Historically, exploring was an activity undertaken by intrepid individuals like Columbus, Vespucci, and Magellan, and was a dangerous and challenging enterprise.
Today, you can explore every corner of the planet sitting in your living room. All you need is a connection to the internet, and Google will do the rest.
How is that possible?
It’s all due to a program called Google Earth, which reveals the secrets of our world at the click of a mouse.
Google Earth has spawned groups of devotees which find and catalog the most unusual places. But, while for some it’s just a harmless hobby, there is another more serious aspect. It has helped scientists discover unknown ruins, and has even helped police locate hidden marijuana fields.
Google maps the Earth by superimposing images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and a geographic information system.
Google Earth is available to everyone in a free version, but with limited capability. The professional version (Google Earth Pro) costs currently $399 per year.
Life Daily set our team the task of selecting some of the more unusual Google Earth secrets.
Here they are:
1. Firefox Crop Circles In Oregon
In 2006, the Oregon State University Linux Users group created a giant Firefox logo in a cornfield in Oregon.
The logo occupies an area of around 45,000 square feet, and was created to celebrate the Web browser’s 50 millionth download.
2. Secret Swastika in San Diego
The Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in San Diego has an unfortunate design viewed from space.
In 2007, Google Earth aficionados discovered that four unconnected buildings on the base formed the shape of a swastika. The Navy says that, as a result of this embarrassing fact, they will now have to spend more than $600,000 to mask the shape.
3. UFO Landing Pads in U.K. – perhaps!
This is a real Google Earth mystery. An odd formation has been found on a base outside Norwich, England. The U.K. Ministry of Defense called it a motorcycle range, but some claim it is a calibration tool for satellites.
4. Oprah Maze in Arizona
In 2004, a farmer in Arizona decided that, while Oprah Winfrey had almost everything in life, she didn’t have her own personalized maze.
So he created one for her in a cornfield – and Google found it.
5. Airplane Graveyard in Tucson
The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base outside Tuscon, Ariz., is a virtual graveyard for planes no longer required. More than 4,000 military aircraft are parked on the base, from B-52s to stealth bombers. The aircraft are either salvaged for spare parts, or sold for scrap.
6. Bloody Lake in Iraq
Outside Iraq’s Sadr City there is a lake with water the color of blood – leading to speculation at one time that perhaps it really WAS blood from local slaughterhouses.
A more likely explanation is that the color comes from sewage, pollution or a water-treatment process.
7. A Face in the Clay in Alberta
While it looks remarkably like a face from above, this formation in Alberta, Canada, is entirely natural. The “face” is actually a valley eroded into the clay. Some people claim that the person appears to be wearing earphones. The more mundane explanation is that they are actually a combination of a road and an oil well.
If you want to discover some more Google Earth secrets – they are just a click away.
Do you use Google Earth? What has been your most interesting discovery?
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