[Professional Blog] Mystery Aircraft

A quick diversion today, strictly for fun. My brother Steve sent me this link, which is hosted at his site, Conception Bay Webcam.

Steve, who apparently has too much time on his hands, was scouring google maps and found what appears to be an image of a jet airplane, parked in the woods near Conception Harbour. Click on this link, then zoom in by clicking the + button:

Mystery plane in Conception Harbour.

I scratched my head over this for a few moments, trying to figure out what was up (or down). Although it appears to be on the ground, that's impossible the jet would be in small pieces if it landed in the woods. I have concluded that the plane was caught in flight, and the ghost image is either a shadow or a flare (reflected light).

I then went searching for other similar photos, and, sure enough, there is a web site devoted to this subject. It's called Google Earth Blog, and you can view it here. I scanned the various images long enough to find this one. If it doesn't work for you, try pulling back one step by clicking on the minus symbol.

The plane looks very similar to the one Steve found, except you can see the exhaust trails. It seems the ghost image is indeed a shadow, and the white fuselage absorbs the colour of whatever is behind it (which would explain why Steve's airplane is green).

And finally, no, Steve isn't really that idle! He was looking at land that a friend owns in the area.