From long-lost cities to famous spaceships, these are 10 of the most amazing and mysterious
things caught by satellite….
10.
The Badlands Guardian
In southeastern Alberta, Canada is a geological feature that, when viewed from above, looks
like something far beyond the grooves in the valley that it's made from.
Known as the badlands guardian, it looks just like a human wearing a headdress- the surprising
thing is, though, that this hasn't been carved by human hands at all.
Instead, geologists say the formation is a result of rainwater eroding the clay-rich
soil of the region, creating numerous patterns across the landscape.
Discovered by Lynn Hickox on Google Earth, word spread and it was eventually dubbed “The
Badlands Guardian”.
Because of the remarkable detail, many people have proposed it might have been created by
an ancient civilization or indigenous culture, but no archaeological evidence has been found
near the area.
If you see it from a different vantage point, it looks just like an ordinary drainage basin.
In a further development to the badlands guardian, a dirt road and an oil well were installed,
making the person appear to be wearing earbuds- meaning this ancient being has clearly embraced
modern life!
9.
Saudi Arabian Structures
The increasing clarity provided by satellite imagery has become an invaluable tool for
researchers and archaeologists around the world, and are particularly useful for exploring
hard to reach areas.
In 2017, researchers announced the discovery of more than 400 stone structures in Saudi
Arabia, each of which dates back many thousands of years.
It’s not entirely clear what their purpose was, but a few of them are located on the
side of a volcanic dome that back in time, used to erupt on a regular basis.
Known as ‘gates’, the smallest of these stone walls is about 43 feet long, and the
longest is 1,699 feet- which is a greater distance than the end to end on a football
field.
Some have been built independently, with collections of stones at each end, while others are built
in rectangular shapes.
They are all found on inhospitable lava fields, which would have been less desolate at the
time that they were built.
Researchers are understandably curious about why these structures were made and hope to
carry out further investigations to learn their purpose...
8.
The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights are an atmospheric display that attracts thousands of people from around
the world to the northern regions for a chance to see them.
They are a humbling example of the magnitude of our planet, and the magnetic forces that
are continually taking place.
Many images and videos have been released by NASA, showing you what the phenomenon looks
like from Space.
Captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite,
you can see the Aurora Borealis swirling around over Canada.
NASA scientists say that evidence like this shows how it's immediately clear that space
weather is an interaction of fluids from the sun and those of the earth's upper atmosphere'…
and explains why the Borealis look so much like a liquid flowing through the sky.
And now for number 7, but first be sure to subscribe and click the bell before you leave!!
7.
The Giant Pink Rabbit
If you were walking to the top of an Italian mountain, there would probably be a range
of things you’d expect to see….
But is the world’s biggest rabbit one of them?
As images on Google Earth showed in 2008, on the side of the 5,000-foot high Colletto
Fava mountain, in northern Italy, lay a 200-foot long pink rabbit.
It was actually an art project designed to give people something to climb on, sleep on,
and play with.
It was knitted with pink wool by a team of grannies and then stuffed with straw to retain
its shape.
Unsurprisingly, the rabbit attracts tons of visitors to the region, where it withstands
whatever weather it's subjected to.
Wool is tough!!
If, after seeing the rabbit, a trip to Italy is going on your bucket list, then you’d
better hurry.
The project was complete in 2005 and, while the intent was for it to be there until 2025,
it has almost completely decomposed already.
6.
The Lost City of Tanis
The city of Tanis, which you may know from Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark,
was once the capital city of Ancient Egypt but has long been lost to the sands of the
desert.
That was until infrared satellite images of the region were taken, and revealed not only
the location but the layout and remains, of Tanis!!
Yay!!
The scans showed the city to be 4 times bigger than had previously been thought, and show
a network of roads and houses that are completely invisible from ground level.
This is possible because the buildings of ancient Egypt were made from dense mud brick,
which leaves a clear outline when looked at in the right way from high up, but completely
impossible to recognize when you're just standing there.
Not only is there extensive evidence of houses and buildings, but also a large network of
underground tombs.
Initial excavations have tallied up perfectly with what the satellite imagery has shown,
but with so much having been discovered, it could take many decades for archaeologists
to fully explore the site!
It also proves that there's far more to be found across Egypt and other countries where
ancient civilizations once stood- who knows what secrets there are still waiting to be
uncovered.
5.
A Fire in the Ocean
NASA has a number of satellites that continuously look at the earth, but one noticed something
quite strange in 2017.
Its probe, the Suomi NPP, has thermal imaging capabilities and was taking images of Brazil
to monitor the development of forest fires across the country.
Each hotspot can be seen on the map in red- which shows how many fires are taking place
at any time.
This, unfortunately, is quite normal- but the thing that stands out is the red spot
that can be seen to the bottom right of the image.
Unlike the others, this area of intense heat is far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
NASA declared this to be a ‘thermal anomaly', as it's clear there wasn't a fire raging on
the water.
Further investigation and knowledge of the area confirmed that there's no volcanic activity
in the region, so what could be causing the heat signature?
There were, of course, conspiracy theories suggesting that it could be a Russian or Chinese
nuclear submarine that was experiencing issues or even a hidden base beneath the waves!
The truth, though, is likely to be far less exciting.
It’s thought that, while taking the images, the satellite was hit by a burst of radiation
from the sun, which could easily cause a false reading in the data.
Unless witness come forward with any evidence from the water, this case will remain unsolved.
4.
Giant A Hole
Finally, here's a perfect example of a neighborly rivalry that’s been caught on camera, and
one that can still be seen on Google Maps!
Occasionally, someone finds a hilarious image that the satellite imaging has picked up on,
and that’s what happened when one user was looking at Sequim, Washington.
As you can see, in the field is probably the world’s biggest A-hole!
It turns out that, according to a Seattle Times article from 2009, the person who owns
this house this is pointing towards had painted his garage in a wild shade of purple.
The neighbors were so upset by this that they circulated a petition because they felt it
devalued their own properties, but it seems that this amounted to nothing and the new
décor stayed.
One of the neighbors was, therefore, unable to do anything but show his dissatisfaction
by mowing his field- so that his message could be seen from space!
3.
Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence was a deadly storm that hit the Carolinas in September of 2018, resulting
in the deaths of 5 people, and leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
Hurricanes contain huge amounts of energy, but it’s only when you see them imaged from
above that you get an idea of just how large and powerful they are.
NASA released images of the storm that were taken by TEMPEST-D, a new weather satellite
that's the size of a cereal box.
The traditional image of the storm shows the familiar cloud shape of a hurricane but fails
to show what lies within.
TEMPEST-D is equipped with cameras that can look further, as this overlaid image shows.
Here, you can see the intense bands of rain that are present, with the green regions showing
where heavy rain is falling, and yellow and red areas denoting increasing intensities
of rainfall.
There are now so many satellites trained on watching the earth, that we’re gathering
more data than ever on events that were thought to be fully understood, and uncovering deeper
secrets like never before.
2.
The Desert Atlantis
There are lots of legendary cities that have been lost to time, but recently one was found,
which has been affectionately called the ‘Atlantis of the Sands’.
For a long time, the only mention of the city called ‘Iram of the Pillars’ was in the
Quran, where it was said to be full of vibrant and tall buildings that were the home of the
people of Ad.
At the end of the story, which saw the people being punished by Allah, the city was buried
beneath the sand- never to be seen again.
That was until the mid-'90s, when a team of researchers used data collected by NASA satellites,
radar, and images from the Challenger shuttle, and found the lost city of Ubar.
They claim it is the same city as Iram of the Pillars.
The images helped them to identify ancient camel trade routes and a large, octagonal
fort.
Descriptions of the city in the Quran are very similar to the remains that have been
found here, so is it the actual city?
Or perhaps the city in the Quran was based upon the real-life Ubar?
No-one knows for sure, but it's a discovery that has helped learn a lot about the way
that ancient civilizations in the region used to live.
1.
The Millennium Falcon
Longcross Studios in Surrey, England, is not somewhere most people have heard of- but it’s
one of the locations that has been used for filming some of the biggest blockbusters of
recent years- including ‘Thor 2’, ‘Skyfall’, ‘Fast and the Furious 6’, and the Star
Wars movies.
Now, on a studio lot, it’s easy to prevent prying eyes from seeing the props and sets
being used, but it’s not so simple to prevent things being seen by an eye in the sky- and
this is exactly what happened in 2017.
During the filming of the latest Star Wars movie, the Millenium Falcon had been moved
on site and, in an attempt to prevent golfers on a nearby course from seeing it, it was
surrounded by shipping containers.
It just so happened that google’s satellites were taking images of the area at the time,
though, so it was clear for all to see.
It’s one of the most famous spaceships that’s never existed and, while it may have made
the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, it wasn’t able to avoid the gaze of Google!
Thanks for watching!!
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