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I encountered this in Google Maps satellite mode about 3 weeks ago. I thought it may be a passing plane and it goes away when the images update. But now after 3 weeks it is still there. The existence of the shadow also made me think it's a passing plane. But the other characteristics made be doubt about it:

There is a huge black color between the tail and rest of the plane. It looks like a severe fracture. Also, one of its wings looks fractured from top to bottom near the tip. The other wing looks partially fractured near the tip.

It seems that the lines of little waves on the surface of the water are above the plane (hence it seems the plane is below the water).

Is this a sunken plane or a passing plane?

Overview image: enter image description here Detail image: enter image description here

The coordinates: N 27.144986°, E 56.461160°. Google Maps link

Snack Exchange
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    I can't answer with certainty, but it's likely just an illusion due to the rather complex image processing, stitching and compositing that is done on satellite imagery. Notice the colored halo of the same shape to the northeast. Real objects below the water's surface are rarely visible from above, and almost never with that level of detail. It's much more likely a plane in the air that is distorted by the image processing. – TypeIA Jul 23 '23 at 10:10
  • @TypeIA I also have found a seemingly drowned vessel near the plane at the following coordinates: N 27.128059°, E 56.220373°. – Snack Exchange Jul 23 '23 at 10:45
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    Great finds! I still think both are simply artifacts. See this article for a more detailed "debunking" of a similar apparently "sunken" plane. – TypeIA Jul 23 '23 at 11:28
  • Lake Harriet is still mysterious! Now I found ghosted vessels besides obvious ones in the WNW of it. – Snack Exchange Jul 23 '23 at 11:48
  • @TypeIA: that's sounds like an answer – sophit Jul 23 '23 at 13:08
  • @sophit I do try to avoid answers-in-comments, but in this case I'm not sure enough of exactly what's going on to feel great calling it an answer. It's (hopefully educated) speculation. – TypeIA Jul 23 '23 at 13:25
  • @TypeIA well you've also linked an article which confirms your comment/answer. But it's obviously your call – sophit Jul 23 '23 at 13:46
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    Google images update very infrequently. 3 weeks is not long enough - try 3 years - maybe not even then. Some images are already 3 years old. – user253751 Jul 24 '23 at 13:55
  • @user253751 If images are updated every several years why does Google Maps label its images with the number of the current year? When you zoom in to a maximum extent you can see it. Every year the labels change. Last year it was 2022 Google Maps® and now it is 2023 Google Maps®. – Snack Exchange Jul 25 '23 at 10:51
  • @TypeIA Can the plane also be identified? – Snack Exchange Jul 25 '23 at 10:54
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    Bing Maps does not show the aircraft at the same location – ROIMaison Jul 25 '23 at 12:00
  • @SnackExchange My best guess would be a Learjet, maybe a 40 or 45. Distinctive features being the T tail, engine placement and the lack of swept wings. https://www.skybrary.aero/sites/default/files/LJ40_3D.jpg but it's only a best guess. – TypeIA Jul 25 '23 at 13:16
  • Not understanding why this is tagged aeronautical-charts.... Google Maps isn't an AC, and if you're depending on it to be such, hopefully you arrive at your destination...and can land safely. – CGCampbell Jul 25 '23 at 15:45
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    Not a Learjet. More like a older twinjet Falcon or a Citation. – Juan Jimenez Jul 25 '23 at 17:48
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    @TypeIA I think it's too big for a Learjet. My guess is it's a Fokker 100, a type that is still used by a few airlines in Iran. – DeltaLima Jul 25 '23 at 20:54
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    @DeltaLima The data I get from measuring it in Google Earth shows a length of about 116 feet and a wingspan of 92 feet, which lines up with the Fokker 100. – Davidw Jul 28 '23 at 04:53
  • @TypeIA I think the artifact I experienced is the cleanest artifact ever! The artifact of Lake Harriet for example was so blurry and bad-colored. – Snack Exchange Aug 11 '23 at 21:47
  • Similar answer, but clearly a different question. Don't trust Google Maps, except for shopping. – Ian W Aug 14 '23 at 07:05

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This is definitely an artifact of image processing, not a sunken plane. The red, green, and blue planes just in front of it are a dead giveaway- this results from three different exposures being taken with three color filters on a fast-moving object. Since the airplane has moved slightly between exposures, the composite of these three images results in an artifact like this rather than a single plane.

Also, I'm not sure of the exact aircraft type, but planes that look like that (e.g. a Learjet or Citation) are on order 15 feet tall. Glancing at a nautical chart, the water is not even 15 feet deep there. So not only would it be sticking out of the water, there's basically no chance it would not have been discovered and salvaged pretty quickly.

Chris
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