引言

Top 10 Google Earth Finds

Columbus and Magellan had it rough. Exploration these days is quite literally an armchair activity, as high-resolution satellite images and tools like Google Earth make it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to pour over the globe with a fine-toothed comb. There are entire online communities devoted to finding and cataloging the most unusual locales worldwide, creating 21st-century atlases of minutiae. It isn't just for hobbyists either — Google Earth has helped scientists find previously unknown ruins and police locate clandestine marijuana fields. Here are ten of the most unusual discoveries.

— Dan Fletcher

Atlantis Found?

Atlantis Found?

Might these be the ruins of the lost continent of Atlantis? Eager explorers certainly thought so, trumpeting this grid off the coast of Africa as streets in the mythical sunken city. Observers noted the area appeared to be the size of Wales, making such a large grid an impressive feat of ancient urban planning. The real explanation is far less fun: Google Earth engineers soon announced that the grid pattern was merely a digital artifact created by the sonar boats collecting mapping data. Whispers still linger, but it doesn't look like anyone will be dredging up a forgotten civilization anytime soon.

亚特兰蒂斯?

　　这会是失落的的大陆亚特兰蒂斯的废墟吗，探险狂热者们当然会这样认为，他们大胜嚣嚷着称，地图上位于非洲海岸边上的格子状图案就是一座失落的神秘城市的街道。一些观察者则发现它的面积有一个威尔士那么大，这个地图上的大格子于是就成了古代人类城市设计的又一大奇迹。然而事情的真相却远远没有这么有趣，谷歌地图的工程师很快的宣布，这个格子状的图案只不过是收集地图资料的声纳船所产生的电子遗迹而已。传言依然有，但是人们短时间内恐怕不会再记起这个失落的文明。

Firefox Crop Circles

Firefox Crop Circles

Maybe alien technology isn't so foreign after all. This Firefox crop circle sprouted up in a corn field in Oregon, but its origins are no mystery. In 2006, the Oregon State University Linux Users group created the giant logo — spanning more than 45,000 square feet — to celebrate the Web browser's 50 millionth download.

麦田里的火狐狸圈
　　
　　可能外星科技并没有想象中的那么的不可理解，麦田里的火狐狸圈出现在俄勒冈州的一片麦田中，但它的出现并不神秘。在2006年，俄勒冈州立大学的一个linux使用者团体创作了这个大型的标志（占地45000平方英尺）来庆祝这款游览器的下载量超过5亿。

UFO Landing Pads

UFO Landing Pads, Maybe?

Here's a true Google Earth mystery. These odd formations can be found on air bases in the U.S. and Britain — this one comes from a base outside of Norwich, England. The U.K. Ministry of Defense called it a motorcycle range, but other speculate it may be some sort of calibration tool for satellites. No one really knows — and the military isn't saying anything more.

FO的登陆台？ 可能吧
　　
　　这是一个真正的谷歌地球之谜，这些奇怪的组合可以在美国和英国的空军基地地图上看到，这张图片则是来自英国诺里奇的一个空军基地外，英国国防部宣称它是一个机车的训练场，但是其他一些人推测它可能是某种卫星用途的测定工具。没有人知道真实的情况，军方也对此保持缄默，不再多言。

Oprah Maze

Oprah Maze

She's got a massive syndicated show, a magazine called O and was dubbed the most powerful celebrity in the world by Forbes. Why shouldn't Oprah get her own corn maze? An Arizona farmer created this 2004 tribute to the TV talk-show host.

奥普拉迷宫
　　
　　她已经有一个影响巨大的脱口秀节目，一本叫做O的杂志，并且还被福布斯评价为全世界最具影响力的艺人。为什么奥普拉为什么就不能再拥有一个自己的麦田迷宫？ 一名亚利桑那州的农民在2004年创作了这个迷宫并献给了这名脱口秀主持人。

Secret Swastika

Secret Swastika

When builders of the Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in San Diego planned this complex in 1967, satellite imagery was probably the furthest thing from their minds. But in 2007 Google Earth sleuths found that four unconnected buildings on the base formed an unfortunate shape when viewed from above: a swastika. The Navy says it's spending more than $600,000 to mask the shape. "We don't want to be associated with something as symbolic and hateful as a swastika," a spokesman said.

秘密的万字文
　　
　　当科罗拉多州的海军陆战队基地的建筑师们在1967年计划这一建筑群的时候，卫星地图的出现可能是他们永远不会想到的事情。但是，在2007年，谷歌地球的侦探们发现，基地上这四栋并没有相连的建筑从上空俯瞰的时候却形成了一个不吉利的图案—万字文。海军方面说他们现在已经花了超过60万美元用来掩饰这一形状。“我们不想被认为与任何像万字文这样有不好暗示和令人讨厌的东西有关联，”一名发言人说。

Lost (and Found) at Sea

Lost (and Found) at Sea

The SS Jassim, a Bolivian cargo ferry, ran aground and sunk on the Wingate Reef off the coast of Sudan in 2003. Now it's one of the largest shipwrecks visible on Google Earth.

海上消失（抑或重现）
　　
　　SS贾西姆号，一艘玻利维亚的货运渡船，在苏丹海岸外的温盖特暗礁处触礁沉没。现在它是在谷歌地球上可见到的最大船体残骸之一。

A Face in the Clay

A Face in the Clay

It looks disconcertingly like a face from above, but this formation in Alberta, Canada is entirely natural. Dubbed the Badlands Guardian, the "face" is actually a valley eroded into the clay. Some say the man looks like he's wearing earphones; that's merely a road and an oil well. Even the Badlands Guardian, it seems, isn't immune to exploratory drilling.

粘土上的脸
　　
　　从上面看它难以置信的像一张脸，但是坐落在加拿大，阿尔伯特省的这一形状却是完全的出自鬼斧神工。它被称之为不毛之地的守护者，这张脸实际上是又一条峡谷侵蚀粘土而成。有的人说这个人好像在带着耳机；其实那里只有一条路和一个油井。看起来，即使是不毛之地的守护者，依然是无法避免探测的钻井。

Iraq's Bloody Lake

Iraq's Bloody Lake

This blood-red lake outside of Iraq's Sadr City garnered a fair share of macabre speculation when it was discovered in 2007. One tipster told the tech blog Boing Boing that he was "told by a friend" that slaughterhouses in Iraq sometimes dump blood in canals. No one has offered an official explanation, but it's more likely the color comes from sewage, pollution or a water treatment process.

　　
伊拉克的“血湖”
　　
　　伊拉克萨德尔城外的血红色湖泊在2007年被发现时就已经引起了足够多的血腥的猜测。有一个知情人士曾经告诉blog boing boing 说，他的“一个朋友告诉他”伊拉克的屠宰场会把血倾倒在运河中。不过，至今没有人提供官方的解释，但是颜色更像是下水道，污染或者水处理所造成的。

Airplane Graveyard

Airplane Graveyard

The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base outside of Tuscon, Ariz., is where old planes go to die. More than 4,000 military aircraft are parked on the base, from B-52s to stealth bombers, where they are salvaged for parts and broken down for scrap. It's one of the most popular satellite pictures online, making guided tours of the area are a hot ticket.

飞机墓地
　　
　　亚利桑那州，图森市外的戴维斯—蒙森空军基地，是旧飞机报废的地方，基地上停着从B-52s到隐形轰炸机等共超过4000架军用飞机。在这里，飞机的某些部分被重新利用，其余的则被拆掉以回收金属。这张图片现在是网络上最流行的卫星图片之一，并且去飞机墓地旅行也是一票难求。

Missile Test?

Missile Test?

Google Earth has plenty of examples of planes, helicopters — even hot air balloons — caught in flight, but this cruise missile, thought to be fired during military training exercises in the Utah mountains, might be the most unlikely capture yet. If it is, in fact, a cruise missile.

Many dispute the image and say it's merely an airplane. You be the judge, but if you look closely, the "missile" appears to have wings.

导弹试射？
　　
　　谷歌地球曾经抓拍过很多的飞行中的飞机，直升机，甚至是热气球，但是这个被认为是在军事演习中发射于犹他州山区的巡航导弹，却是至今为止最难以置信的抓拍。当然必须先假设它确实是一个巡航导弹。很多的人质疑这副图，他们说这只不过会一个飞机。当然，你觉着它是什么，它就是什么，不过，要是你靠近的仔细看的话，你会发现，“导弹”好像有一双翅膀.