The P-40 Warhawk, Me 109, F4U Corsair, P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt pictured here are part of the 84th Aero Squadron Restaurant's display adjacent to the museum. The food there is excellent, by the way.
Look out ahead of the plane and you'll see that distinctive motion blur. Also, I thought the object to the south east near the taxiway was Plane #1's shadow, but judging by the motion blur ahead of it, I'm convinced it's a second F-16.
It's a motion blur the satellite picks up with
virtually every fast moving object. Sometimes it's
easier to spot aircraft by the smudge than the plane
itself, especially when it's got a paint scheme like
this one.
With the higher resolution available since this image was posted, I'm led to wonder if this is not the actual fighter plane rather than a shadow of a mystery plane.
I'm sorry, I'm still not convinced. The objects appear to have square edges and are very un-wakelike. Check out the boat three boats away to the north and you will find similar objects, but only on the starboard side of the ship. Very uncharacteristic of a wake.
In the article accompanying the satelite imagery, Global Security.Org stated that at one point Weapons Inspectors requested the anti-air defenses of the complex be...
It's very common in that area to encounter multiple well openings following the path of an underground aquafer. I think that is what you are seeing here.
Interesting. I've run into numerous ramp-shaped mounds throughout Iraq and wondered what they were. Now I know. Thanks for the detailed posts. We all appreciate it.
Ploys like this are what happens when you're up beyond 1:00 a.m. looking for something interesting. Your eyes get blurry and next thing you know, you're inventing movie theaters in Barbados.
I read the rules to the contest wrong. I thought finding the most obsucre category (theatre, movie-5), in the most obscure location (Barbados-1), earned the most points.
"The expression anal retentive derives from psychoanalytic theory. Sigmund Freud theorized that after birth, a person progresses through a series of stages that, in a healthy individual, would reach an adult state of low anxiety, mental stability, the ability to interact with others, the ability to have a sexual relationship, etc. Freud's stages of normal psychosexual development were the oral stage, in which the mouth is the object of gratification; the anal stage, when the anus is the object...
In Google Earth, many of these planes have distinct shadows, leading me to believe that these may actually be 3-dimensional, rather than painted on the ground as I first believed.
I was thinking they were being dropped from the tower to the west. However, if that were the case, I don't think they would be as scattered as they are, or able to travel as far as they have.
Your theory of target baloons is interesting. If you follow the path of the plane backwards there are a number of balloons in the flightpath that appear in various stages of deflating.
There's a very high tower just west of the orbs. Could this be a jump tower and what we are seeing are airborne troops parachuting from the tower. It could explain why some of the orbs are a different altitudes than others, as well as the different sizes (the ones on the ground would have folded in on themselves). However, it wouldn't explain their apparent speed.
You are right! There are clearly shadows to each of the orbs. I had assumed they were just an exposure errors. Great catch! Any guesses as to what they might be?
Without absolute certainty, this appears very similar to numerous more obvious pipeline spills in southern Iraq. There appears to be a pipeline running from southeast to northwest a little left of center in this image. It would appear the oil is flowing downhill toward the inlet to the east, with a small amount back tracking above the pipeline to the west.
You're right about the difference Google Earth resolution makes over that of Google Local's resolution. There's no mistaking that that is an F-14, while in Google Local, it's questionable whether its even a plane at all.
Well, they say you learn more by failing. So I've learned quite a bit it would seem in my erronious guesses. Thanks for the great information once again.
That "garden area" is interesting. It has been landscaped to look like the surrounding countryside, complete with grass-covered hangars and manicured shrubbery. If not for the dozen or so fighters parked between the hedgerows and the enormous airstrip adjacent to it, you'd think it were a city park.
I would agree that the berms in the lowland are for protection, but what are the objects protruding high above the ridge line? They have to be nearly fifty-feet tall.
The image is of a neighborhood in Sadam Hussein;s home town, Tikrit. Take a gander at the homes in this and other Tikrit neighborhoods, and it becomes clear these people enjoyed Sadam's favor more than anywhere else in Iraq.
Nice find. I've poured over this airbase more than any other image and am always amazed at how much I missed. You could spend a week detailing all the cool stuff that's in and around this base.
The top of the yellow traingle is pointing at the aircraft's left wing. The nose of the airplane is oriented toward the southwest, its tail, northeast. The canopy is visible as a dark spot.
The green plane marked with a yellow triangle in the thumbnail is definitely an aircraft, distinguishable by its canopy, wings and stabilizers. The two other images seem less credible. However, when I ran them through a few Photoshop filters, they distincly showed all the features you'd expect to find on a plane, just not with great clarity.
There are AAA guns on the otherside of the revetments in the circular areas
Believe it or not, but there are actually three aircraft visible in this image. In addition to the one highlighted with a yellow triangle, there is another slightly off a nose to tail position behind it, and another at about 2'oclock, right beneath the dirt road.
Considering their entire nuclear program seems to be at the mercy of this river, I imagine the river's dams are a bit of a vulnerabillity to everything from their reactors to the reprocessing facilities.
If they are decoy planes, I wonder, why here on the riverbank with no corresponding decoy airstrip? It's very odd to me. I'd suggest they were targets, but they are far too close to civilization for that (if there is such a thing in North Korea). Also, the fact that their new nuclear reactor is just up stream makes it all the more odd. Perhaps they are using the "Phantom Squadron" to make the reactor look like it is more safely guarded than it actually is.
Thanks for the great tips. I'll post the missile sites you discovered; however, don't feel I own North Korea. Part of the reason I've concentrated there is to help build interest so others will start peering into the super-secretive dictatorship.
The North Korean regime has worked so hard to keep a tight lid on even the most basic of information, there is something rewarding about being able meander down the runway of one of their airbases and count the dandilions sprouting...
It looked to me that the berms directly behind the mounds, outside the fenced enclosure, contained missiles(three yellow triangles on thumbnail). Is this likely?
"Located 13 miles southeast off Baghdad, Tuwaitha is one of the main nuclear program sites that survived the Gulf War. Activities reportedly include research reactors, plutonium separators and waste processing, uranium, metalurgy, neutron initiator development and uranium enrichment."(source: MSNBC)
It's interesting. The gray structures surrounding each bunker each have a circular platform in front with something in position. It's interesting that if it they are missiles, each is oriented to face in a westerly direction.
Homes built on 45-degree angles are popular in that neighborhood. If you'd like I can reserve one for you. Perhaps you should give your old eyes a rest.
The image is of Tallil airbase, home of the Iraqi 23rd Squadron (pre war) and the US 407th Expeditinary Group (post war). Notable: The An Nasiriyah Weapons Storage Area beleived to house Chemical Munitions is to the North East.
Thanks for the detailed analysis. There are a number of tread trails leading up to the berms which I imagine could have been left by the demolition crews or are just reminants of normal base traffic.
I find the man-made dam at the southern base of this site curious. It looks like it was designed to hold back much more water than it does. The riverbed where it sits also seems to be accustomed to much more water than is present in this image.
Follow the terrain to the South East and you'll come across the heavily bombed airbase Kjftiz posted. By the number of destroyed positions far from the airstrip, it looks like not much escaped the attention of the bomber crews in this area.
That explains a lot. I thought it was curious the military would park its aircraft in the sand where rocks and debris could easily be ingested. And the combination of F-18s and A-10s would be an unusual teaming of Navy and Airforce aircraft.
Which makes this such a remarkable find. After all, how many 600 ft subs do you see everyday? As far as I know this could be the only one in existence. ;0)
The sites are commonly known and are not secret locations. Do a web search for Space Command or Buckley Air Force Base and you will see just how widely the information is available.
I'm still waiting on Google to finish their promised Google Earth for the Mac. Until then, I'll have to rely on the aid of folks like you. Thanks for the update.
Thanks for the help. Also, thanks to the link to MSN Virtual Earth, I now know this is in Syria and not Iraq. And, when hiking by satellite, how easy it is to cross borders without even knowing it.
Looks to me like what you are seeing is a small land mass barely protruding above the surface. Look closely and you can see its shadow attached to the sea floor.
I'm pretty confident this shot was taken post invasion. Zoom out a couple clicks and follow the river to the north west. There is another small airbase there, that, if you look directly north has a complex adjacent that is riddled with bomb craters.
I originally thought they looked like the Navy's SM 120 missile (which doesn't explain why it would be on an airstrip). However, I think kjfitz may be right. They could be helicopters wrapped in white plastic for transport incountry.
pdunn: Comments
virtually every fast moving object. Sometimes it's
easier to spot aircraft by the smudge than the plane
itself, especially when it's got a paint scheme like
this one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmeh_2/90111591/in/photostream/
http://www.flashearth.com/
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/images/dg-tharthar4.jpg
In the article accompanying the satelite imagery, Global Security.Org stated that at one point Weapons Inspectors requested the anti-air defenses of the complex be...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cobaltblu9696/56846576/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotodaddy/67214328/in/set-1438517/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotodaddy/67214535/in/set-1438517/
Here are some other links of life on the ground at Balad Airbase:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotodaddy/67212462/in/set-1438517/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanhorgan/56875661/in/photostream/
http://www.defendamerica.mil/photoessays/aug2003/p080603b1.html
http://www.newsmax.com/images/headlines/mig25c.jpg
http://www.newsmax.com/images/headlines/mig25d.jpg
Here is the link to the accompanying article:
...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snakeblocker/59355716/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/snakeblocker/59355715/in/photostream/
...
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970718
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=North+Korea&ll=39.878728,125.500549&spn=0.000001,0.000001&t=k&hl=en
Your theory of target baloons is interesting. If you follow the path of the plane backwards there are a number of balloons in the flightpath that appear in various stages of deflating.
I had submitted a similar map awhile back labled "North Korean Aircraft on Hilltop Far From Airstrip." I imagine it was probably in flight also.
Thanks for the help.
There are AAA guns on the otherside of the revetments in the circular areas
The North Korean regime has worked so hard to keep a tight lid on even the most basic of information, there is something rewarding about being able meander down the runway of one of their airbases and count the dandilions sprouting...
Check these out:
ttp://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.875714,125.503827&spn=0.003809,0.005606&t=k&hl=en
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.860003,125.530982&spn=0.003591,0.005606&t=k&hl=en
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangerholton/43607725/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rangerholton/43607725/in/photostream/
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/tallil.htm
I find the man-made dam at the southern base of this site curious. It looks like it was designed to hold back much more water than it does. The riverbed where it sits also seems to be accustomed to much more water than is present in this image.
http://www.peterson.af.mil/hqafspc/