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Courtesy Of Google Maps, UFOs Invade Earth

UFOs Invade Earth, Courtesy Of Google Maps
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By 

Writer, Editor, HuffPost

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Just a few days ago, a couple of Google Maps images surfaced, showing what appeared to be reddish-pink UFOs in the skies above Texas and New Mexico.

With the help of photo-video analyst Marc Dantonio, The Huffington Post dismissed these pink alien wannabes as simple lens flares from the cameras that show images from across the country, helping folks locate specific addresses, towns and intersections.

And now, these flying saucer-shaped items are all over Google. Many HuffPost readers sent in street-view images of an apparent invasion of pink lens flares in the U.S.

While the main story image, above, may, at first glance, appear to be a pink flying saucer skimming along the atmosphere of Earth, here's what the full picture looks like, in all its rural glory:

"Not only was the lens flare the same color, but it was actually more complete (as in more visible), as well," Dantonio told HuffPost in an email.

"In this image [of the lens flare near the ground], you can see even more brighter detail. Notably, you can also see that the sun itself in the image has a halo of reddish light around it as well. This is likely due to the overwhelming brightness causing scattering and lens effects."

Despite the clear explanation offered for the images, on Saturday, the website ringsidereport.com called this simple lens flare activity a "UFO Shocker" and turned to "UFO expert" Russell Tetrault, who declared:

"Without question, this is a legitimate craft. It is not a reflection or anything like that. That's nonsense. There have been multiple UFOs spotted using this very program and now here's another and perhaps the most compelling. This craft is something that I have never seen before ... so what does that mean? Does this mean that we have a different sort of visitor or a new manmade craft? Whatever it is, it is 100 percent there."

Without question? Hardly.

The following video, posted to YouTube by HoaxKillerFriend, gives an excellent visual analysis of what's going on with all of these lens flares -- NOT UFOs.

Check out more pink lens flares that inhabit Google Maps

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Before You Go

24 Places Google Doesn't Want You To See
Baker Lake, NU, the Inuit nation in northern Canada(01 of24)
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A man indentified as “Dr. Boylan” believes that the blacked out area seen above and those found in several other locations are blocking the locations of extraterrestrial beacons.
Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany(02 of24)
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This NATO air force hub is a retreat for the Operation Iraqi Freedom forces, and as such could definitely be considered a terrorist target. That could explain why the facility is partially blanked out on Google Maps.
Pacific Northwest, USA(03 of24)
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Here’s one that gives us chills. What exactly are we not seeing here? The site is close to the Washington-Oregon border and is rumored to have something to do with FEMA, HAARP or, really, anything at all. Prison Planet readers inspected the site in person and could find no identifying details other than an ominous fence and unmarked entrance.
Szazhalombatta Oil Refinery, Hungary(04 of24)
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One of the strangest acts of alleged “censorship” is this Hungarian oil facility, which is simply rendered green. That’s right — the grounds are deleted, the buildings are missing, and what you have left is flat grass.
Huis Ten Bosch Palace, Netherlands(05 of24)
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You wouldn’t think the Dutch Royal Family would be a prime target for madmen, but the Huis Ten Bosch Palace remains heavily pixilated on Google Maps no matter the angle. (The surrounding area and trees therein, on the other hand, come in crystal clear at close range.)
Unknown area, Russia(06 of24)
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Another one that is so mysterious, no one has a clue what it is. One commenter on the website Siberian Light speculates it’s either “a radar station or missile interceptor,” while another notes that the image of the surrounding area appears to have been copy-pasted from another part of the country.
Mobil Oil Corporation, Buffalo, NY, USA(07 of24)
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Some have criticized Mobil of Buffalo, NY for blurring their facilities, saying the oil corporation doesn’t have much of a case for being a terrorist target (terrorists hate snow, you know.) On the other hand, we can’t be sure what their reasoning is.
North Korea(08 of24)
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You’ve no doubt heard about this country, one of the members of the supposed “Axis of Evil,” but few have ever visited. You won’t see it on Google Maps, either, as the entire country exists in images but without highway markers, street names, or any other identifying details.
Reims Airbase, France(09 of24)
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Why is the Reims Airbase in France blocked out? Perhaps it emits a particularly foul body odor. (Just kidding, we love the French.)
Indian Point Power Plant, New York, USA(10 of24)
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Everyone from Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo to former Republican Congresswoman Sue Kelly has called for the Indian Point Power Plant to be shut down. On top of environmental concerns, the upstate New York structure is, according to experts in the energy field, not strong enough to withstand an earthquake like the one that recently devastated Japan.
Volkel Airbase, Netherlands(11 of24)
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It’s pretty ridiculous how blatantly blurred this one is, but then again, WikiLeaks did publish a diplomatic cable that confirmed the presence of nuclear warheads at this base.
HAARP Site, Gakona, Alaska, USA (12 of24)
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HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is one of the most controversial operations currently active in the United States. The Gakona, AK site and its ionospheric testing is believed by some conspiracy theorists to be the cause of everything from floods to earthquakes, although the evidence of this is very minimal.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas, CA, USA(13 of24)
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Here’s the strangest bit of censorship on Google Maps: the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. It’s heavily whited out, in fact, as if an angry hand did the trick. The weirdest part is the facility is just what it sounds like: a seemingly-harmless racetrack
Babylon, Iraq(14 of24)
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While the surrounding area (including its surprisingly rich farmland) is visible, the city of Babylon, Iraq itself is all blurry. You can bet it has something to do with the insurgents there…
Tantauco National Park in Chile(15 of24)
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Why is this refuge for Endangered Species completely washed over on Google? Mashable, which seems to have discovered the strange censorship, doesn’t have a clue.
“The Hill” aka Elmira Correctional Facility(16 of24)
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This maximum security prison in upstate New York is understandably blacked out… we guess. After the Attica Prison Riots and several incidents worldwide of uprisings and mass escapes, officials could be worried about a possible helicopter-led breakout.
This Russian Guy’s House(17 of24)
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What? Some rich guy’s personal paradise is blurred on Google? According to Wikipedia, what you’re seeing here is “a private palace of the Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller.” Why is he given preference over the rest of us? Perhaps we just aren’t powerful enough to convince Google to blur our own homes.
Colonel Sanders(18 of24)
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Here’s the strangest of them all: Col. Sanders, the face of Kentucky Fried Chicken, appears in exactly zero Google Street View images. That’s because, as a Google spokesperson notes, Sanders was a real person and everyone is supposed to be blurred on Google sites…
The Faroe Islands, Denmark(19 of24)
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This is a rumored military installation in a country we previously thought as “harmless.” Wonder what they’re really planning…
Hungarian Oil Refinery(20 of24)
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The Szhalombatta Oil refinery in Hungary… and that’s all we know.
NATO Headquarters, Portugal(21 of24)
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This one would be hilarious if it weren’t so sinister. Whoever doctored the image of the Portuguese HQ for NATO simply copy-pasted another piece of Google Earth over the actual layout of the building. Weird.
Seabrook Nuclear facility, New Hampshire(22 of24)
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This is believed to be the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station in the northeast corner of the United States. Are you as fearful of nuclear power as we are?
Missile silo, Spain(23 of24)
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According to a researcher with WikiMedia, “On this lot there is a small building with something almost like a silo in the middle. This location is not blocked in Yahoo! Maps. There is no image for this location in Virtual Earth yet.”
Atomic site, France(24 of24)
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We’re not sure what “The Marcoule site of the Commissariat l’Energie Atomique” means, but we’re pretty sure the word “atomique” is the keyword here.
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