From Mercator to Da Vinci, man has sought to map the world, and with the help of satellites and cars, Google have perhaps come the closest to documenting every corner of planet Earth.
Google Earth is an extraordinary achievement of technology, and allows anyone with an internet connection to view some of the world’s most incredible locations.
The company behind the famous search-engine sent cars, planes, and even people on horses to all corners of the Earth, photographing nearly every inch of it.
READ MORE: Google Maps users spot homeowner’s crude prank after they denied ‘request to blur house’
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The digital map is not without its spots of intrigue. From opportunistic pranksters to genuine mysteries that the internet has yet to explain, the Daily Star has compiled some of the strangest spots on Google Earth.
(Image: Getty Images)
Google gone wild
Going on safari can cost a pretty penny, and so if you’re looking for a cheap alternative to seeing the world’s most extraordinary animals in person, a visit to Google Maps could be the answer.
I’m only half-joking, by the way. There really some extraordinary animals photographed up close and personal on the digital world map.
From extraordinary whale sightings to blood-thirsty crocs, if you look hard enough you can probably find all sorts of wild creatures.
Easily the most baffling animal sighting is the case of the flying rabbit, however.
If you decide to take a stroll down this unassuming rural road in Poland using Google Street View, you can find the furry flyer.
(Image: Google Maps)
In one frame, you can clearly see a cute little rabbit making his way down the dirt path. In the next, the poor creature appears to have been flung ten feet in the air.
Quite what caused this the animal to be tossed like this is unclear, although some have speculated that it may have been hit by the Google Earth car itself. Another theory is that a bird of prey picked up the rabbit, only to drop it a few moments later.
People are strange…
Journeying though the alleys and streets of the planet we call home, one thing becomes clear when using Google Earth.
In every town or city, in every country, in every continent, people clearly crave one thing: attention. From a simple thumbs up, to a full-on flash, pedestrians rarely remain stoic when the Google Earth car rolls by.
Although in some instances, its not quite clear what drove those photographed to do what they are doing.
Take these creepy pigeon people, photographed in Tokyo, Japan. Believed to be students from a local art school, its unclear why the ten or so individuals decided to put on the strange masks.
What’s super weird is that whatever way you travel down the road, they’re always looking directly at you.
Creepy places
One benefit of Google Earth is that it allows you to see some of the world’s creepiest places, all from the comfort of your home. Take this field of terrifying-looking scarecrows in Finland for example, or this mysterious house in the middle of a dense jungle.
Perhaps the most bizarre location on Google maps is the hundreds of metres long pentagram, found in rural Kazakhstan.
Internet sleuths have put forward a number of outlandish theories as to the origins of the symbol, which is synonymous with Satan and with devil-worship.
(Image: Google Maps)
Some have suggested that the site is home to a secret Satanist church, or even the Devil himself. Theorists cite the fact that nearby to the huge symbol are two locations called Adam and Lucifer.
However, the reality is slightly more dull. Whereas the symbol has come to represent the Devil in some parts of the world, in Kazakhstan the pentagram is merely a representation of a star.
And so when one creative landscaper decided to border a park with trees making the shape, it probably didn’t raise too many eyebrows.
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