Have you ever felt that little chill down your spine when you stumble across something unexplainable? I know I have. That’s exactly how I felt when I first discovered the hidden world of creepy places on Google Earth. What started as casual browsing turned into a fascinating rabbit hole of mysterious locations that I just can’t keep to myself anymore.
Let’s take a virtual journey together to explore some of Earth’s most unsettling, bizarre, and downright creepy places that you can actually visit from the comfort of your home. Grab your digital passport – we’re about to see some things we can’t unsee! Lets Dive In Creepiest Places On Google Earth.
Abandoned Wastelands and Graveyards
The Boneyard, Arizona, USA
When I first zoomed in on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Thousands of military aircraft – from massive bombers to sleek fighters all arranged in neat rows across the desert.
This is the largest aircraft cemetery in the world! The dry climate makes it perfect for preserving these metal birds. It’s both awesome and eerie to see so many once-powerful machines sitting silently in the sun.
The Ghost Town of Pripyat, Ukraine
Nothing gives me goosebumps quite like seeing Pripyat on Google Earth. This abandoned city near Chernobyl stands frozen in time since the 1986 nuclear disaster. You can actually see the empty apartments, the famous abandoned amusement park, and schools with books still open on desks. It’s a haunting reminder of how quickly our modern lives can be disrupted.
Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Namibia
This one blew my mind! Once a thriving diamond mining town in the early 1900s, Kolmanskop is now being swallowed by the desert. On Google Earth, you can see beautiful German-style buildings half-buried in sand.
Inside these homes, sand dunes reach to the ceilings. It’s like nature is slowly erasing human existence.
Strange Natural Phenomena
The Blood Lakes (Iraq and Mongolia)
I remember showing these to my friend and watching their jaw drop. These bodies of water appear bright red on satellite images! The Iraqi lake gets its blood-red color from high salt content and special bacteria.
The Mongolian lake is similarly colored. When you first see them, they look like massive wounds on the Earth’s surface.
Lake Natron, Tanzania
Speaking of deadly waters, Lake Natron is so alkaline it can turn animals to stone! From above, it looks like a red alien landscape with crusty white edges. The water has a pH level near that of ammonia, yet somehow flamingos thrive here. Nature is wild and sometimes terrifying!
The Door to the Underworld, Siberia, Russia
This massive crater in Siberia keeps growing every year as permafrost melts. Locals call it the “Door to the Underworld,” and when you see it on Google Earth, you’ll understand why! It’s a huge, ever-expanding crack in the Earth that reveals ancient forests and ice age remains. Climate change is creating literal gateways to the past.
Mysterious Patterns and Shapes
The Face in the Desert, Nevada
The first time I spotted this natural formation that looks eerily like a human face, I couldn’t sleep that night! Is it just random erosion, or something more? You decide. The shadowing creates what appears to be eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It’s our human tendency to see faces, but this one is remarkably detailed.
The Human Lips in Sudan
Similar to the Nevada face, this natural formation in Sudan looks bizarrely like a pair of giant human lips in the middle of nowhere. When you zoom in, the resemblance is uncanny. These giant “lips” stretch across the landscape, kissing nothing but desert sand.
The Pentagram, Kazakhstan
I remember frantically googling explanations when I first found this perfect five-pointed star in the remote steppes of Kazakhstan. The massive pentagram is clearly visible from above and measures about 1,200 feet across.
Turns out it’s likely the outline of a park from the Soviet era, but knowing that doesn’t make it any less creepy when you’re staring at it on your screen.
The Nazca Lines, Peru
These ancient geoglyphs always fill me with wonder and a touch of unease. Massive drawings of animals, plants, and geometric shapes that can only be fully appreciated from above, created by a civilization without airplanes. How did they do it? Why? Some of the designs are over 1,000 feet across and have remained intact for over 2,000 years.
Haunted Forests and Islands
Hoia Baciu Forest, Romania
Known as the “Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania,” this forest gives me chills even through the computer screen. From above, you can see the perfect circle where no vegetation grows. People report strange feelings, unexplained burns, and technical malfunctions within this area. Photos taken here often show mysterious orbs of light.
Aokigahara Forest, Japan
Also called the “Suicide Forest,” this dense woodland at the base of Mount Fuji is sadly known for the number of people who go there to end their lives. On Google Earth, it appears as an impenetrable green carpet. The trees grow so closely together that they block the wind, creating an unnaturally quiet environment that locals believe is haunted by spirits.
Island of the Dolls, Mexico
This has to be one of the creepiest places I’ve ever seen! Located in the canals of Xochimilco, this small island is decorated with hundreds of decomposing dolls hanging from trees and buildings.
The story goes that the caretaker hung them to appease the spirit of a girl who drowned nearby. On Google Earth, you can make out the tiny figures dangling from branches.
Ghost Towns and Abandoned Places
Hashima Island (Battleship Island), Japan
This abandoned island looks like a concrete warship floating in the sea. Once a thriving coal mining community with one of the highest population densities in the world, it was completely abandoned in 1974 when the coal ran out. The densely packed concrete buildings, now crumbling from storms and neglect, create an apocalyptic scene.
The Ghost Town of Rhyolite, Nevada, USA
I spent hours virtually exploring this Gold Rush town that boomed and busted in just a few short years. At its peak in 1907, it had hotels, stores, a school, and even an opera house.
Today, only eerie shells of buildings remain, standing like sentinels in the desert. The most striking is the Cook Bank Building, whose walls still proudly stand despite having no roof.
Underwater Mysteries
The Sunken City of Baia, Italy
Once a luxury resort for the Roman elite, this ancient city now lies underwater due to volcanic activity. What’s incredible is that you can actually see the submerged ruins through Google Earth’s clear satellite imagery! Streets, temples, and villas are all visible beneath the azure Mediterranean waters.
Underwater Aeroplane Wreckage, Bahamas
The first time I spotted this, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. In the crystal-clear waters near Norman’s Cay in the Bahamas, you can clearly see the outline of a sunken drug smuggling plane from the 1980s. The aircraft sits in shallow water, creating an eerie underwater monument.
Bizarre Man-Made Structures
Nagoro “Scarecrow” Village, Japan
This village gave me nightmares! As the population dwindled, a local artist began creating life-sized dolls to replace the departed residents. Now, there are more scarecrows than people. You can spot the gatherings of human-shaped figures throughout the village on Google Earth.
The Whampoa Boat-Shaped Shopping Centre, Hong Kong
While not exactly creepy, there’s something uncanny about seeing what appears to be a massive cruise ship landlocked in the middle of dense Hong Kong apartments. This shopping mall was built to resemble a ship, and from above, the illusion is perfect.
Wheel Structures in Jordan
These ancient stone structures, only fully visible from above, have puzzled archaeologists for decades. They’re between 2,000-9,000 years old and consist of stone wheels with spokes radiating from the center. Their purpose remains a mystery, though theories range from burial sites to astronomical calendars.
Natural Wonders with a Creepy Twist
The Crooked Forest, Poland
A grove of oddly shaped pine trees with sharp 90-degree bends at their base. No one knows for sure what caused this unnatural deformation. Theories range from deliberate human manipulation to gravitational anomalies. Seeing rows of these identically bent trees from above is truly unsettling.
Socotra Island, Yemen
Home to some of the strangest-looking plants on Earth, including the famous dragon’s blood trees that look like giant mushrooms or upside-down umbrellas. From Google Earth, these bizarre forests create patterns that look almost alien – like nothing else you’ll see on our planet.
The Eternal Flame Falls, USA
Hidden in New York’s Chestnut Ridge Park is a small waterfall with a magical secret – a natural gas leak creates a flame that burns continuously behind the cascading water. It’s visible on Google Earth as a small golden glow beneath the falls. There’s something both magical and unsettling about fire and water coexisting.
Military Mysteries
Swastika-Shaped Building Complex, California, USA
I remember my shock when I first spotted this building at the Naval Base Coronado near San Diego. From above, four unconnected buildings form a perfect swastika shape. The Navy has acknowledged the unfortunate design but claims it was unintentional. Whether you believe that or not, it’s definitely strange to see from above.
Desert Breath, Egypt
This massive land art installation spans 1 million square feet in the Egyptian desert. Created in 1997, it features two interlocking spirals made of cones – one spiraling up from the desert floor, one spiraling down.
In the middle sits a small reflective pool. Though it’s slowly eroding, it remains clearly visible on Google Earth and looks like some kind of alien communication device.
Unexplained Phenomena
Sandy Island
Here’s a mind-blower – an island that appeared on maps and Google Earth for centuries but doesn’t actually exist! Sandy Island was “undiscovered” in 2012 when scientists sailed right through where it was supposed to be.
How did an imaginary island make it onto so many maps and even into Google Earth? The digital phantom has since been removed, but it makes you wonder what other geographic errors we might be taking for granted.
The Badlands Guardian, Canada
Nature has created what looks remarkably like a human head wearing Native American headdress in the Alberta badlands. This natural formation is so detailed that you can make out a face, neck, headdress, and even what appears to be earphones (actually a road and an oil well). It’s one of the most incredible examples of pareidolia (seeing faces in random patterns) in the world.
The Ghost on the Balcony in Nancy, France
This one still gives me goosebumps! Google Street View captured what appears to be a ghostly figure standing on a balcony in Nancy, France. When you look at the surrounding images, the figure doesn’t appear. Just a trick of the light? Maybe. But thousands of people have spotted this unexplained anomaly.
Final Thoughts
Our amazing planet is filled with breathtaking wonders and spine-chilling mysteries. What I love about exploring these places through Google Earth is the powerful reminder that our world is still full of secrets waiting to be discovered. Some may eventually be explained by science, while others might forever remain mysteries that feed our imagination.
I encourage you to fire up Google Earth tonight and start your own journey through these incredible locations. You’ll be amazed at what you find when you start looking at our world from above. Who knows? You might even discover something no one else has noticed before!
Remember – the next time someone tells you there’s nothing left to explore on Earth, show them this list. Our planet still has plenty of secrets to share with those curious enough to look for them.
Happy virtual exploring, fellow mystery hunters!
