# Odd Bright Object In Google Maps. Huh?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 30, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100 "2009-09-30T13:56:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/1 "2009-09-30T13:56:34Z")
I was looking up a business in Google Maps, and I came across what looks like a very, very shiny silver-red-tinted spot on the map in satellite view.
It’s in a parking lot and roughly car-shaped.
What would cause this “car” to not be a normal color like everything else on the map?
Is this a satellite optics issue?
Masking for privacy reasons?
The below in [maps.google.com](http://maps.google.com) should bring it up for you:
4900 falls of the neuse blvd, Raleigh, NC 27609
It’s approximately 8 car-lengths northwest of the red “A” that gets displayed when you run the address.
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### Author:  [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/2 "2009-09-30T14:04:15Z")
Looks like a defect in the film to me.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/3 "2009-09-30T14:06:53Z")
Oh, one other thing:
There’s a bank in that building (whole thing might be a bank, actually) so the building does get armored cars from time to time.
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### Author:  [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/4 "2009-09-30T14:30:23Z")
Here’s a [Link](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4900+falls+of+the+neuse+blvd,+Raleigh,+NC+27609&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=57.42297,135.263672&ie=UTF8&ll=35.848415,-78.614113&spn=0.00091,0.002064&t=h&z=20&iwloc=A) for anyone who is lazy.
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### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/5 "2009-09-30T14:51:18Z")
Looks like a reflection of the sun caught at just the right angle off the roof of a vehicle.
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### Author:  [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/6 "2009-09-30T15:05:50Z")
That’s the top of a UPS truck
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/7 "2009-09-30T15:56:48Z")
> [@Khadaji](#):
>
> Here’s a [Link](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4900+falls+of+the+neuse+blvd,+Raleigh,+NC+27609&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=57.42297,135.263672&ie=UTF8&ll=35.848415,-78.614113&spn=0.00091,0.002064&t=h&z=20&iwloc=A) for anyone who is lazy.
I am, thank you.
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### Author:  [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/8 "2009-09-30T16:00:22Z")
> [@pan1](#):
>
> That’s the top of a UPS truck
Good call. UPS trucks have white translucent roofs so workers can see the packages.
[UPS trucks from above](http://www.inmydiarybyannefranklyspeaking.info/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/twoupstrucks.jpg).
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/9 "2009-09-30T16:29:44Z")
I don’t think it’s a reflection of the sun from a horizontal truck roof, because what looks like sun reflections on the other vehicles occur on spots that run downhill toward the bottom of the image. But the white lidded UPS truck idea sounds believable. I think you can see a reddish brown area below the bright rectangle, like maybe the hood of the truck.
I have an excellent aerial of an area I have studied extensively, and in a wooded section there is a brilliant spot with some flare into neighboring pixels. Other aerials don’t show it. I hunted around and found an old bottle with flat sides sticking partway out of the ground within a few feet of where I thought the bright spot was. Don’t know if that is the answer, but it would be consistent with the idea that small but specular object can make a big spot on an aerial.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/10 "2009-09-30T17:05:13Z")
Glitch in the Matrix. They’re onto you. Run!
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [September 30, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-bright-object-in-google-maps-huh/512100/11 "2009-09-30T17:13:44Z")
Could also be a cargo truck of the sort where the cargo area is [wrapped up in a white blanket-like cover](http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/files/images/1951-watersiders-truck.jpg) (often tied down with ropes)\*; the cab of the truck is orange and facing screen-bottom; the ropes don’t get picked up because the pic resolution isn’t sufficient to show them.
The “cargo covered with blanket” theory is consistent with the lumpiness of the white area.
ETA: my GF says "that would be called a ‘tarp’ " :smack: