A Google engineer, who asked to remain anonymous, has just emailed to let us know about an amazing new secret feature in both Google Earth and Google Maps: two new satellite modes which let you see heat maps and believe it or not, literally inside buildings… yes, Google have added both X-ray and infrared thermal imagery!

Even more incredibly, the first location to receive the new X-ray and infrared thermal imagery is none other than The Pentagon! Click on the thumbnail images, or load up Google Earth to see these undocumented layers.

The Pentagon recently blocked Google from capturing Street View images of US military bases, but Google have now hit back thanks to a loophole in the law. Because space falls outside of international jurisdiction, the US government is powerless to stop Google’s satellites looking inside America’s highest security building!

Google haven’t made a statement yet so this feature is still completely unofficial, meaning we don’t know when it might be rolled out for the rest of the world. However, imagine the repercussions for global privacy if the X-ray and infrared images were combined with the Live images in Google Earth that we reported on this time last year…