The Weirdest Things People Have Found On Google Maps
Google Maps isn't just the app that made us all forget how to follow analog directions. It's also a treasure trove of unusual and unexpected sights, from those seen on satellite imagery to the stuff seen by Google's fleet of street view cars.
Let's venture off the beaten path and delve into some of the weirder stuff that's been spotted on Google Maps. Afterwards, you can go back to using it solely for directions.
It's fun to stay at the...
Putting on a good show for the Google Street View vehicle is easier said than done. Sure, the cars are distinctive looking, but most of us barely get any warning before seeing one drive by.
That makes this display all the more impressive. Not only did this group hatch a plan to spell out 'YMCA' for the vehicle, they managed to execute it perfectly. The only thing that would make this better is if they did it in front of an actual YMCA location.
The start of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
It's one thing to wake up on a gloriously sunny morning to find that some local hooligans have TP'd your entire property at some point in the night.
It's another thing to not only wake up to this toilet paper catastrophe, but also to have the Google Street View car cruise by just as you make the discovery, thereby immortalizing your lousy day for the entire world to see.
An unexpected photobomber
The satellite imagery of this quaint village was almost completely obscured by a passing Virgin Airways flight as it passed overhead. Considering the speed of a jet airliner at cruising altitude, it's impressive that a satellite was able to capture it in such detail.
You'll see planes photobombing satellite imagery on occasion but considering the frequency of air travel, it's kind of surprising that more satellite maps aren't full of planes.
Don't talk to me or my son ever again
We don't know if this was a pose that they put on specifically for the benefit of the Google Street View vehicle or just something that took place by happenstance, but this is a pretty amusing pic.
Even with their faces fully blurred for anonymity, you can get a pretty good grasp on their temperament by body language alone. They might be here on the driveway, but they're definitely not here for any of our nonsense.
Dinner for one
Those weird rubber horse masks were all the rage a few years back, and even if they've waned in popularity, they'll still pop up from time to time in Google Maps pics like this one.
It makes sense to throw on a silly mask for the benefit of Google Street View, but this guy really had everything planned out, from the roadside dinner table (complete with flowers) to his half-eaten banana.
Are those Teletubbies?
The person who posted this notes that it's a street view image from Norilsk, Russia — essentially in the middle of Siberia. What might be dismissed as four folks in colorful snowsuits gets weirder the longer you follow them, though.
The poster said that while they're just strolling down the street in this image, they can also be seen staring at walls and checking on mailboxes, seemingly at random.
Sage advice
Plenty of signs tell us what we are and are not allowed to do, but not too many get nearly as personal as this one. I mean, it's basically calling anyone who reads it a fool, even if they weren't even thinking of urinating here.
While it might seem a tad rude, it evidently gets results. Even if this was once a spot for rogue peeing, it's completely deserted in this image.
Like a Renaissance painting
These three guys (well, really just the two on the right) have done a stellar job of creating a memorable scene for Google Street View. All they had was their imaginations and a pickaxe, and they made the most of their moment in the spotlight.
At least, that's what I think is happening. Since I couldn't find any news results for pickaxe murders that were captured on Google Street View, I'm going to assume this was a fun prank.
When the furry convention is in town
Furry conventions are definitely a thing in the 21st century, which means that major cities will periodically be swarmed by crowds of people wearing anthropomorphic furry animal suits.
When the conventions are in full swing, streets full of furry friends are a common sight. But when the convention winds down, you're left with sights like this: A group of lonely furries trying to find where they parked their car.
Ghostly littering
The person who posted this on Reddit said that it shows the driver of a Street View vehicle littering, but I'm not so sure. After all, if you were driving a car whose purpose was taking constant 360-degree video, would you be so careless as to litter? Also, that hand hasn't released the can yet.
The only thing I can be sure of with this image is that the hand is disembodied and partially transparent, which has to serve as conclusive proof that ghosts are real.
The fires were angry that day
Images on Google can get stretched out, skewed, and distorted in all sorts of fun ways. That's what's happened here, transforming a fire danger sign into a fire anger sign.
Even though this isn't what the sign actually says, it still works. Most natural disasters seem to be kind of angry beings, and wildfires might be the most ornery of all. In any case, the risk of fire anger is very high, so be wary.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
It's always fun to see internet memes cross over into the real world (anyone remember "All your base are belong to us?"), and here's a prime example along a river's spillway.
We don't know whether this was placed there in response to something that happened in the area, like a flood, or if it's just the favorite symbology of the person who put it there. It's one of those Easter eggs that's easier to see from the air than from the ground.
That's one long doggo
Here's a prime example of the stretching, skewing, and morphing that frequently happens in these images. Sometimes, it'll be obvious that the image is off, but in cases like this, things align just about perfectly.
So no, this isn't an extra-long, six-legged dog. It's just a normal dog that was photographed in such a way that its body looks really long. That's what I'm telling myself, at the very least.
Just look casual
This image was taken outside of a prison, and shows a guy in a prisoner's uniform, hauling what appears to be some laundry over his shoulder. This is either a (pretty funny) prank by some local, or a legit prison break in progress.
I admire the guy's pose in this image. The key is to not be suspicious, and act like you belong. It might be hard to fit in with that prison garb, but he's doing his best.
Natural camouflage
Google already blurs out the address numbers of houses for privacy, but sometimes a property will get a little bit of extra anonymity through sheer happenstance. In this case, a pair of falling leaves has perfectly obscured the house.
This is great news if the homeowner here likes their privacy, but it's terrible news if the owner is looking to sell and wants people to be able to easily check out the house.
The Chicago what now?
A big city like Chicago is going to have a lot of emergency personnel spread across different departments, ranging from SWAT teams to low-level bylaw enforcement. Apparently, judging by this vehicle, there are some unexpected departments as well.
It's easy enough to see how the pattern on this car has repeated to stretch out the vehicle and change the meaning of the writing. On first glance, however, it really does look like just a normal vehicle.
Caught in the act
This dramatic scene out of Sweden, in which two masked bandits in striped shirts carry a...crocodile or something...out of a house, wrapped in a carpet, looks like it's something out of a movie.
Based on the fact that street view also shows cameras across the street, this was part of a shoot for a movie or TV show. That's good news, because that knowledge makes it a lot easier to process this weird sight.
Unexplored and undetonated
World War II spread around the globe, from the battlefields of Western Europe to the jungles of Southeast Asia. Along the way, it stands to reason that some outposts and caches were simply abandoned at the end of hostilities in 1945.
This explosive stockpile was found (thanks to the magic of Google Maps) in the middle of the jungle in New Guinea. It doesn't look much different than it would have 80 years ago.
Careful now!
Yes, this street view imagery out of Philadelphia is hilarious on first glance. On second glance, it's just as hilarious, but there are layers. First off, how is this little guy bailing so hard off of a stationary bench?
When you look at the composition of the bench, it may yield some answers. It seems like the seat portion is actually made of uneven tiered slats, which would make it tough to balance on — and easy to fall off of.
There's lore to this one
If this looks like an angry local who's threatening the Google Street View vehicle and insisting that Google blur his house, it's because that's exactly what's going on here. The Redditor who posted it shared the story of their "crazy, tin-foil-hat neighbor" starting beef with Google.
While Google did blur the guy's face, as they do with everybody's face, they explicitly left his house unblurred. Whether this was done as a malicious act or standard practice is anyone's guess.
Everyone needs a comfy seat
Cyclists know that it's particularly tough to carry stuff while you're riding a bike when you don't have a rear rack or basket to offload it onto. This guy is finding that out the hard way, and his frustration is evident.
I'm sure it'll all be worth it when he gets this office chair to its final destination, but at the moment this pic was taken, things couldn't be much more unwieldy.
Google apparently values modesty
It makes perfect sense that Google blurs out individual faces, along with anything that might be deemed inappropriate or unsavory. That said, this choice of blurring seems a little odd.
Sure, a dog's hindquarters might not be the most beautiful thing to look at, but it's a common sight if you're out and about in an area where people are walking their dogs. Maybe Google's algorithms thought this dog's butt was a person's face or something.
A very good mountain
Antarctica is a mysterious place, even if it's fully viewable on Google Maps. Part of this is due to its largely unexplored remoteness, and part of it owes to weird sights like this.
This mountain or rock formation probably doesn't look out of the ordinary when viewed from the ground level, but from the satellite view, it looks exactly like a standing dog. If it has a name, hopefully, it's something along the lines of Mt. Goodboy.
While we're in Antarctica...
Here's a second image from the southern continent, and this isn't going to do much to dispel all of the bizarre theories about Antarctica. I mean, it looks exactly like a face: An anguished alien face, squinting into the heavens.
Lots of things look like faces, of course, and our brains are wired to recognize faces even when we're not looking at an actual face. That's the boring explanation. Still, I'm going to assume this has something to do with legit aliens.
This is an apparently island of nothingness
Vostok Island has sparked theories for years, thanks to its isolated location - and the fact that its Google Maps imagery apparently shows an empty void.
It's located in the middle of a vast swath of the Pacific Ocean, part of the island nation of Kiribati. The fact that it's so isolated means that it's tough for anyone to access it and verify if it is, in fact, some kind of portal to an alternate dimension.
Turns out there's no real mystery
This blurry image from Apple Maps shows us that there is actual terrain and vegetation on Vostok Island, even though it is extremely blurry. It seems that Google's imagery is either a glitch, or is blacked out for unknown reasons.
Either way, divers have explored the island and its nearby reefs, and it is just a regular isolated island - even though a lot of lore has built up around it. So why is it blacked out? We don't have the answers to that question, although it's possible that what appears to be a blacked-out void is actually just dark green jungle.
When the driver is a scofflaw
This is an unspectacular image until you add a little bit of context. That context? A Google Street View car captured this sign, which displayed the speed of said car. It's clear as day that this driver was technically speeding through a school zone.
Sure, they weren't going extremely fast, and that limit only applies when children are present. But it still isn't a great look for Google's drivers to be doing stuff like this.
A tale as old as time
We're going to take a quick break from the weird and wacky and focus on something more mundane and relatable: The inherent weirdness of Google Maps when it's trying to suggest the quickest possible routes.
Obviously, the ETA isn't going to be too much different if you take this short detour before rejoining the main road. The question is why Google's algorithms would come up with this route in the first place.
Don't mess with her
At first, I was transfixed by her coat because it kind of looks like it's made entirely of raw intestines. But on a closer look, it's just an intricate pattern.
The thing to focus on isn't her coat at all, it's what she's wielding in her right hand. I don't know why she left her house with a small axe, I just know that I wouldn't cross this old lady.
Cats need privacy too
Here's another example of Google's blurring technology getting a bit weird. It's better that they err on the side of blurring things that don't need to be blurred rather than the other way around, but this is just taking things to a ludicrous extreme.
The cat sitting on this front path is thoroughly blurred — in fact, the only part of its whole body that isn't blurred is its tail. Maybe it sent a cease-and-desist letter to Google or something.
A mistake visible from space
When the Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized just offshore some years back, it made international headlines for obvious reasons — it was an entirely avoidable disaster that resulted in deaths and an expensive cruise ship getting scrapped.
The ship was so big, and was on its side for so long, that it was immortalized on Google Maps. The captain of the ship should feel ashamed, because it isn't often that you make a mistake that can be viewed from orbit.
When you've run out of naming ideas
There are a ton of named streets in the world, and it must be a bit of a challenge to come up with a bunch of unique names when a new subdivision is constructed.
One lazy option is to name streets after letters or numbers. But this small neighborhood in Nova Scotia, Canada went for a similarly lazy, but far more memorable, naming convention. It's like an Abbott and Costello routine.
Floridaception
There's no mistaking the outline of Florida, which is clearly the inspiration for this property feature (it looks like a swimming pool or manmade pond, but it's hard to tell for sure).
Naturally enough, this Florida map is located in Florida itself, which probably gives it the power of Florida squared. Considering Florida's outsized reputation in the national consciousness, this is the kind of power you don't want to mess with.
Buried treasure
The world's oceans are full of shipwrecks dating back to antiquity, and they're also increasingly full of downed planes, particularly those from the World War II era. Sometimes, satellite imagery can reveal these wrecks in highly detailed ways.
The water here can't be particularly deep for the plane to be so visible. It also looks like the plane crashed relatively gently, maybe even doing a water landing, for it to be intact.
The old man of the hills
This aerial view from the middle of nowhere in northeastern Arizona looks a lot like a face viewed in profile. The terrain even gives the face a realistic eye cavity.
It looks like the white lines are footpaths or dirt roads that were built along the edges of the hillsides, emphasizing the outline of the face. This is the kind of thing that's only really visible from the air.
A surreal diner
Google Street View doesn't just cover streets, it also offers 360-degree views of various restaurants and retail establishments. These can be super handy, as they give people an easy way to check the vibe of a place before going inside.
This looks like a nice enough restaurant, even if it's pictured during a quiet time of day. So long as you can look past the half-human, half-pigeon that's sitting there and staring at you, it's probably a good place to grab a bite to eat.
L ❤️ A
Plenty of islands and lakes look vaguely like letters and shapes, but sometimes the resemblance is a little too perfect for it to be a fluke. In this case, the islands in the lake were definitely manicured to take on this message.
The Redditor who posted this wrote, "An old guy made this for his wife on their farm without her knowing about it, as a celebration of their life together."
The landscape's looking pretty thicc
It's important to shut out the intrusive thoughts when they don't serve a practical purpose, but sometimes it's impossible not to let these thoughts win — particularly if you're flying over a landscape that looks like this.
As the surrounding forests change shape, this landscape will surely begin to look a little different as well — but as of the moment this photo was taken, it certainly carries a certain kind of vibe.
The Statue of Anonymity
The Statue of Liberty is one of the most photographed attractions in the world, so seeing Lady Liberty isn't unusual. What is a bit odd is that Google Maps has blurred the statue's face.
This is done automatically, of course, as Google uses AI to automatically blur people's faces. Generally this is pretty well done, but in this case, the Statue of Liberty has a face that looks human enough to trigger the algorithm software.
This pic is A-okay
Clouds are a mixed bag when it comes to satellite imagery. Too many of them will block out any view of the landscape below, but having just one or two cloud puffs in an image can add an impressive sense of scale.
Another fun aspect of clouds in satellite pics is when they come in fun shapes, which are projected onto the ground as shadows. This cloud in Slovakia looks just like somebody doing the "okay" hand signal.
How did he get this way?
This serene, contemplative pic was captured somewhere in Alaska. Judging by the rifle, this guy might be deciding where to go hunting next. Then again, judging by everything else, he's probably wondering what happened to his body.
Street View can do weird things to an image, but I'm at a loss trying to explain this one. Aside from his weird dimensions and the impossible angles of his arms, he also has boots that are pointing in the wrong direction.
Two for the price of one
By now, we all know the drill: If you see a Google Street View vehicle, it's pretty much mandatory to wave at it, so your blurred face can be immortalized on Google Maps forever.
That's what this guy did, only he achieved the rare twofer: In the course of one month (October of 2017), he was spotted by two separate vehicles, in two different states, all while apparently wearing the exact same outfit.
Found him!
Where's Waldo (or Wally in some parts of the world) is a game made challenging by the fact that the titular Waldo blends into crowds and backgrounds. In this case, against a plain grassy background, Waldo is extremely easy to spot.
I'd criticize this iteration of Waldo for not even attempting to hide, but he's advertising for Spirit Halloween, so I suppose being spotted is kind of the whole point here.
Boo!
A Redditor found this weird sight in the middle of nowhere, Utah. It seems to be a woman who's dressed as a cat, jumping up from behind a rock. Then again, maybe it's a woman dressed as a panda. Heck, maybe it's an actual panda.
In any event, it's hard not to salute her for going to this effort. It would have been a long drive to get to the middle of nowhere, but at least she made her photo op count for something.
The reviews certainly check out
The photos of this bench make it look like just about the most unspectacular bench in the world. But it must have something going for it, as it has a name (Riccione), and a scintillating review score.
Why does this random bench have a bunch of photos on Google Maps, and why have dozens of people given it such a high score? We have no idea, but it seems like a legit attraction.
Yet another Eiffel Tower
There are already Eiffel Tower replicas in Las Vegas and China (not to mention the real deal in Paris), and judging by this aerial imagery, the trend is growing. This Eiffel Tower was built on the arid plains of Inner Mongolia.
Usually things like this become tourist destinations, but it doesn't look like this area is really set up with much tourist infrastructure. Maybe there's a bigger plan at play here.
No one's above the law
If you thought that those weird-looking Google Street View cars were above the law, or had special rules that applied to them, this pic should change your mind. One of the cars captured themselves getting pulled over in the Florida Keys.
We're not sure why the car was pulled over. Maybe the driver broke a rule of the road, or maybe the police officer just wanted a cameo on Google Street View.
Boy in the bubble
Kids love looking through unusual objects, and this kid in a Brooklyn laundromat is doing exactly that. It's serendipitous that this window decoration (it looks like it's supposed to resemble a washing machine) is placed at the perfect height.
There's just something about the framing of this kid's face within the circle, along with his awkward posture, that helps make this photo weirdly hilarious. I hope this kid stays weird.
Transporting blades
Those giant blades you see on windmills have to get to their destination somehow, and this usually happens via the same interstate highway system that the rest of us commoners use — it's just a slow, painstaking process.
Here you can see what the operation looks like from the air. Those blades are longer than even the longest tractor trailer, so the driver needs to take extra care not to damage them.
This is a vibe
Are you ever feeling antisocial, but also in need of a warm, cozy embrace? This odd pic out of New Zealand kind of captures that vibe. The Darth Vader getup says "Don't talk to me," while the shawl says "I'm having a rough day."
This may have been someone playing a fun prank on the Google Street View, but it's much more fun to believe that this is just how this random person likes to dress.
The bridges are melting
Google's topography does an admirable job of representing different altitudes and the undulation of various landscapes, but things get a bit weird when it comes to bridges that span a deep canyon.
Take the bridges out of the equation and this is practically a photorealistic rendering — but when you superimpose the bridges over the river canyon below, things start to look weird pretty fast. There's always room for improvement.
Help me!
Once again, we're seeing what can happen when Google stretches and skews images, sometimes combining different images into the same frame. Maybe someone was waving and their hand was transposed into this pic, or maybe there's actually a hand reaching through the pavement.
It's no big deal to see these things when you're a seasoned street view explorer, but it's certainly an alarming sight if you haven't seen something like this before.
Good boy alert
This isn't a particularly weird image, per se. It's just heartwarming, that's all. I wonder if this guy is the owner of the truck and the dog, or if he was just walking by and decided to give the doggo a scritch.
It's just nice to see that Google Street View's algorithms didn't decide to blur the dog's face, as we sometimes see with pets. That's a winning smile, and it deserves to be seen.
The hardest album cover of all time
We've seen furries on Google Street View before, and now there's this. I don't know enough about the subculture to say whether or not these folks are furries, but it certainly seems furry-adjacent — while they're wearing normal clothes, each one has a big mascot head.
Whatever the case, this looks like an intimidating scene to be a part of. I don't trust that duck one bit — beneath that fake smile, he seems pretty devious.
More than a little bit ominous
This is exactly what Google Maps says it is: A big pentagram that's been carved into the landscape, at a scale so big that it can easily be viewed by satellites in orbit.
It looks like there are hiking trails in the area — maybe the lines of the pentagram are trails in themselves. It's just a shame that there aren't any reviews listed. I want to know how many stars this thing has.
Kill it with fire
Big inflatable lawn decorations are a common sight, especially around the holidays. But this isn't a Christmassy snowman, or a Halloweeny pumpkin. It's just a big, off-putting baby, waving its massive hand in greeting.
Look, this isn't my house, and it's the homeowner's prerogative to put this thing up on their property. But if I lived anywhere near this house, I'd give it a wide berth. Something about this is just so weird.
Mr. Grabbyhands
I think this guy made a big show of touching his partner's butt because they both knew the Google Street View car was driving by, and they wanted to make their cameo memorable.
That said, I like to think that this is just how this couple goes on walks. The couple that plays grab-butt together stays together, right? I think that's how the old saying goes, at least.
