Google Earth is a virtual globe, provided by web giant Google, with maps of the entire world. Well… mostly. The map and geographical information program offers satellite imagery, street view, maps, directions, and overhead views of nearly everywhere on earth. This list of 25 places Google Earth won’t let you see, features the hot spots that Google has blocked from view of curious internet users and amateur geographers everywhere.
As Google Earth is constantly being updated and is widely known for providing a comprehensive, up close, map of the world. It’s also INSANELY popular, so it’s especially strange when stuff ISN’T there. What are you hiding from us, Google?
What’s under those pixelated areas and whited out sections? Some sites are likely blocked for national security reasons, but others are more suspicious. Here are 25 places you cannot find on Google Earth, no matter how hard you try. Conspiracy theorists, have a field day.
Unknown Russian Site Near the Siberian Tundra
This big, dusty mass of nothing could be hiding missile interceptors, a radar station, or maybe even Putin’s personal stores of vodka. No one knows.
Michael Aaf Building, Utah
A chemical weapons test site, it’s most likely whited out for security reasons.
The Royal Palace, Amsterdam
You can see everything around the Dutch Royal Palace, but not the Palace itself. Trees, roads, etc come in crystal clear, but the building itself is obscured from all angles.
Tantauco National Park, Chile
The park, a privately-owned nature reserve, can only be seen from afar. Zooming in closer doesn’t change anything. The best guess as to why it’s partially obscured on Google Maps relates to the fact it’s a home to several endangered species of animals, but not even that fully explains the matter. Perhaps there are animals there that aren’t supposed to exist (dun dun dunnn)…
Russian Energy Executive Alexey Miller’s House
Well…he’s rich, so he can probably have whatever he wants done. Or maybe it’s as simple as his need to sunbathe frequently in the nude.
Cornell University Power Plant
This new addition to Cornell University is eco-friendly and very hi-tech, so perhaps the academics just want to keep their erudite secrets under wraps.
Minami Torishima Airport, Japan
This small, one runway airport is not visible and serves the Japanese Maritime Defense Force so perhaps there are military secrets being hidden.
Keowee Dam, South Carolina
The dam, which helps run a power utility on the East coast of the US, is not visible on Google Earth.
Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada
According to conspiracy theory and popular lore, the black strip over Baker Lake covers extraterrestrial beacons no government wants the world to see.
Mobil Oil Corporation Facilities, Buffalo, New York
Most of the places that get blurred on Google Maps are potential terrorist targets or sites of National security interests. But up in Buffalo, New York, home of snow and gateway to Niagara, there’s a big blurry blob where the Mobil Oil facility currently resides.
US Air Force Ramstein Airforce Base, Germany
This area of Germany is used as a retreat for the Operation Iraqi Freedom forces and is considered a possible target for opposing forces, necessitating its unavailability on Google Maps.
This Random Patch of the Pacific Northwest
This one, near the Oregon/Washington border, is shrouded in mystery. Curious minds from Prison Planet investigated the area and found no signs of anything worth keeping secret.
Szazhalombatta Oil Refinery, Hungary
All of the buildings, plants, and other facilities have been blanked out from this Hungarian oil facility for no apparent reason (other than to baffle curious Google Maps users).
Babylon, Iraq
This heavily populated city is blurred to the point that it’s unrecognizable.
ALL of North Korea
It’s Kim Jong Un; are you really expecting a rational explanation?
Reims Airbase, France
No one said the French were perfectly comprehensible folks.
Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, New York
If anything on the scale of what happened in Japan befell New York, this whole patch of upstate land would apparently be wiped off the map anyway.
This isn’t just blurry, it’s sub-8-bit. This particular air force base went abstract when Wikileaks divulged the presence of nuclear warheads within its walls.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas, California
Large chunks of the track are whited out because speed kills.
This Missile Silo In Spain
This missile silo in Spain is apparently visible on Yahoo! Maps but not Google Earth. Curious.
HAARP Site, Gakona, Alaska
HAARP stands for “High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program.” Conspiracy theorists attribute everything from floods to earthquakes to the facility’s existence.
NATO Headquarters, Portugal
The image you see on Google Earth is another plot of land superimposed on top of the NATO facility.
Seabrook Nuclear Facility, New Hampshire
These nuclear power plants just don’t want you to know what’s going on at all.
Elmira Correctional Facility, New York
Fears of an aerial attack on the prison could have prompted the blurring of the Elmira facility (or the desire to keep the things that bring the boys to the yard secret).