A photo that appears to show a crashed passenger plane in Australia has baffled Google Maps users. It was first noticed and posted on social media by an eagle-eyed Maps user, after which it started to gain traction. In the image, the aircraft appears to be fully intact in the Cardwell Ranges, which is near the coast of Queensland. new.com.au. The outlet went on to say that the plane had no markings and was not on any known flight paths. The photo also suggested that the plane was flying much lower than expected.
It also quoted the Australian Transport Safety Bureau as saying there is no report of a missing passenger plane.
According to New York Postthe plane turns out to be a standard Airbus A320 or Boeing 737.
Australian transport safety officials said it is likely a glitch in Google’s software. “There seems to be a phenomenon called ghosting and it could be this,” Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority told the Cairns Post.
Google has not issued a statement on this so far.
A similar incident occurred in 2016 when users claimed that a plane was at the bottom of Lake Harriet in the US state of Minnesota. But Google later announced it was a “ghost image” – a compilation of various satellite images appearing on the website.
Earlier this year, a ghost island on Google Maps left scientists completely confused. The island, located between Australia and Sandy Island, is said to be 15 miles (24 km) long and 3.1 miles (5 km) wide, but without any landmass.
The aforementioned island was first published in British explorer Captain James Cook’s Chart of Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean all the way back in 1776. Exactly one hundred years later, in 1876, a ship out to hunt and hunt whales reported catching, called Velocity, also see the island.