Mighty Optical Illusions » Google Earth

Google Street View Illusion

Vurdlak — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:34:21 +0000

Google Street View Illusion

Apart from playing with design, I’m obsessed with new internet trends and emerging technologies. As much as I love sharing original illusions with you, I’m even more thrilled when I get the opportunity to introduce you with something you probably never thought of using when searching for optical illusions. Hope you approve my style, where I try to fuse our illusion topic as much as I can with modern options.

I think it’s refreshing to see our standard content, using different approach occasionally. Our friend, João Marques took his time to introduce us to Google Street View. By now, all of you used Google Maps at some point of your life. Well, at some major cities Google’s mobile crew took high res photos of surrounding areas, while cruising down the local streets. This caused a lot of controversy, as sometimes citizen privacy was invaded, but on the other hand – it helped cops catch crooks in Netherlands.

João has been a daily follower of MOI for some months, and decided to give something back. Before presenting us with the illusion, he thanked us for managing this website with wisdom, “posting only very interesting stuff.” Move around this interactive window, and try to spot what João found so interesting…

I was spending some time in Google Street View, when I saw some guys doing something strange in an window. I zoomed more and found that it was a mural painting, and was completely tricked. – João

USAF Alien in Google Earth

Vurdlak — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:37:02 +0000

By now, you probably realized I’m not the biggest fan of Google Earth illusions. Don’t get me wrong, its mostly because people who submit these satellite screenshots see illusions everywhere – even when there aren’t any. Today’s illusions was almost ditched from the same reason. I became so judgmental of these type of submissions, that I almost missed an interesting detail in this photo. Luckily, in the last second I managed to see what Frank McAree was trying to explain in his email: “Saw your site featured on the BBC click program, It is fantastic and has renewed my interest in this sort of stuff. I thought you might like this, not really an illusion but attached is a Google Earth image of the Beale Air Force base in California. I think the image on the white building is supposed to be the USAF logo, but given its area 51 connections….” Can you see the illusion? Here is another hint.

Check out the USAF logo! What do you see?

A Sand Art Portrait of Barack Obama

Vurdlak — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:04:00 +0000

What I just noticed when I opened my website, and checked the previous Don Quixote illusion, is that there was a hidden Easter egg for all of us! Check out the shield next to the soldier’s left foot. Can you see a reference to the Vase Faces illusion we already published? I felt really smart when I discovered this! Now on to our next article – How big should your canvas be? How about 2.5 acres of ground! This is exactly how much was used to create a gigantic Barack Obama portrait. Piece you are seeing bellow is called “Expectations”, and the artist behind this sand art is Jorge Rodrigues Gerada. The outsize scale of Expectation also allowed the artist to allude to the global impact of this election. For people around the world, the symbolic power of an Obama presidency would be without precedent in modern history. Seems like Obamas are jumping behind each corner, as of lately. – Link via: Scene 360

Flamingo Group Photo Optical Illusion

Vurdlak — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:00:00 +0000

National Geographic’s optical illusions were always among my favorite ones. Not only do their photographers create awesome illusions (from time to time), but their photographs themselves contain artistic touch which makes them perfect fit for this website. Before you continue examining below photo, I recommend seeing National Geographic Camels and NG Zebras first. The aerial photography style is identical in all of them, but this illusion works differently. What we have here is a bunch of flamingos posing together for an auto-portrait, which accidentally looks like one giant Flamingo. In a way, this is very similar to a Disney group photo we had yesterday, agree?

Indian with an iPod in Google Earth

Vurdlak — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 10:59:00 +0000

Long time since we had our last Google Earth optical illusion. I had this submitted by many people, but somehow forgot to publish it by now. In short – this aerial (or satellite) photo gives impression there is an ancient Indian listening to the iPod. Take it as you will, but the picture truly resembles something. Hey, wouldn’t this be amazing free advertisement for Apple? If I were in their marketing team, I’d really take advantage of it. Here are some quotes from people who submitted this. “Hey fella, have a look at this. May be worthy of inclusion in the list.. Cheers Mark Ward. Manchester England.”

Rachel Creed: “This is a pretty amazing shot of a relief map just outside Medicine Hat, Ab Canada. It looks like an Indian with an ear bud in. Here is the Google Map photo”

James Roseborough: “You probably have seen this one, but I first heard about it on CBC Radio show “As It Happens”. They were trying to figure out a name for this formation. It’s an image straight out of Google Maps, and looks like an Indian chief wearing an iPod!”

Alien Workshop Crop Circles Illusion

Vurdlak — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:32:00 +0000

When I was a kid there was a outfit brand called “Alien Workshop”, which very popular among skaters and rollers generation (many of us were part of). I remember how I wanted to buy their shoes, but never found them since they didn’t have any stores nor suppliers in my country. Anyone has similar memories? Somehow these crop circles I found remembered me of my childhood. Am I strange because of this?

Well, anyway – back to the topic. Images you see below were found somewhere in England, and it was said they just popped out over night. What we know for a fact is that they were created using large hay formations, and can be seen from the distance (above) with help of a helicopter or some other flying device. There were speculations about alien species, and their effort to send their messagge. How they created these formations in spirit of communication with us earthlings… I don’t really believe in them conspiracy-alien-government stories, but have to admit there is something mysterious behind it. If someone has more background on the story, please post your findings. One more thing – I am not definitely sure about the location these were taken on, nor am secure it’s England at all. Hope someone spots them in Google Earth and posts the sight! Never the less, photos are magnificent and you will enjoy them.

Crop Circles are Back in 3D

Vurdlak — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:54:00 +0000

Crop circles are back, and this time they’re in 3-D! Pretty cool! This was spotted by Sina and sent to me. A floor of chequered tiles stretches down a long, high-ceilinged corridor with doors leading off each side. And the art of crop circles reaches a new height of sophistication. The astonishing three-dimensional design, 200ft in diameter, has been created in a wheat field at Silbury Hill in Wiltshire. Only yards away are the 5,000-year-old West Kennet Longbarrow burial grounds, one of the largest and most impressive Neolithic graves in Britain. I am not the biggest fond of aerial / Google Earth optical illusions, but these are awesome -they remind me of a portal of some sort!

Lake-o-saurus Illusion in Google Earth

Vurdlak — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:58:00 +0000

I have just received this submission from associate of mine, and found it pretty interesting. We haven’t had Google Earth illusions lately, so this one comes just in time. As you probably see, this aerial photo of a lake (location: Zagreb, Croatia – 45.78231, 16.024332) greatly resembles a creature of some sort. Gordan recognized a dinosaur figure, while I had more luck spotting an Alien from the same titled SF Movie. What do you see? A dinosaur, alien, alligator or maybe even a dragon? We already had dragon in Google Earth, so you might want to check it out as well! Oh, and those of you who didn’t add Facebook application, “Illusion of The Day”, hurry while it still lasts ;)

Update: Some visitors corrected me, and sent the larger image. If you look at the one posted above (small thumbnail on the left), it looks more like a dino now! There is correct link and co-ordinates in the comments section.

Bombed Swastika in Google Earth Illusion

Vurdlak — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:51:00 +0000

Hey guys (and gals)! If you remember, few months ago we posted mysterious Swastika building captured with Google Earth. Well, today I found an email in my mailbox (that by accident got caught in spam folder) from Miguel Valenzuela. This guy spotted something much more interesting browsing that location with Google Maps. The results he sent, shad a whole new light on the meaning of swastika building illusion. Can you also see two bomber airplanes and a bomb crater field? And when I remember we almost accused the poor architect of being a Nazi fan, while in fact he only wanted to create a monument symbolizing defeat of Germany’s evil regime.

This is what Miguel added: “I know this is old but I saw your posting after identifying it by myself on Google earth. If you look to the left you’ll see two other buildings that look like bombers. If you look to the right you’ll see a playing field that looks like bomb craters. Maybe it was set up as a visual illusion to show the symbolism of destroying Germany and just leaving craters. I guess you can do a lot with these things.”

P.S. From your comments, I understood you people dislike payed reviews, so I can give you my word there won’t be any un-targeted reviews from now on! We only posted them 3 of them in this fiscal year, but I have to listen what my audience says, so I promise no more unrelated article advertising from now on! Hurray! Hope you appreciate what I decided…

Area 51 Face Illusion

Vurdlak — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:24:00 +0000

Well, Well (it’s Yerson, for another time). What an interesting location in Google Earth this is. It was sent by Nacho Bizznez, from Denver who wrote: “Found a face just outside of Area 51 with Google Earth. Interestingly, there is a very detailed face of someone.” I believe this is the best Google earth illusion I saw in my life. Look how the face curves are detailed, and how they compose a very detailed face of a man. I only think that it is little worn out. Do you agree? It looks more like a Jesus, only meaner. Or is it Hannibal Lecter, just like on DVD cover? What is your opinion? Well, I’ll let you decide for your selves. – Yerson