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topicnews · September 29, 2024

Google Maps: Strange discovery on satellite photos – this is how sunken planes appear on the map

Google Maps: Strange discovery on satellite photos – this is how sunken planes appear on the map


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In the satellite photos of Google Maps There’s always something to discover, that’s for a long time. Because of the perspective alone, strange objects that you wouldn’t expect appear again and again – such as airplanes on the map. But “sunken planes” also appear again and again, lying in partially shallow waters seemingly completely unnoticed and reported by excited users and the media. It should come as the least surprise that these are optical illusions – but how does this even happen?


Google travel logo

At irregular intervals there are reports in the media about supposed discoveries on Google Maps, although these are only real discoveries or even sensations in the rarest of cases. Often it is supposedly sunken aircraft that can be seen very clearly in the satellite images. However, a quick look at the pictures reveals that it is probably not a crashed or missing aircraft. Because in most cases they are not completely intact on the outside and landed perfectly below sea level. Just a few days ago we reported about a plane split in two over the Black Forest.

In addition, an aircraft on the seabed would probably not be visible from above – unless it crashed completely unnoticed near the beach and is not missed by anyone. The fact that a gigantic passenger plane lies unnoticed in a shallow river in the middle of a busy city can probably also be ruled out with a little common sense. But the planes don’t just appear in rivers, but sometimes in other places where they don’t really belong.

Because this phenomenon has been occurring for many years, Google addressed the issue a long time ago and only recently revisited it with a new explanation. Of course, we don’t want to withhold them from you and also show where the aircraft with colorful outlines or other appearances come from.

Google Maps: Strange discovery on satellite photos – this is how sunken planes appear on the map

In most cases, the planes are very blurry, reinforcing the effect that they are actually under the water. Sometimes airplanes can be seen in the satellite images, which are of a realistic size and are also shown reasonably sharply. It is very clear that they simply flew over this area at the moment the photo was taken – which is intended to be prevented by the image selection controlled by algorithms, but does not always work reliably.

You have probably already noticed that it is an optical illusion and that the planes are not actually in the rivers and seas of the world. Instead, it is a simple overlay of images, as a Google spokesman announced some time ago, putting an end to the many speculations.

It looks like the plane is underwater because the images on Google Maps are actually a compilation of several images.

Tiled map from Google Maps

To do this, you need to know how the map platform works, because Google does not keep a huge image of the earth in its database, but rather compiles the views from many millions of small images, of which only the current section and a small security tolerance can be seen. This is even visible if you have a slow internet connection and move the map quickly.

However, the virtual glue points should not be visible, so Google uses the trick of superimposing several recordings on top of each other and thus preventing highly visible borders. And that explains how the effect comes about. There is the shot with a plane and the shot without a plane. These are placed on top of each other with careful transparency and the blurred aircraft appears on the satellite images.

Google Maps airplane

Because the satellite cameras capture multiple images at the same time in different color spectrums, a fast-moving object can look strange. With airplanes, for example, it sometimes looks as if several identical planes in different colors are flying above each other.

Google’s algorithms are supposed to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen and the images with the planes or many other disturbing things are hidden, but it still happens from time to time. Clouds and birds or other things in the sky also disturb the clear view – but they are removed extremely reliably and can therefore only be seen in the further views where this effect is desired. Google Earth even works with artificial clouds for greater realism.

However, this explanation does not mean that an aircraft cannot appear in an unusual place. An airplane in the front yard is a tourist attraction and in the USA and some other countries there are entire airplane cemeteries where the planes slowly decay and are left to the ravages of time. At the same time, the combination of the individual images explains the phenomenon of cut-off buildings, vehicles and other things…

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