30 Giant Figures Seen from Google Earth

Wed, Oct 22, 2008

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12 Faces of Google Earth

1. The Château de Versailles, although some 20 km from the capital of France, was once the centre of political power, making it a revered institution and highly-visited sight. The gardens of Versailles cover 800 hectares of land and have been carefully manicured for centuries in the traditional French style. Only since the advent of Google Earth have we been able to view the lawns so meticulously, revealing this smiley face hidden in the grounds.
versailles

2.The definite profile of a smiling, bearded man can be made out from the hedgerows around these fields. Actually, it could be Abe Lincoln without his hat. Anyone else agree?
Abe Lincoln

3. A native American Indian, replete with feathered headdress, is hiding in the hills of Alberta, Canada, and by the looks of it he’s found a way to pass the time – dangling from his ear looks something suspiciously like an iPod ear piece. Wonder what he’s listening to.
indian

4. The ghostly image of a lady appears in a field in Ohio. Zooming in closer to the image reveals the eyes may be trees that the farmer has cut around and the mouth is just a naturally darker patch of grass. Ah, the wonders of nature.
grey lady

5. And in total contrast to the aforementioned image, the hand of man etches a number of similar images in a clearing in Denmark. The original mask design was created by none other than Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Titled ‘The Sun as a Face’, this face-shaped forest was planted in Odense in 2005 as part of the bicentennial celebrations of Hans Christian Andersen’s birth.
grass face

Odense town planners seem to have liked Ugly Duckling author’s design so much they decorated half the town in the design. This smaller version is a nature playground to the north of the larger forest face.
small grass face

Fingerprint2. Bodies and Body Parts >

Palm Hotel3. Symbols and Shapes >

6. We’ve found Jesus! He was hiding in the Peruvian sand dunes the whole time.
jesus

7. This uncanny image of a sniffing, capped chef is found on the corner of the island of Sicily, home to some of the world’s finest cooking.
chef

8. Not the most obvious of Google’s findings but atop these rocks on a tiny island off the West Coast of Ireland, it looks as if there’s a face with a pronounced Romanesque nose looking out to sea. It never ceases to amaze what the mind’s eye can see with very little persuasion.
irish face

9. Often referred to as one of the most influential women in the world, chat show host Oprah Winfrey certainly knows how to draw an audience. No wonder she’s also the richest women on TV. *Must get snipping.
oprah

10. A cheeky little imp in a field in Germany looks as if it was created by crop circle artists who got bored trying to do the real thing. Just to the side of the face are a number of tiny failed crop circles.
cheeky

11. Not the clearest of images, as the original design is becoming overgrown, but the outline of a burst pumpkin is still visible. It looks as if it would have required a serious amount of planning and effort to pull it off.
pumpkin

12. Scary but true. As if the fast food giants don’t bombard us with enough advertising, they’ve decided to conquer clients from via Google, too. In 2006, KFC took The Colonel to the Nevada desert in the hope of making the first visible logo from space.
kfc
It was revealed, not long after the stunt, to be a PR exercise in viral marketing. Needless to say, it worked.
kfc logo

Fingerprint2. Bodies and Body Parts >

Palm Hotel3. Symbols and Shapes >

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This post was written by:

Linda McCormick - who has written 175 posts on Environmental Graffiti.

Linda is a writer and editor, currently based in London. Growing up in N Ireland, she craved sunnier climes so set off around the world, forever chasing the sun. On her travels she discovered she was much more passionate about the environment than she realised – although never quite got the whole tree-hugging thing – and has always had a penchant for the unconventional and creative side of life, so working at Environmental Graffiti suits her just fine.

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32 Comments For This Post

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  1. Gary W Says:

    The man in a top hat taking a stroll across the countryside must be Mr. Peanut.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Peanut

  2. hugo Says:

    Hey…you erased my comment about how the monkey is in Peru (Nazca Lines) and not in Mexico…sneaky.

  3. Alberto Says:

    what !!!! —>A monkey is on the loose somewhere in Mexico. The design resembles ancient Mesoamerican art, giving a clue to its age, though we’re not entirely sure.<—-

    this is a false , beacuse , this lines , (the monkey ) is in Peru – Lineas de Nazca

  4. manuel Says:

    A monkey is on the loose somewhere in Mexico. The design resembles ancient Mesoamerican art, giving a clue to its age, though we’re not entirely sure.

    LOL

    NAZCAAAAA!!!!!

  5. Yas Says:

    La figura del mono es parte de una serie de dibujos llamados “Las líneas de Nazca” echo por pre-incas en PERU.

  6. David Says:

    The monkey is from the Nazca Lines in Peru.

    Not a great valid source of mine but gives a roundabout picture.

  7. Marko Says:

    The image in the 6th picture, the triangle with the concentric lines is found in Nevada, US and represents an aerial view of a target for bomber planes practice. There are some 4-5 others simillar to it, in a radius of some 100 km.

  8. x.tammie.x Says:

    okay…that was slightly wierd and fake , well , some of it actually was.

  9. Charles Says:

    The one of the palm is an entire almost suburb, not just a hotel.

  10. Tips Photo Says:

    This is cool and not something I would usually use Google Earth for.

  11. David Rivers Says:

    Would have been nice if you actually linked to the relevant shots on Google Maps.

  12. Alfie Says:

    Angie os sooooooo Sexxy :D

  13. Gabriel Says:

    I see an elephants head in number 8, in the dark black mass, saw it, before the face.

  14. Gabriel Says:

    I saw the elephants head in, number 8 West Coast of Ireland pic.

  15. simone lamok Says:

    ying yang in chinese landscape

    http://lamok.punt.nl/index.php?r=1&id=411441

  16. nita Says:

    ha ha craze

  17. Moon Says:

    The Palm is EPIC! It’s three miles long and 3 1/3 miles wide. I can only imagine what relocating all that sand has done to the environment.

  18. JackAwful Says:

    #7 & #8 – I just can’t see ‘em.

  19. Felipe Says:

    Fools, the NAZCA monkey form its the oldest and antique.
    Perhaps its the well worked ovr the others,Nazca culture did the best job over the ground for be seen in the air.
    As a peruvian im not clapping, juts consider the less resources they had and culture age, miles and miles of years. Pionners!!!!!

    some students think thta was Alien intelligence cooperation as signalpad for any ship.
    If you investigate and check the lines. you can see have strange animal forms and strange human forms, like aliens and its pets.

  20. ixboat Says:

    Number 6, the triangle with concentric circles in it, is a bombing range target in the Nevada desert. If you zoom into the scene down to about 1000 feet altitude or less, you can clearly see the bomb craters.

    triangle 3990 feet per face
    circle 1 radius 1000 feet
    circle 2 radius 800 feet
    circle 3 radius 600 feet
    circle 4 radius 400 feet
    circle 5 radius 200 feet

  21. Max Says:

    I actually heard that the water break in the dubai palms has actually created new organism because it is all rocks

  22. Kiel Says:

    The first picture of the Man in hat with cane looks just like the Blythefield Reservoir in Staffordshire, England. I have driven over that bridge many a time!

  23. Mr. Squidward Says:

    after all these years we have FINALLY found Waldo!

  24. Tim Says:

    The checker-board “forest” is more than likely a private tree plantation.

  25. manoj yadav india Says:

    coool yaar

  26. Josh Says:

    I’m not sure what that triangle is but it’s curious that it is exact north.Interestingly enough there is another tringle at 33 44 39 80 N 112 37 57 14 W just NW of Surprise Arizona and is the same size measured with my googleearth ruler.

  27. Gary Says:

    Picture 6

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonopah_Test_Range

  28. Pippitypup Says:

    The smiley face at Versailles is clearly seen in the 17th C maps of the place. Unfortunately the old menagerie is no longer there; it had a rather “masculine” look.

  29. Aws Says:

    cool

  30. Alan Says:

    Very cool; would have been even more cool if the pictures linked to the location on google maps (satellite), or at least listed the global coordinates so we could look at them ourselves.

  31. Tim W Says:

    You missed a very old and famous one from England — The Cerne Abbas Giant,,,, One for the ladies I think,,,,,

  32. Carolita Says:

    Several of these images are corn mazes — Arizona Oprah, the Exploding Pumpkin, and the Choo Choo Train, for sure. Corn mazes are a form of agri-tourism wherein a farmer generates revenue by planting a special kind of corn on from one to ten acres of farmland. Mazes are usually planted off-season, so they will be lush and green in the late fall and stand through winter, but are barely recognizable in the summer. They are carefully diagrammed and planted on a grid to make the picture/maze (rather than being cut to shape after they are grown) and the image is usually changed each year. You can find out more — and see lots of aerial photos — at http://www.cornmazesamerica.com/

    BTW, they are very successful businesses, too. I know a farmer who makes in excess of $75,000 per year just from tourists visiting his maze, which is only open during the month of October.

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