Photo Of "Downed" Plane Baffles Google Maps Users

A photo that appears to show a downed passenger plane in Australia has baffled Google Maps users. It was first spotted and posted on social media by an eagle-eyed Maps user after which and it started gaining traction. In the image, the plane appears to be fully intact in the Cardwell Ranges, which is located near the Queensland coast, according to new.com.au. The outlet further said that the aircraft had no markings and was not on any known flight paths. The photo also suggested that the plane was flying much lower than expected.

It also quoted the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to say that there is no report of any missing passenger jet.

According to New York Post, the plane appears to be a standard Airbus A320 or Boeing 737.

The Australian transport safety officials said that it's likely a glitch in Google's software. "There appears to be a phenomenon called ghost images and that could be what this is," Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority told the Cairns Post.

Google has so far not issued any statement on this.

A similar incident took place in 2016 when users claimed a plane was lying at the bottom of Lake Harriet in the US state of Minnesota. But Google later announced it was a "ghost" image - a compilation of several satellite images appearing on the website.

Earlier this year, a phantom island on Google Maps left scientists completely confused. The island, located between Australia and Sandy Island, was believed to be 24km long and 5km wide but without any landmass.

The aforementioned island was first published in British explorer Captain James Cook's Chart of Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean all the way back in 1776. Exactly a hundred years later, in 1876, a ship that was out to hunt and catch whales called Velocity also reported seeing the island.