# More strange things visible by satellite **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307 "2008-12-02T05:33:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/1 "2008-12-02T05:33:48Z")
[Cargill Salt Works](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=7220+central+ave,+newark,+ca&sll=37.475675,-122.237148&sspn=0.082557,0.180588&ie=UTF8&ll=37.511598,-122.034566&spn=0.005157,0.011287&t=h&z=17) near San Francisco. Weird, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/2 "2008-12-02T07:21:06Z")
What’s interesting is that as you zoom out, the salt pans turn blue all the sudden. The larger scale photos must have been taken at a different time of the year. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/3 "2008-12-02T08:57:58Z")
Wow - used to work in a warehouse right there. The dock looked out over the salt flats. It’s the third building to the right of Willow St, on Central Ave. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/4 "2008-12-08T10:03:29Z")
Here’s [another](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Rio+Amazon,+Loreto,+Peru&sll=6.42375,-66.58973&sspn=13.35442,23.291016&g=venezuela&ie=UTF8&cd=2&geocode=FQ2Ov_8dNf2g-w&ll=-4.481279,-70.258942&spn=0.419626,0.727844&t=h&z=11). Aren’t those cloud formations bizarre? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/5 "2008-12-08T11:41:37Z")
Google Maps doesn’t use satellite pics. They’re photographed by survey planes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/6 "2008-12-08T12:08:19Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Google Maps doesn’t use satellite pics. They’re photographed by survey planes. Google uses a combination of satellite and aerial photos and have recently put up their own imaging satellite. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/7 "2008-12-08T12:16:33Z")
Zoom in on the white thing in the middle of [this shot](http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=55.968227,-4.743347&spn=0.126237,0.331993&t=h&z=12), to the south of Helensburgh. This is the [Captayannis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captayannis). It’s visible from the shore. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/8 "2008-12-08T13:27:57Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Aren’t those cloud formations bizarre? They are cumulus clouds, arranged by the wind into “streets” - and much favored by sailplane pilots. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/9 "2008-12-08T13:39:49Z")
> [@G. Odoreida](#): > > Zoom in on the white thing in the middle of [this shot](http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=55.968227,-4.743347&spn=0.126237,0.331993&t=h&z=12), to the south of Helensburgh. This is the [Captayannis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captayannis). It’s visible from the shore. Huh, strange. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-strange-things-visible-by-satellite/475307/10 "2008-12-08T14:10:51Z")
If you look around Pyongyang, North Korea ([link](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hotel+pyongyang&sll=39.058833,125.769897&sspn=0.019561,0.049267&ie=UTF8&ll=39.032453,125.732839&spn=0.009384,0.024633&t=h&z=16), using the Hotel of Doom as a reference point), you find almost no vehicles of any kind on the roads. The streets and highways are nearly empty. I realize North Korea is a poor country, and maybe the Google shots were taken on a national holiday or something. Still, it’s eerie to see what looks like an empty city.