Amazing Images From Google Earth

Ever since Google first let people scour the planet from the comfort of their computers through the Google Earth software program, fans have been on a virtual scavenger hunt from the North Pole to the South Pole looking for anything interesting, unusual, or unexplained. From shipwrecks to crop circles, from ads big enough to be read from space to a giant pink bunny nearly the size of a football field, we’ve collected just a few of the odd and spectacular sights. You can see the same images in Google Maps by clicking the links we provide–but you’ll get a better view by copying the coordinates in parentheses after each link and pasting them into Google Earth’s ‘Fly To’ box. We’ve also created a file of Placemarks that includes all of these sights and more; you can download it and open it with Google Earth. Enjoy the trip!

Dubbed The Badlands Guardian by locals, this geological marvel (Google Earth coordinates 50.010083,-110.113006) in Alberta, Canada, bears an uncanny resemblance to a human head wearing a full Native American headdress–and earphones, to boot. Of course, The Guardian was produced naturally. For a more synthetic wonder that can be truly appreciated only from above, check out the giant man-shaped lake (-21.805149,-49.089977) near Bauru, Brazil.

Nothing can replace hopping in a plane and going somewhere, but Google Earth gives you a small taste of what you might see when you visit some of the world’s tourist destinations. This spectacular shot shows Victoria Falls (Google Earth coordinates -17.925511,25.858223) on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Other virtual destinations worth flying over are Mt. Everest (27.985866,86.92844) and Mt. Kilimanjaro (-3.0726042,37.343093).

Without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to crop circles is Google Earth. This circle in the desert just outside Beatty, Nevada (Google Earth coordinates 37.401437,-116.86773), is one of hundreds spotted with the software. If you’re hoping that looking at enough crop circles will give you clues about the arrival of our alien overlords, download this set of Placemarks to crop circles.

The unblinking eyes of the satellites record not only human achievements, but our less successful moments as well. One example is this huge ship (Google Earth coordinates 30.541634,47.825445) floating on its side after a maritime accident in the waters of Basrah, Iraq.

Some of the sights you find in Google Earth are just plain mysterious. For example, why is a fighter jet parked (Google Earth coordinates 48.825183,2.1985795) in what looks to be a residential neighborhood lot near Paris? And why is this lake in Iraq (33.39845000,44.48416800) blood red?

As if Oprah Winfrey’s celebrity weren’t big enough already, an Arizona farmer built a 10-acre homage to the talk show host (Google Earth coordinates 33.225488,-111.5955). Visitors can tell their friends, “I got lost inside Oprah’s head.” The celebrity-obsessed can also visit Google Earth Hacks, which has a Google Earth-style map of Hollywood stars’ homes.

Think parking is tough where you live? In Westenbergstraat, Netherlands, drivers apparently have to park on the sides of walls (Google Earth coordinates 52.069207,4.3139865).

Information Sources:  Google Earth, Wikipedia, PCworld
Article Credit: Tom Spring, PCworld

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