In what alternative universe did this happen?

Skip Miller

Final Approach
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Skip Miller
I am looking at a Google Map Satellite Images photo of JFK airport. I can find only one plane at a terminal - a JAL 777. Where did all the planes go? None taxiing, only one at any terminal. When was this? See https://goo.gl/maps/pQztH7ejagEBfBsKA which is terminal 5, Jet Blue as an example....

-Skip
 
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The planes were airbrushed out. Not sure why they'd do that but you can see part of a few planes that were missed.
 
Guessing they stack up multiple images to generate the final product. No clouds, no cars on the BQE...
 
Where did all the planes go?
I was once told by an aerial photog that Google uses both satellite and high altitude aircraft sources which are combined. Due to the technical differences with each method they use algorithms to combine the photos which result in some items being masked or cut off. There is another algorithm that removes those item fragments which would give you the missing aircraft affect. There is a reported Wikipedia page that explains this with examples and pics but I never got that far in reading it.
 
Interesting find. It's probably like a few of you noted - multiple images stitched and stacked. Their s/w probably combines the images in such a way that only the common pixels are included and filters out differences. For example - one image take has planes at gates 1,3,5 and nothing at gates 2, 4, 6 and another image has planes at gates 2, 4, and 6 and nothing at gates 1, 3, and 5. But the jetways are the same in both images. So the jetways are included in the composite but the airplanes are not.

This might explain why there are no cars on the highways.

Capture.JPG
 
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On desktop, there are no planes to be seen. Maybe a difference between desktop and mobile images?

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Browser window shows no planes anywhere
Google Maps app on tablet shows it chock full of aircraft.
 
On desktop, there are no planes to be seen. Maybe a difference between desktop and mobile images?

Edit:
Browser window shows no planes anywhere
Google Maps app on tablet shows it chock full of aircraft.
Yeah, I just tried it, too. Airplanes, no airplanes.

It looks like the tablet/mobile view is a single photograph, and the browser version is more of the interactive 2D/3D processed images.
 
You are actually looking through the Space-Time-Matter Consortium that looks at objects in 5D vision instead of the usual 3D....
 
Romulan cloaking device, but the airlines rarely turn them on due to the immense increase in fuel burn.

Hey @EdFred , maybe you could acquire one? You could keep your plane and make it invisible to ADSB! Just slap a Fusion blender in the plane to power it lol.
 
Romulan cloaking device, but the airlines rarely turn them on due to the immense increase in fuel burn.

Hey @EdFred , maybe you could acquire one? You could keep your plane and make it invisible to ADSB! Just slap a Fusion blender in the plane to power it lol.

Is there an STC for Mr. Fusion? It's cheaper...
 
There's lots of odd stuff in google maps. Cars not where they should be... no people on crowded streets... airbrushed out
 
Scroll over to LaGuarda and zoom in. All the planes are "stacked" up on top of one another!
 
It’s the Matrix bro....

Just remember,...... there is no spoon.
 
Fake news.... everyone knows real pilots have epaulets.
haha good catch. I didn't notice that. I guess that if they ever make it back, they will get a letter of reprimand from the CAA for being out of uniform :D

Well at least we know they weren't lost because of google maps.
 
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Yes, there are significant time differences between the mobile Google Maps images and the desktop images. I've seen this before, quite noticeable when you're looking at highway major construction project areas.
 
Crowded flight deck, does anyone know if the 707 actually had a 5 person crew?
Global Airlines flight #33 (in this episode) was a transatlantic flight from London to New York, which I presume would account for the additional crew members (navigator and radio operator).

Capt-FO-FE(flight engineer).....Navigator & Radio operator.
Or, maybe one was a jump seater?

According to the wiki for this episode, the fifth person on the deck is listed as the Second Officer.
I'm thinking that this is the radio operator...?
 
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IIRC, there is a layer that adds some element of depth to Google maps that effectively erases or otherwise obsures and distorts things like cars and planes. You can turn it off and it goes back to normal.

I discovered this when looking at KAFF. Things looked so weird I assumed it was censored. It wasn't .
 
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