Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.
Is this a mysterious floating disc in Egypt? It certainly shares characteristics with the Australian Flying Car, but this time the ’shadow’ looks too… dense? And maybe too sharp around the edges as well I think.
Maybe this is actually the world’s largest manhole cover!
Thanks to Hide Kuwa
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This is obviously a flying saucer…!
The ancient Egyptians were well-known for their gigantic papyrus umbrellas.
Okay, maybe I made that up.
Water tower maybe?
since it is near sea it can be an umbrella
it’s Egypt. It’s the desert. I.e., really bright sun. Sharp shadows shouldn’t be too surprising.
darn it….they found it again, should have left it in the space port!
considering the proximity of the runway to the north-east and the general ‘airbase’ feel of the area I would hazard a guess at it being an air traffic control tower. these often have the ‘mushroom’ shape that would create this shadow and the sharpness of the shadow is explained by keith t.
“considering the proximity of the runway to the north-east and the general ‘airbase’ feel of the area I would hazard a guess at it being an air traffic control tower. these often have the ‘mushroom’ shape that would create this shadow and the sharpness of the shadow is explained by keith t.”
Killjoy.
Has anyone been able to figure out the size of this thing?
83ft Across and roughly 60 feet up.
Lee, would you like me to delete Alimac’s comment? ;-P
The town is called Abu Rudays. Tried to find some photographs, but all I could find was some references to a small oilfield that Isreal gave up control over, and this lovely little article:
http://mtbike.mountainzone.com/2004/biking_egypt/index_3.html
The town is called Abu Rudays. Tried to find some photographs, but all I could find was some references to a small oilfield that Isreal gave up control over, and this lovely little article:
http://mtbike.mountainzone.com/2004/biking_egypt/index_3.html
Oh yeah, as for size, using Google Earth’s measure tool, it seems to be about 82 feet across. I agree with Lee on the airfield associateion, especially considering how few other large buildings are near the airfield.
This shadow isn’t too dense, it’s typical of this satellite photo. Check out these buildings just too the south:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
And anyway, I agree with Keith T.
The airport is military and is also sometimes spelled ABU RUDEIS
It might be a Tower, but the SIZE is way to big for that Runway.
The Shadow is interesting too. I can’t find any real tall buildings that cast a similar yet distant shadow…. all the shadows seem to be relatively short to all the structures that are short to the ground.
This is a VERY interesting photo
salightwind, you’re looking for this:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
Egyptians are known all over the galaxy for the quality of their pyramid schemes.
Jeez, it’s just a black flying saucer parked a little too close to a tan one. The tan one is a bit taller. Zounds, ya’d think it was rocket science or something…
Another shadow over to the left of the flying disc
The airfield looks pretty disused to me. No radars or other antennae to be spotted. The runway is only 2000m which is pretty short for fully laden fighter planes. I think it’s a small utility airfield belonging to the Abu Rudays oilfields (occupied by the isreali’s in ‘73) On the structure, i would agree on Werner, probably a water tower. For a traffic tower there is to less a infrastructure
Ok, someone had to say this but…
…what if this is the Egyption Area51 and that really is a floating disk. I mean hey, we can’t rule it out.
I agree its too far from the runway and too strange a design to be an air control tower. That doesn’t mean it’s not similarly intended (radar?). It’s pretty clearly the highest thing in town.
Also, there’s what appears to be a 6-pad heliport to the west:
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
it is a water tank!!! (obviously you cant see the colukn that holds it neither its shadow!!)
I think it’s a hugetastic umbrella.
Isn’t this Saudi Arabia, not egypt?
n/m, i’m an idiot!
Considering it is next to a little airport,
it is most likely thier control tower.
if it was a water tower then with the shadow there would be something holding it up
I believe it is a ground satalite. I believe the structure to the north is used to employee people to work and analyze data. The other odd black matter and geological landscape to the west, is undiscribable to my reasonable guessing, however, they must have some meaning…I’m stumpped, though.
Water tower.
Interesting that I should happen to find this. Well, I’m a sort of ameture expert on UFOs and military black aircraft. I’m no expert at determining buildings from saucers from the sky, but I can say this:
It’s the only thing with a large shadow. None of the buildings nearby seem to have a larger shadow, and if it were a building, it would obviously be cylindrical, therefore the shadow would not be a circle, but a rectangular-shaped shadow.
The way the shadow looks to me, the object is in the air, and the shadow seems to be a little larger than the object, suggesting it’s in the air, the sun casting from NE direction, around the 2:45 sky position, casting the shadow at the 8:50.
Hope that helped a little.
Where’d the disk shape go? Did Google update their imagery?
Oh there it is! UFO? I don’t think so… the shadow from the shaft holding the disk in the air doesnt show, because the angle of the sun is too high.
yeah right thats a UFO its prob one of those thing at the airport
I found another one that looks very similar in India.
Judging from the locations, both of them look like watertowers.
Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth
And here is a ground level view of the water tower in India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gtbss001.jpg
It’s possible it could be a satalite DISH! That would explian why it has such a large shadow compared to the rest of the buildings. The angled DISH would cast a larger shadow.
That is like Placemark: those / Google Earth.
It is a UFO, because it may look like a water tower but why would its shadow look different to most of the surrounding buildings, also if it was attached to the ground there would be a shadow of whatever is holding it up, now I am not saying that these are aliens, I believe that Area 51 in the USA is paying the egyptian government to let them test their new ships in the abandoned airfield, thus that is why it is not very far away from any residents. If anyone can get a picture of it from the ground, (if it is a water tower), then we can finally settle this arguement.
how would there be a shadow of whatever is holding it up? wouldn’t it be under the
disc/globe/cylinder thingy?
I found another odd object in Sydney, Australia at 33°47′53.69″S, 151° 3′30.33″E.
Can’t find any shadows, but it looks like it’s rather high up.
cone shaped water tower.
Its a water tower. Check out the new imagery
Is it me or does the new shadow not match up well with the tower? its a god damned conspiracy people!
This is a memorial for the soldiers killed in the Yom Kipur (October 73) war between Israel and Egypt
It’s a god damn tower, the shadow on the updated pictures clearly show the column underneath it!!!!
I’m inclined to agree with AliMac. It could be an ATC tower or even a water tower for that matter.
well if you look at it now via the link you’ll plainly see the shadow of the tower supporting the structure…
This is a watertower. They updated it, you can see it now