Expert Says: Google Maps Mystery Actually Spy Satellite Targets

Newfound Google Maps images accept appear an adjustment of abstruse structures and patterns categorical into the apparent of China's Gobi Desert. The media — from boilerplate to binding — has berserk speculated that they ability be Chinese weapons-testing sites, accessory adjustment targets, artery maps of Washington, D.C., and New York City, or alike letters to (or from) aliens.

It turns out that they are about absolutely acclimated to calibrate China's spy satellites.

So says Jonathon Hill, a analysis artisan and mission artist at the Mars Amplitude Flight Facility at Arizona State University, which operates abounding of the cameras acclimated during NASA's Mars missions. Hill works with images of the Martian apparent taken by rovers and satellites, as able-bodied as abstracts from Earth-orbiting NASA instruments.

The grids of zigzagging white curve apparent in two of the images — the strangest of the assorted arid structures — are spy accessory adjustment targets. Accessory cameras focus on the grids, which admeasurement about 0.65 afar advanced by 1.15 afar long, and use them to acclimatize themselves in space. [Photos: Abstruse Structures In China's Gobi Desert]

The actuality of these adjustment targets may assume apprehensive or revelatory, but Hill said it absolutely isn't; China was already accepted to accomplish spy satellites, and abounding added countries (including the United States) do so as well. In fact, the U.S. additionally uses adjustment targets. "An archetype I begin aloof now is a adjustment ambition for the Corona spy satellites, congenital aback in the 1960s, bottomward in Casa Grande, Ariz., [at coordinates] 32° 48' 24.74" N, 111° 43' 21.30" W," Hill told Life's Little Mysteries.

The 65-foot-wide white curve that accomplish up China's grids are not fabricated of cogitating metal as abounding account sites accept suggested. "They accept gaps in them breadth they cantankerous little accustomed arising channels and the curve themselves are not altogether abounding in, with lots of little streaks and asperous coverage. I anticipate it's safe to say these are some affectionate of paint," Hill said, acquainted that if they were fabricated of white dust or chalk, the wind would accept acquired them to band visibly.

The adjustment targets are beyond than ability accept been expected, he said, suggesting that the accessory cameras they are actuality acclimated to calibrate accept decidedly poor arena resolution.

Another aberrant angel taken not far abroad shows a Stonehenge-like adjustment of altar beaming outward, with fighter jets anchored at its center. "This is about absolutely a calibration/test ambition for alternate alarm instruments," Hill said. "Since a cogent bulk of alarm acknowledgment is due to differences in apparent roughness, they're apparently testing means of authoritative the areas about planes 'bumpy' abundant that the planes are partially masked."

In added words, the Chinese aggressive apparently uses alarm instruments to accelerate signals bottomward at the ambition from above, and actuate how abundant alarm bounces aback to the instruments from the fighter jets, and how abundant gets broadcast by the Stonehenge-like adjustment of bumps surrounding them. From this, the country's alarm experts can apprentice how best to adumbrate China's aggressive operations from added countries' satellites, and possibly get clues for how to acquisition anxiously hidden altar in added countries. However, the actuality that the planes are fabricated out of metal will access their alarm acknowledgment and accomplish it actual adamantine to absolutely affectation them, Hill said.

Since the antecedent letters of these structures became widespread, active readers of the apparatus blog Gizmodo accept spotted a few added absorbing structures in China. One, Hill said, appears to be a weapons testing zone, conceivably for evaluating explosives. Elsewhere, a behemothic filigree resembles a Yagi antenna array. Instruments like this can be acclimated for any cardinal of things, such as acclimate tracking, amplitude acclimate tracking and high-altitude atmospheric research.

Hill acclaimed that best of these structures are absolutely afterpiece to anniversary other. "I anticipate we're seeing some array of aggressive zone/test range, which explains the ample bulk of accessories and technology in an contrarily alien area," he said. "Sometimes the accuracy can be aloof as interesting, if not added so, than the conspiracies that bodies appear up with."

* Photos: Abstruse Structures In China's Gobi Desert

* Sheikh's Name Written In Sand Visible from Space

* 'Face of Gandhi' Begin On Google Mars