• What island was used to test Nuclear Weapons?
Which archipelago is using sheep to create Street Views?
Here are 15 hidden places Google maps we can’t explain
15 – Moruroa, French Polynesia • The atoll of Moruroa, part of the archipelago
of French Polynesia, is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
• It was basically uninhabited until the French took control in 1964.
After that they used it to test nuclear weapons from about 1966 all the way to 1996.
• There are estimated to have been 200 tests in total.
• There is no official reason why it is not found on Google maps, but it could have
something to do with the effects of radiation on the testers who worked there.
Reports that the island may even collapse have been denied.
14 – Royal Palace Amsterdam • While you can see visit the White House,
Buckingham palace and some of the holiest sites in the world, Amsterdam’s Royal Palace
remains blurred on Google maps.
• This is despite its status as a tourist destination.
Web sites offer plenty history information to lure you on your next European holiday,
• The reason for the censorship is likely down to the fact that it is one of a handful
of places under control of the Dutch Royal Family.
Other residences of the family are also similarly off limits on Google maps.
13 – HAARP site, Alaska • The recently closed down HAARP site in
Alaska, USA was a place for used to research parts of the atmosphere called the ‘ionosphere’.
• The facility opened in 1993 and was run by US Air force, NAVY, DARPA and the University
of Alaska.
• Despite the government involvement, conspiracy theorists thought it was being used to find
a way to control the weather, and some have even blamed it for causing natural disasters.
They would suggest this is why it is blocked on Google Earth.
• The president of Venezuela said it caused the Earthquake in Haiti.
Of course there is no evidence to support any of this.
12 – Cornell University Power Plant • The Cornell University ‘Combined Heat
and Power Plant’ is not a top-secret government location, but the site in Ithaca, New York
has still been blurred out on Google maps.
• If anything, the effort to reduce emissions and cut coal use by the over 150 year old
University should be something to show off.
• There are photos, diagrams and information about the state of the art facility on the
University Website.
• The only thing missing besides a place on Google maps is a vocal solo by Cornell
graduate Andy Bernard about the benefits of the Power Plant.
11 – Babylon, Iraq • The ancient city of Babylon was one of
the most important civilisations in history and is found in modern day Iraq.
• Unfortunately, the ruins are blurred out on Google Maps because of its more recent
history.
• After the former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein was brought down, the US troops occupied the
ancient city in 2003.
• Babylon was thought to have been the largest city in the world at one time, and has been
ruled by many civilisations in the past.
It includes one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World, the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon”.
10 – Millerhof, Russia • In 2009 a pilot flying on the outskirts
of Moscow, Russia discovered an 18th century style palace that is currently blurred out
on Google maps.
• Nobody really knows who built such a huge residence that is so fancy it even has a smaller
palace for guests.
• The residence was nicknamed “Millerhof” after rumours that it belonged to Alexey Miller,
the CEO of Russia’s largest company.
He is thought to have an annual salary of 27 million dollars.
• Whoever the owner is, they are powerful enough to have Google sensor their property.
9 – Israel (West Bank and Gaza) • The only entire country that is currently
unavailable to view on Google Earth is Israel.
This goes back to 1997 when Congress passed an act that restricted satellite views of
the country.
• Google also got into trouble when they deleted Israel’s neighbour Palestine from
the map altogether.
• This put the company in the uncomfortable position, in the middle of the continuing
conflict between the two countries.
• Technically the US doesn’t recognise Palestine, but this didn’t stop people from
taking to twitter with the hashtag PalestineIsHere. 8 – The Faroe Islands
• The Faroe Islands archipelago is home to only about 50,000 people, but parts of
the island have been pixelated.
• The Danish territory lies in the Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and Denmark, and in
the past relied on its fishing industry.
• Reports say that the fuzzy view of sections of the Island may have something to do with
fishing rights.
• However, recently the locals have teamed up with Google to create their own street
view by strapping cameras to the many sheep that outnumber the locals.
7 – Kangtega, Nepal • An area of the Himalayas known as ‘Kangtega’
has a portion of its satellite image missing.
• It is a mountain peak 20 miles from Everest, and its blacked out section has caused many
alien and UFO conspiracy theorists to assume that it must be some sort of secret entrance
to a base.
• It was discovered by a YouTuber last year and shared by many fellow UFO conspiracy enthusiasts.
• Due to the lack of any actual evidence the place could just as likely be the home
of the abominable snowman – or probably just a glitch.
6 – Westchester County, New York • It’s not only secret locations and big
corporations trying to stay hidden from the public, even Westchester County, New York
has requested that Google blur certain locations on its maps.
• The second largest county in New York, made sure satellite images of many of its
government buildings were obscured, hoping that it would make potential terror attacks
more difficult.
• The only problem with this plan: all of the sites are available to view on Yahoo!
maps anyway.
5 – Ramstein Air Base, Germany • The United States Air Force base in Germany
known as ‘Ramstein Air Base’ – is more than just the inspiration for the German Heavy
Metal Band “Ramstein”.
• It is a strategic location for the US that has been opened since 1952 – and, like
most military sites, it’s unavailable to view on Google maps.
• However, recently, it has been the source of some controversy, since the US now use
it as a drone control centre.
• To protest this, thousands of Germans formed a human chain outside the base.
4 – National Security Bureau, Taiwan • The CIA or Central Intelligence Agency
is known to most people; and are frequently portrayed in movies and TV.
One such Agency that is a little more out of the spotlight is China’s answer to the
CIA: the National Security Bureau.
• Logically then, the headquarters are pixelated on Google maps.
• The NSB like to avoid being in the news at all, however this doesn’t mean that we
don’t hear anything about what goes on in this secretive agency.
• In the late 1990s a cashier at the NSB embezzled more than 5 million US dollars.
He made it all the way to North America and is still on the run.
3 –Narsarsuaq, Artic Circle, Greenland • Narsarsuaq, in southern Greenland, had
a population of only 158 in 2010, and despite attracting tourists with its wildlife and
glaciers, the place is obscured on Google maps.
• Whether this has anything to do with its past history or its remote location, Narsarsuaq
has an interesting backstory.
• It was settle by Greenlandic Viking Erik the red in 875.
During WWII the US built an airbase there, and a hospital to help deal with casualties
from the Normandy Landings. 2 – Anthrax Island, Scotland
• Gruinard Island off the coast of Scotland has been uninhabited for decades, and is commonly
known by the name ‘Anthrax Island’.
• It cannot be zoomed into on Google maps, although there probably isn’t much to see
anyway.
• During WWII, experiments with the deadly chemical ‘Anthrax’ were held there using
sheep as the test subjects.
After that the Island was too dangerous to support life even though it was decontaminated
in the 1990s.
• Footage of the tests was declassified in 1997.
1 – Roswell, New Mexico • Home to the most infamous UFO conspiracy
theory, Roswell, New Mexico, is unavailable to view from up close on Google maps.
• In 1947 an object crashed at a ranch outside Rowell.
While the US Military maintained that it was a weather balloon, for decade’s theories
claimed that it was a spacecraft with extra-terrestrial life, and that the military covered it up.
• Despite the government eventually coming clean about the real cause of the crash, the
top secret ‘Project Mogul’, people have been fascinated with the site ever since.