OSNews:

Really

donotreply@osnews.com (StringCheesian) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:16:00 GMT

According to our Oz photo interpretation bureau (Clinton Bird), the vehicle in question is at an altitude of three of four metres and doing about 80 knots.

Well according to the StringCheesian photo interpretation bureau, it's 3-4 meters high and doing about zero knots. Which is pretty easy to explain. It's probably held up on stilts or metal beams or somethings with a sign saying "Crazy Bob's parking lot! $2 an hour per car" and a booth underneath.

Seriously though what is there to indicate it isn't stationary?Edited 2006-01-23 20:18

I tell ya

donotreply@osnews.com (GrapeGraphics) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:44:00 GMT

Aliens I tell ya... aliens!

they are here!

yeah lol

donotreply@osnews.com (ZaNkY) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:46:00 GMT

lol I'm sure it's a flying car.......

If it REALLY was some special test of an aussie flying car, i HIGHLY doubt it would be near a parking lot. Maybe a military base, or something similar. Desert? And definately higher than 3-4 meters.

I agree weith StringCheesian, probably being suspended somehow. Anyway, not really "news", If google earth wasn't involved.... lol w/e, nice find I guess

--ZaNkY

just a joke

donotreply@osnews.com (AdamW) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:49:00 GMT

the reg has been doing a string of articles on odd things found on Google Earth, mainly with tongue in cheek. I don't quite know why this one got on OS News, though.

RE: just a joke

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 20:59:00 GMT

I don't quite know why this one got on OS News, though.

Because the Reg is doing a really cool series with Google Earth. And yes, as you know, OSNews is about more than just operating systems.

3-4 meters?

donotreply@osnews.com (Peragrin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:11:00 GMT

Let's do some basic math, that's 10-14 feet high.

Given the surrounding trees all appear to be relatively the same height and that trees that large would be at least 5 meters tall, that car should be hitting one any second now.

of course it still looks cool.

Not off the ground at all

donotreply@osnews.com (Rinnan) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:20:00 GMT

My first thought was that the "shadow" near it is just a dark patch of grass or something. Actually the car is sitting on the ground, I suspect.

.KMZ file

donotreply@osnews.com (jsgrahamus) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:41:00 GMT

The article mentions a .kmz file? What is it?

Steve

RE: .KMZ file

donotreply@osnews.com (gonzalo) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:18:00 GMT

.kmz file is a .kml file but zipped.

KML is the markup Google uses for locations in Google Maps:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0">
<Placemark>
<name>Flying Car</name>
<description>Flying car about to terrorize kiters at Pt Walter</description>
<LookAt>
<longitude>115.7864136383492</longitude>
<latitude>-32.01187944409022</latitude>
<range>124.0672631123729</range>
<tilt>1.011650969924172e-009</tilt>
<heading>7.545687026781721</heading>
</LookAt>
<styleUrl>root://styleMaps#default+nicon=0x307+hicon=0x3 17</styleUrl>
<Point>
<coordinates>115.7863951952049,-32.01202211312902,0& lt;/coordinates>
</Point>
</Placemark>
</kml>

yeah!

donotreply@osnews.com (Sphinx) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:23:00 GMT

Now that's a hybrid.

Easy

donotreply@osnews.com (Bringbackanonposting) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 22:43:00 GMT

I'll spoil the fun for everyone now. Down here our road safety advertising can get out of hand (way out of hand). Instead of building better safer roads the states spend big on things like bolting smashed cars up on billboards with things like "Speed kills" etc etc. StringCheesian was on the ball.

lol

donotreply@osnews.com (viator) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:11:00 GMT

Who need the "real" news when youve got osnews

RE: Easy

donotreply@osnews.com (raboof) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:13:00 GMT

Personally I think the explanation previously given by Rinnan is more plausible: there was probably another car parked there for considerable time, which left the black patch behind when it was removed. It would be a pretty shitty location for an advertisement, and it'd need to be pretty damn high, looking at the shadows of other stuff on the picture.

Anyone who lives near the place around?

Cool stuff

donotreply@osnews.com (Timerever) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:33:00 GMT

Once in a while OSNews has intresting news! Like we care with new server OSs and beowulf clusters of toasters!
I agree with Rinnan BTW

This article is too stupid for words...

donotreply@osnews.com (tomcat) — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:39:00 GMT

... so I won't waste any more.

Heh

donotreply@osnews.com (deathshadow) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:08:00 GMT

I dunno where they are getting any indication that it's moving...

You could probably find the same thing if you looked at Wareham, Massachusetts along route 25 heading towards Cape Cod.

longitude-70.70480215450665
latitude 41.77487754634888

If the maps of massachusetts weren't of such poor quality that is. At that location is a 'Fiat on a Stick' used as an advertisement for Robertsons auto salvage. I'd not be surprised if this picture was of much the same thing.

RE: Really

donotreply@osnews.com (segedunum) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:18:00 GMT

Seriously though what is there to indicate it isn't stationary?

Nothing. Especially given the the fact that it's three or four metres of the ground and travelling at 80 knots towards, or away from, a bunch of large trees.

Maybe not even a car

donotreply@osnews.com (marbiol) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:48:00 GMT

It could simply be a billboard, or some solar panels that just happen to have the appearance of a car fom the angle that the image was taken...

RE: just a joke

donotreply@osnews.com (Innova) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 01:55:00 GMT

there's nothing wrong with a little brevity in life.

fuel refilling station

donotreply@osnews.com (capiendo) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 01:59:00 GMT

could be a fuel refilling station. back when i lived in the country, farmers would support fuel drums above the ground on steel frames as makeshift gravity-fed fuel pumps.

if you squint just right, the object in the picture kinda looks like three fuel drums layed horizontally. if you squint harder, you can kinda make out struts on the corners supporting the drums.

RE: Maybe not even a car

donotreply@osnews.com (randy7376) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 02:57:00 GMT

Maybe the "Face on Mars" immigrated Down Under and due to the overwhelming difference in gravity, it shrunk to the size of a Russian Lada.

;)

RE: Easy

donotreply@osnews.com (chekr) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 06:10:00 GMT

Yeah...are they still doing that in other states? In NSW we stopped this when some people were getting a little upset back in the 90's when the car their son died in got strapped to one of those "speed kills" roadside advertisements. That seems like a plausible explanation to me.

RE[2]: .KMZ file

donotreply@osnews.com (gonzalo) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 06:33:00 GMT

Oh... On preview those < and > came out all right...

Well, anyway, that's the XML dialect for defining locations on Google Earth.

Black car

donotreply@osnews.com (cibus) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 07:04:00 GMT

Isn't this just a black car parked next to a white one?

hahaha...lol

donotreply@osnews.com (obi1) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 08:17:00 GMT

It's just a guy practising kitesurf close to the parking!
The beach is pretty close, isn't it ? He just left his car and is on his way to the spot !

Hoax

donotreply@osnews.com (Almindor) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:55:00 GMT

Ladies and gentlemen.. it's a Hoax. If you look at the "supposed" shadow and then compare it's color to some other "real" shadows (other cars have slight shadow patches near them too) you'll see a nice color difference. I bet it was added in some lossless format and then converted to jpeg (thus the "edgy jpeg-like distortions" around the black patch).

And if not that than I agree with Rinnan.

RE: Hoax

donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:10:00 GMT

I bet it was added in some lossless format and then converted to jpeg (thus the "edgy jpeg-like distortions" around the black patch).

It isn't photoshopped, as you can go to the coordinates and see for yourself in Google Earth. I'm pretty sure Google wouldn't photoshop inside Google Earth.

This Is Hillarious!

donotreply@osnews.com (Pelly) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 17:44:00 GMT

I loved it. However, an easy way to explain this is as follows:

Go to just about any USAF Base and you'll note that there are retired aircraft on display. We've always called them, 'planes on sticks,' or 'planesicles.'

When viewing aerial photos of Air Bases, display planes commonly appear as if they're 'hovering' when the shadows and light angles hit it just right. The stands & stilts they're on are usually quite thin and can be hard to see in grainy photos.

That's what I think we're seeing here.

I laughed liked crazy at some of the abve comments. Thanks, all!

AN if anyone would ever like to see a great retired plane on display, go to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. They put a B-52 on a stick! (well, it's more of a pad, really)

http://www.aero-web.org/database/museums/getimage.htm?id=4308

RE: 3-4 meters?

donotreply@osnews.com (glarepate) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 18:15:00 GMT

The same thought occurred to me. If the vehicle is traveling at 80 kph it either came out of the trees without being harmed or is about to hit them unless it can turn at a rate that would cause the operator to black out and most standard airframes to break into pieces.

glarepate
aka inspector_renault

I've been discovered!!

donotreply@osnews.com (kamper) — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 20:42:00 GMT

Crap! They were taking satelite photos on the exact day that I decided to test my flying car

FWIW, the car cleared the trees by about a metre (it was angling up at that point), but crashed into the water on the other side and my assistant, who was doing the flying, met his tragic demise. You can still find the car if you dive around there.