Posted: 07:59, August 21, 2022 | Updated: 08:00, 21 August 2022
A shocking image that appears to show a downed passenger plane in the north Queensland rainforest has left Google Maps users searching for answers.
The image appears to show a huge jet either nestled in a clearing of trees in the Cardwell Ranges, located near the coast between Townsville and Cairns, or flying impossibly low above them.
When the image is enlarged, it appears to resemble an intact standard Airbus A320 or Boeing 737, both popular models used by airlines.
A Google Maps image appears to show either a downed plane or a plane flying very low over a North Queensland mountain range
Its color appears to be gun-metal gray and it appeared to be facing south in a direction that would put it well east of Townsville.
Unmarked twin engine plane seen west of known flight paths along Queensland’s north coast.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau told the Cairns Post it was not aware of any missing passenger aircraft.
“There appears to be a phenomenon called ghost images and this could be it,” CASA said in a statement.
The civil aviation authority said it was not aware of any missing passenger aircraft and the flight path was also far from normal routes
Google has yet to confirm this.
“Ghost” images appear on Google Maps from time to time.
Eagle Eye Maps users thought they saw a plane pictured on the bottom of Lake Harriet in the US state of Minnesota in 2016.
However, Google later announced that it was a “ghost” image, with the Maps satellite image made up of multiple images.
There is even a mysterious ghost island that can be seen off the coast of Australia.
The island is believed to have been 24 km long and 5 km wide, but there is no land there.
So what one can see in Google Maps is a dotted outline.
Sometimes Google Maps can be used to find something that clears up a mystery.
In 2019, Florida police headed to a submerged car, spotted by a Google Maps user, where they found the body of a man who had been missing for more than 20 years.
William Mold went missing in the village of Wellington, Florida at the age of 40 in 1997 after being seen walking home from a club.
However, a Google Maps user spotted the blurry image of the car in a lake, where Mold is believed to have ended up after losing control of his vehicle.
