Hi, new guy here with some screenshots of something weird I found on google maps!

Hey, I was just messing around on google maps and I came across some weird 'structures' in the sands in Saudi Arabia.

Does anyone have any idea what these are?

postimg.org...
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Cheers!

reply to post by Anomaly84


Welcome!! Those are really interesting pics, especially the third one. Thanks for posting - I look forward to seeing the answers you get. 👍

reply to post by Anomaly84


Those pics look like archaeological sites, so I'd say they are showing the remains of the walls of abandoned structures.

Middle East version of crop circles? I can't imagine these images would stay long in a wind-swept sandy environment.
Oh, and welcome to the site.

Anomaly84
Hey, I was just messing around on google maps and I came across some weird 'structures' in the sands in Saudi Arabia.

Does anyone have any idea what these are?

postimg.org...
postimg.org...
postimg.org...
postimg.org...
postimg.org...

Cheers!

Old military fortifications?

Looks like the lost city of Ubar,
also known as Wabar, and Iram.

Aram, Iram, Irum, Irem, Erum, or the City of the tent poles is a lost city (or perhaps tribe) mentioned in the Quran.

wikipedia / Iram of the Pillars

Though the city of which I speak is hotly contested.
The current lost city of the tent poles is being claimed by the country of Oman.

But I think you may have located something remarkable.




Care to share the coordinates?

Mike Grouchy

Check the Gallery/Google Earth Community checkbox on the lower left to see if anyone has tagged them.
ETA: Sorry, that's when using Google Earth. I'd install that and fire it up to take a look that way. Chances are good that someone has tagged them with a placemark. Often times you'll have to click on the tag and read the discussions about what they are.
I see that quite a bit, you'll see a placemark with the question "What are all these strange dots on the prairie in Wyoming?" Then some knowledgeable person will answer back "Prairie Dogs"...

Thanks for the replies everyone.


coords

They do look a lot like a JCB or something has piled up the sand in lines (especially the one that looks like a spider!).......but why? They're 5-6 miles off any kind of road and I imagine in those conditions that's a fair distance

sageturkey
Check the Gallery/Google Earth Community checkbox on the lower left to see if anyone has tagged them.
ETA: Sorry, that's when using Google Earth. I'd install that and fire it up to take a look that way. Chances are good that someone has tagged them with a placemark. Often times you'll have to click on the tag and read the discussions about what they are.
I see that quite a bit, you'll see a placemark with the question "What are all these strange dots on the prairie in Wyoming?" Then some knowledgeable person will answer back "Prairie Dogs"...

edit on 1-12-2013 by sageturkey because: Add

Haha! Yeah I might have a look at google earth, unless someone else has it installed and can check? I've put the co-ords in my previous reply!

reply to post by Anomaly84

I checked on Google Earth and no one has placemarked them yet. I placemarked them and posed the question to the Google Earth Community.
You can find the question Here.

reply to post by sageturkey


Great, thanks! Will keep checking that site!

reply to post by Anomaly84


seriously,they are abandoned dwellings. I'll post links to others I know for sure:

www.dailymail.co.uk...
i2.cdn.turner.com...

I don't know who made them, but whoever it was, sure have a crooked eye in their heads.

Anomaly84
reply to post by sageturkey

 

Great, thanks! Will keep checking that site!

You're Welcome! For some reason, my question was posted to the Member-Centric Locations forum, so I re-posted it in the Earth Browsing Forum. Changed the link above...

ETA: I found some pretty neat stuff in South America too, here's a few good locations to check out:
Chiza Geoglyphs: -19.203995° -70.008402°
Tiliviche Geoglyphs: -19.549218° -69.967595°
Atacama Giant: -19.949030° -69.633576°

Trade routes in ancient Arabia.





Looks like it's near Dumah,
half way between Nafud and Syrian Deserts.

Mike Grouchy

reply to post by Anomaly84

Sorry for the double-post, topic has already been deleted from the Earth Browsing Forum?
It's still in the Member-Centric Locations (wrong) forum. My first post there so who knows WTH happened...
Linky

ETA: I put it back in the Earth Browsing Forum, we'll see if it stays this time...
Link

Some of the features seem to be the outline of dwellings, but others are pretty strange. The "horse shoe" features are scattered seemingly randomly, with some quite a distance from any other features. Notice the line feature which appears to be over 600 feet in length. At the east end of it there is an outline [see 29.498762,43.90715].

The the largest of the two square features is around 200x200 feet. They both have 'entrances' visible. The horseshoe vary from 15-25 feet squared. Some of the larger horseshoes have a wall perimeter of over 100 feet.

To me, this seems like an modern site. You can see tracks passing within feet of these structures, so they're obviously not undiscovered. It looks to me like someone dug out these features. The patterns around each feature look like the mounds and/or tracks left behind by modern excavation. I can be pretty sure that these aren't ancient, because some features are cut around the vehicle tracks [which are obviously modern] such as this one - 29.495582,43.905991. This feature is a particularly good example - 29.494226,43.902295 - because it shows the tell tale signs of heavy machinery. Something was in there digging a hole.

As far as what it's for? Who knows. Could be smugglers/bandits setting up a weapon/drug manufacturing site. Could be a camp set up to hold political prisoners. Might be military. Setting up mock villages for training. But I'm pretty positive that none of these features are ancient. Check out the city of rahfa just near by. 29.599212,43.559857 There you can see the same patterns as at the 'mystery' site. Just tracks of heavy machinery. Here is another similar site nearby, mere feet from the highway. 29.47972,43.789835. Same distinct patterns. If you follow along the highway south of the site, you'll see countless examples of this sort of excavation.

Cool pics. This one reminds me of a fort with watch towers or look out points in all 4 corners. Then a series of squares forming a line. Perhaps where shops and wares were sold. Interesting nonetheless.

smurfy
I don't know who made them, but whoever it was, sure have a crooked eye in their heads.

Lol these would be the kind of lines I'd expect from our ancients if we are to believe we evolved from hunter gatherer. Yet most of the awe inspiring ancient sites manage to have remarkable perfection as if they had a surveyor and modern tools.

Just found this one:

huge

I don't get it....there's hundreds and hundreds of these 'lines' in the sand all around the area that do look like they've been made by a digger, I just can't see why...