I'm pretty sure this is fake. It's probably an artefact, maybe a bad overlay in the photography or something. I thought it was really cool yesterday, and googled like mad, but there's NOTHING about this plane, even on pages like this about the planes in Lake Washington. There ARE Boeing planes in there (and a bridge, and boats), but they are much older than the one we are all looking at!

If you look closely, it's the same size and orientation as the left-hand plane on land, and if you can see the white box things around it. Also, the white roof on that building to the right (the small rectangular one angled away from the planes) can be "seen" in the water too, and if you look really closely you can see the nose of the right hand plane in the water at the point of the land (I didn't notice that til I looked on Google Earth instead of Local).

Sorry for spoiling this! It is pretty cool nonetheless.

I love the highway crossing the runway in Gibraltar

[scr4]

Originally Posted by Sublight

I'll try and ride by this place to figure out what it really is, but from the photo it looks like someone tried to build a stadium with a river running through the middle of it.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=&t=k&l...5,0.014441&t=k

The map identifies it as Oshima Komatsugawa Park. There's a map of the park here, but it identifies this structure as two separate bridges - maybe it's just two bridges with curved roads/paths at both ends. There are some photos here - not very clear, but you can see it's not flat.

[PoorYorick]

This bridge is my nemesis. I used to have a bridge phobia that I overcame, but I dread driving over this sucker. It seems to be straight up and down.

[jasonh300]

Originally Posted by PoorYorick

This bridge is my nemesis. I used to have a bridge phobia that I overcame, but I dread driving over this sucker. It seems to be straight up and down.

I agree with that one. I'm not afraid to drive over it, but I've had nightmares about it. It's probably been 8 years since I went over that one, but it's extremely steep with no breakdown lanes. I'm surprised it hasn't been replaced. It's way out of spec for an Interstate highway.

[HubZilla]

Big yards in the middle of Chicago

Must be the cheap game squares in Atlantic City

Pineapple Maze in Hawaii

Stanford Linear Accelerator, 1.9 miles long

Tiny mall in Canada

[HubZilla]

From Google Mars

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by PoorYorick

This bridge is my nemesis. I used to have a bridge phobia that I overcame, but I dread driving over this sucker. It seems to be straight up and down.

Better avoid this bridge if you ever visit Baltimore.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally Posted by HubZilla

Tiny mall in Canada

Smallest mall I've ever seen. It has a deli, a locksmith, a jewler, a greeting card store, a party store, and a dress shop but I think only the deli & locksmith are still there.

[NurseCarmen]

I have no idea how to link, but north of Priest River, Idaho is what appears to be the world's largest chess board. I'm guessing massive tree farm.