# anything interesting caught on satellite mapping? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349 "2008-02-20T02:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/1 "2008-02-20T02:53:01Z")
I was amazed out how close you can zoom in on some houses in some urban areas with satellite mapping and I wondered, has anything interesting been caught and noticed through satellite mapping? Like a large outdoor wedding or pot farming or a bunch of police cars surrounding a crime scene or a massive car accident or I don’t know…whatever odd event you could deduce from an odd satellite picture? Surely somebody has happened accross something freakish or newsworthy or even private this way. No? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/2 "2008-02-20T02:58:10Z")
I remember listening to Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell me on NPR and they described how nude sun bathers have been caught on such sites. I’m at work, so I can’t/won’t google it. ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/3 "2008-02-20T03:11:52Z")
I remember hearing this on the radio awhile back, during senior prank season. I’m not sure if it’s a hoax or not… Probably not appropriate for work: [Google Maps Catches Sophisticated High School Football Field Prank](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pranks/google-maps-catches-sophisticated-high-school-football-field-prank-330550.php) Enjoy! Now that I think about it, the one I thought I heard on the radio had do do with something on the roof of a school for a senior prank. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/4 "2008-02-20T03:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=drhess] Surely somebody has happened accross something freakish or newsworthy or even private this way. No? [/QUOTE] Well, there’s that part of Sydney, Australia, where you can zoom in so far that you can tell what tartan the picnickers’ blankets are… unfortunately (or possibly fortunately, depending), none of them are nude. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/5 "2008-02-20T03:47:58Z")
I seem to remember a thread of an airplane being photographed, with banter about weather it was a missile, a plane, or superman. [QUOTE=SharkB8] I remember hearing this on the radio awhile back, during senior prank season. I’m not sure if it’s a hoax or not… Probably not appropriate for work: [http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pranks/google-maps-catches-sophisticated-high-school-football-field-prank-330550.php](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pranks/google-maps-catches-sophisticated-high-school-football-field-prank-330550.php) Enjoy! Now that I think about it, the one I thought I heard on the radio had do do with something on the roof of a school for a senior prank. [/QUOTE] For those not wanting to click on the link, it’s a 50 meter by 10 meter cock, with 15 meter balls of dead grass on a football field. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/6 "2008-02-20T16:11:10Z")
Here’s one of a Lancaster bomber (of WW2 vintage) caught on Google Earth: [![](http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/01/09/lancaster_grab_one.jpg) ](http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/01/09/lancaster_grab_one.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/7 "2008-02-20T17:28:30Z")
[There’s a handful](http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/). [And another handful](http://googlesightseeing.com/). ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/8 "2008-02-20T18:48:09Z")
Some net sites are saying you can see a lake of sewage in Baghdad. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/9 "2008-02-20T22:22:03Z")
Just a nitpick, most, if not all, of the high res photos on Google are taken by aircraft, not satellites. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/10 "2008-02-21T01:25:46Z")
Well, not from a satellite, and probably not that interesting to anyone else, but I did manage to find myself on Google Maps Street View. https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=111%2Bhuntington,%2Bboston&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.52365,96.328125&ie=UTF8&ll=42.350695,-71.080084&spn=0.010197,0.030556&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.345993,-71.08104&cbp=1,319.55327511602025,,1,6.466015254969839 Yeah, it’s not all that clear, but based on that and a couple other views, there’s enough for me to be able to tell it’s me. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/11 "2008-02-21T16:46:07Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] [There’s a handful](http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/). [And another handful](http://googlesightseeing.com/). [/QUOTE] Dude, gotta tell ya - this is so cool!! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/12 "2008-02-21T17:18:16Z")
[QUOTE=waterj2] Well, not from a satellite, and probably not that interesting to anyone else, but I did manage to find myself on Google Maps Street View. https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=111+huntington,+boston&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.52365,96.328125&ie=UTF8&ll=42.350695,-71.080084&spn=0.010197,0.030556&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=42.345993,-71.08104&cbp=1,319.55327511602025,,1,6.466015254969839 Yeah, it’s not all that clear, but based on that and a couple other views, there’s enough for me to be able to tell it’s me. [/QUOTE] Turn around and smile, then! 😃 Actually, there’s some controversy about recognisable people in Google Street View. I believe that the Privacy Commissioner of Canada would not allow Street View of Canadian places until Google could guarantee that no-one visible would be recognisable. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/13 "2008-02-21T17:18:46Z")
Nice job, **Troy**! [QUOTE=gonzomax] Some net sites are saying you can see a lake of sewage in Baghdad. [/QUOTE] I hadn’t thought about Iraq… did they disable satellite reconaissance sites for it during times of actual war? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/14 "2008-02-21T17:25:50Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Nice job, **Troy**! I hadn’t thought about Iraq… did they disable satellite reconaissance sites for it during times of actual war? [/QUOTE] If they disabled it, thet would be obvious: a blank in the map. Far more effective would be to simply leave pre-war images in place and not tell anyone. ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/15 "2008-02-21T21:52:13Z")
The current Google photo of our house shows [Fetchund’s pickup](http://forum.goodpaws.org/gallery/1181604761/gallery_75_76_26381.jpg) pulled up to the little garden we installed a few years ago. Given shadows and all, it’s a fair bet that the two of us are there shoveling compost out of the truck and into the garden. It’s not very clear, but I thought it was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/16 "2008-02-21T22:02:44Z")
You can see my car in the parking lot of our old apartment building in Hamilton, too. I think it’s neat! Besides the two above-linked sites, there is also the google earth blog; > **[Categorized African Animals in Google Earth - Google Earth Blog](https://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2005/10/categorized_afr.html)** > > \[NOTE: Make sure you have the “Gallery-\>National Geographic Magazine-\>African Megaflyover” layer turned on in your Layer’s pane on the left side of GE. The red airplane icons show the location of the high resolution photos taken by Michael... And of course the Google Earth Community forums; [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0](http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0) And Google Street View sightings: > **[G Street Sightings](https://www.gstreetsightings.com/)** > > Maximum Ride! There is SO MUCH to waste your time with, it’s incredible. I have literally spent hours at a time with the Community layers on in Google Earth, just seeing what people have linked to. I particularly like the visible shipwreck collection and the airplane collections. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/17 "2008-02-21T22:03:52Z")
[HERE](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=55.237178,165.954387&spn=0.002141,0.006748&t=h&z=18)’s a big beached boat. I asked about it here on the Dope awhile ago. The only thing cool about it is that I found it just by browsing - and I’m curious as to why it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/18 "2008-02-21T22:15:49Z")
It’s not available everywhere, but [maps.live.com](http://maps.live.com) has 'Bird’s eye View" available. The picture is taken from an airplane or helicopter at pretty close range at about a 45 degree angle. You can turn the picture to be viewed from 4 different directions. I could tell from the different items on my patio at what stage the renovation of my house was in (post-Katrina) and the time the photo was taken within a few weeks (January '07). ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/19 "2008-02-21T22:29:52Z")
[YouTube videos](http://youtube.com/results?search_query=google+earth&search_type=). ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349/20 "2008-02-23T00:08:31Z")
[QUOTE=waterj2] Well, not from a satellite, and probably not that interesting to anyone else, but I did manage to find myself on Google Maps Street View. [/QUOTE] They caught my roommate walking to work on our block. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-interesting-caught-on-satellite-mapping/438349.md?page=2)