The image was taken in 2005, and shows what appears to be a 100 metre-long (328 ft) groove gouged from the desert sand. Your first thought might be that a plane crashed here, but there’s no sign of any wreckage. However, with the constantly shifting sand it’s entirely possible that any evidence of a crash has simply been covered over, but then why would the gouge itself still be visible?

Zooming in closer we can see that the formation actually sits inside a huge rectangle that has been partially worn away by the gouge itself – suggesting that the rectangle was here before whatever made the huge impression showed up. Could something have been aiming for this spot, and if so, what for?

So what are we seeing here? Clearly this is not a natural formation – could it be a crash site after all? The results of a missile test? A small meteor impact? Or something else extra-terrestrial?

More info about the Grand Erg Oriental, as ever, is available on Wikipedia.

Thanks to hank via our submissions form!

Locations: Algeria / Categories: Deserts, Weirdness

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Desert week may be over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun in the sand. We will warn you though, you will need to pick up the phone and call the kid in you and have ‘em cover and play. You’re gonna need their help today.

Don’t guess right away; let your mind rotate the image a little. What do you see?

If you saw the lower part of a man’s face, you saw what we did. The great winds of Algeria have shaped the sand of the Issaouane Erg into a sad man’s face.

His is not the only face we found though. With a softly-curved-upwards nose and the line of the artist’s chisel surrounding the mouth, can you see the face of this little wooden girl?

There seems to be a lot of heads in the desert! Perhaps it is the hand of God doodling in the sand as we’ve found yet another one.

A westward facing goat’s head, maybe? What do you think it is?

Head’s are not the only thing to be seen in the sand though. Take a look at this shape.

The Dr. Seuss-ness of this tree stands out clearly to me. There’s no hatted cat to be seen, but let your imagination see the tree in purple and green.

All of these great sand shifted shapes come compliments of some high resolution imagery in the middle of the Saharan desert. Zooming out on this section it looks like the pockmarked face of a teenager in puberty.

Sadly, the high-res imagery is only available for a small area. The lower-res imagery surrounding the high-res rectangle looks like something you saw under the microscope in biology class. Though a contradiction in terms, we have micro-organisms in the desert.

Well, we hope you’ve enjoyed this little adventure into the sand. We’ve tried to keep it light and fun. Yes, we could have gone all serious on you and pointed out what seems to be a giant pool, enormous piece of tin foil, or a really very odd alien landmark, but every now and again isn’t it nice just to float in the clouds and gaze at the desert formations?

Okay, we’ll leave you with one more. This time we’re not going to tell you what it is though. It’s your turn. Take a look at this mystery shape, let your imagination run away with you, and leave your thoughts below.

Locations: Algeria / Categories: Deserts, Weirdness

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After Japanese manufacturer Matsushita topped the South Korean electronics company’s 102″ plasma with a 103″ model Samsung moved developments to the African country of Algeria where Matsushita’s spies wouldn’t know what they were up to.

Rather than risking another embarrassment Samsung have gone all out and developed a 4,975″ Plasma screen. However, this may have been a mistake – the TV is so big that it keeps falling onto its back.

Also see previous oversized electronics on Google Sightseeing.

Thanks: SpiderX22

Locations: Algeria / Categories: Weirdness

View in Google Earth