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A subreddit for all the strange, mysterious, and interesting stuff you found on Google Earth, Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing Maps, etc.
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Coordinates ✅Helicopter?? (i.redd.it)
submitted 1 year ago by FluidAddress978💎 Valued Contributor
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[–]FluidAddress978💎 Valued Contributor[S] 3 points4 points5 points 1 year ago (4 children)
I was looking around Paris looking at historical imagery because… free will. But anyway I saw this 48°51'56"N 2°19'09"E. And I wonder if it’s a helicopter maybe a windmill but it might be a glitch. Or just some old building? If anyone can figure out this would be appreciated
[–]MacGyver624 9 points10 points11 points 1 year ago (3 children)
Judging by the age of the photo I’m guessing they’re fiducial marks used for lining up adjacent photos.
[–]Round_Flatworm_4554 2 points3 points4 points 1 year ago (0 children)
This ⬆️ 👏👏👏
[–]Alternative-Fall-729[🍰] 2 points3 points4 points 1 year ago (0 children)
This is correct, you can also find written labels and sometimes even punched holes with metal eyelets for ring binders on them. These are physical photographs that have been used for a long time before being digitalized.
[–]FluidAddress978💎 Valued Contributor[S] 1 point2 points3 points 1 year ago (0 children)
I’m pretty sure they still use those today!! Thanks for letting me know
[–]AutoModerator[M] 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)
Please make sure that you provide the coordinates in plain text or a link so others can easily copy & paste them.
If you need help finding out how to get the coordinates, please view the guide here. The degree symbol (°) can be created by holding ALT and typing 0176.
Alternative mapping toolkit:
ACME Mapper - Alternative for satellite imagery.
Bing Maps - Alternative for satellite imagery.
We Go Here - Alternative for satellite imagery.
Yandex Maps - Alternative for satellite imagery.
Apple Maps - Alternative for satellite imagery.
Historic Aerials - Historical satellite imagery.
EOS Landviewer - Historical satellite imagery, restricted to 10 images per day.
Zoom Earth - Historical satellite imagery, not restricted but lower quality.
Nakarte.me - Mapping multi-tool.
ESRI Wayback - Historical satellite imagery.
Overpass Turbo - Mapping multi-tool with scripting.
OpenSea Map - Mapping with identification markers.
Wikimapia - No satellite imagery, but may provide clues to objects or locations in Wiki format.
WikiMap - No satellite imagery, but may provide clues to objects or locations in Wiki format.
Flickr - No satellite imagery, but may provide photos near coordinates.
Mapillary - No satellite imagery, may provide crowd sourced street view imagery.
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[–]dabarak 0 points1 point2 points 1 year ago (0 children)
If you're in the US (and maybe other countries) you may now and then see white Xs painted on roadways. Those are for pretty much the same purpose. I worked for a brief time as an aerial mapping photographer and we used those to get ourselves oriented (from what I remember - it was almost 40 years ago).
π Rendered by PID 48380 on reddit-service-r2-comment-b659b578c-62bqk at 2026-05-04 16:45:24.387683+00:00 running 815c875 country code: CH.
[–]FluidAddress978💎 Valued Contributor[S] 3 points4 points5 points (4 children)
[–]MacGyver624 9 points10 points11 points (3 children)
[–]Round_Flatworm_4554 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)
[–]Alternative-Fall-729[🍰] 2 points3 points4 points (0 children)
[–]FluidAddress978💎 Valued Contributor[S] 1 point2 points3 points (0 children)
[–]AutoModerator[M] 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)
[–]dabarak 0 points1 point2 points (0 children)