Proceed at your own risk…
Is there anywhere in the world you’ve ever really wanted to visit, but it’s just a little too tough to get to? That’s where Google Earth comes in.
We literally have the world at our fingertips thanks to the technology, and when you get bored of Googling your own or your friends’ houses to see if you’ve been caught by the Google cameras, there are some creepier places to visit.
That being said, YouTube channel Top 10s has warned against searching for some of these locations, because the strange stories around them might just leave you with nightmares.
Norman’s Cay, The Bahamas
The Bahamas: home to white sandy beaches and crystal clear oceans. Who wouldn’t want to visit?
It’s definitely a dreamy vacation spot, but it’s also home to Norman’s Cay, which conceals an object once owned by ‘one of the most evil men to ever live’.
Images from Google show a plane submerged in the water that was once owned by notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Norman’s Cay was once at the center of a drug-smuggling ring, and Escobar’s plane crashed after landing just shy of the small, man-made runway onto the island.
After his plane went down, even the local government were said to be too scared to touch it, meaning the aircraft has been left to rot in the water.
Escobar’s plane went down in the Bahamas. (Google Earth)
A car crash in Florida
Another of the creepiest locations to visit – or avoid – on Google Earth is a pond in Florida which claimed the life of a man named William Moldt.
It was 1997 when Moldt disappeared, and for 22 years the case sat unsolved until, by chance, a Google user spotted what looked like a white car submerged in the water in the pond.
An investigation in 2019 revealed that Moldt had crashed into the pond, and that his body remained trapped inside until it was discovered more than two decades later.
Google Earth)
A missing person in Antarctica
Another morbid Google discovery came in 2020, when a user spotted what appeared to be a body left in the snow.
News of the discovery prompted people to speculate that the body may have belonged to a scientist from a research station who got lost, but the area is so remote that no one has been able to find out for sure.
The body appears to be lying in the snow. (Google Earth)
Irugwa, Tanzania
This particular discovery is unexplained and unnerving, with the mystery surrounding it only adding to the creep-factor.
Images from the tiny island show a room in which the walls are covered in mysterious red splatters.
It’s all too easy to imagine what horrors led to those, but the eeriness doesn’t stop there as the room also features a door with writing that reads, ‘you trusted the wrong guy.’
Say no more, I’m out.
YouTuber Top10 has pointed out that some of the scenes in the image look to be computer-generated, but that still raises questions as to who shared the pictures, and why.
The room clearly isn’t a welcoming one. (Google Earth)
The home of Ariel Castro
At first, this particular location looks like a pretty normal street in Cleveland, Ohio – one you might easily come across while searching for your own house.
However, the chilling reality is that one of the homes on the street is blurred out of focus due to the fact it belonged to ‘one of the worst crime scenes in America‘.
At the home, Castro held three women captive for more than 10 years after kidnapping them. It wasn’t until one of the women finally managed to escape that their horrific ordeal came to an end.
Castro’s home is blurred out on Google. (Google Earth)
A mysterious plane in Fiji
Elsewhere on the map, another plane is hidden off the coast of Fiji. It’s not clear where the plane came from, but it’s safe to say it didn’t have a happy ending.
The lost city of Atlantis?
The Bahamas is home to a hotel known as Atlantis, but some Google Earth users have speculated the region could also be home to the lost city of the same name.
Images show some unusual metal rods sticking out from the sea floor, but Top10 was able to offer an explanation for the strange find on their video.
“These mysterious underwater structures are actually a coral nursery,” they explained. “Fragments of coral are placed on metal coral trees, they then grow large and healthy enough to become coral reefs. This is a project being done by people restoring the coral reefs of The Bahamas.”
The objects in the Bahamas do have a purpose. (Google Earth)
Czech Republic
Far from busy roads and bustling cities elsewhere on Google Earth, there’s one town in the Czech Republic that is completely abandoned.
Things only get stranger when you take a closer look, as one church in the town, built in 1352, features ‘ghost-like’ statues, some of which are sitting in the pews as if they’re real people.
The Atlantic Ocean
With so much of the ocean unexplored, it’s definitely one of the creepiest places on Earth.
Google does offer some insight though, and in one photo, a dark shape appears to depict some kind of sea creature, which some have even speculated could be a Kraken – otherwise known as an absolutely huge octopus.
In another dark patch of water, Google Earth users have speculated seeing a real Megalodon shark – despite the fact they went extinct 2.6 million years ago.
Needless to say, it’s a scary world out there.