Conspiracy theorists are going wild for a mysterious red X that appeared on Google Earth

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By VT

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Another day, another insane conspiracy theory, eh? They may drive us crazy, but it wouldn't be the internet as we know and love it unless one person or another was throwing around some crazy new hypothesis, right?

This week, fresh claims centre around a mysterious red X that appeared on Google Earth and spiked suspicion from conspiracy theorist camps that a rogue Google employee may be trying to expose an important secret to the world.

Speculation began when YouTube channel Conspiracy Depot posted a short video showing footage from Google Earth from Thursday 8 March. In the video, when the user hovers over Antarctica, a big red cross pointing to a random location in the middle of the continent appears. Reportedly, no reason is given for the red cross, leading the YouTuber to speculate what exactly it could mean.

Words accompanying the video read: "Looking through Google Earth tonight when I noticed a huge red X pointing to an area in Antarctica. When you zoom in, it appears to be pointing directly to a particular point in Antarctica. Is it a glitch? Or is somebody at Google showing 'X marks the spot'?"

The cross only appears when a user enables the weather feature on Google Earth. The weather feature isn't yet available on the online version of the tool, making it harder for others to check the legitimacy of the video. However, that didn't stop people on the internet were discussing theories, broaching everything from the spot in the Antartica being the location of buried treasure, the site of a UFO landing and the entry to hollow earth.

However, one YouTuber had a more logical theory for all of the conspiracy theorists out there. Andrew Woodhead wrote in a comment: "I'm guessing it's a marker for an issue in the software that needs addressing and has gone out to the live environment. Like a comment in the code saying 'fix this bit'. Completely plausible and logical."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnliVkXzB94&t=10s]]

This certainly isn't the first time that Google Earth has been caught up in conspiracy theorist whisperings. Just days ago, alien hunters claimed to discover evidence of a UFO in Antarctica, with a video showing an estimated 160-foot long object on a glacier in South Georgia quickly going viral.

The baffling image showed lots of disturbed ice on the side of a glacier near Mount Paget, a 9,629-foot-tall (2,935 meters) prominence on the British-controlled island far to the south of Argentina. This led YouTube channel SecureTeam10 to claim that it showed the remains of an extraterrestrial craft that had slammed into the side of a mountain and skidded a lengthy distance across the ice.

Nonetheless, others dismissed the far-fetched hypothesis, claiming that the ariel photography simply showed a landslide or ice avalanche.

So, are the conspiracy theorists right? Does Google Earth have something to hide? Or should we listen to the voices of reason who offer a logical explanation for everything? It's up to you to make your own mind up. Although, one thing we do know for certain is that people on the internet will continue to question anything and everything.

Conspiracy theorists are going wild for a mysterious red X that appeared on Google Earth

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

Another day, another insane conspiracy theory, eh? They may drive us crazy, but it wouldn't be the internet as we know and love it unless one person or another was throwing around some crazy new hypothesis, right?

This week, fresh claims centre around a mysterious red X that appeared on Google Earth and spiked suspicion from conspiracy theorist camps that a rogue Google employee may be trying to expose an important secret to the world.

Speculation began when YouTube channel Conspiracy Depot posted a short video showing footage from Google Earth from Thursday 8 March. In the video, when the user hovers over Antarctica, a big red cross pointing to a random location in the middle of the continent appears. Reportedly, no reason is given for the red cross, leading the YouTuber to speculate what exactly it could mean.

Words accompanying the video read: "Looking through Google Earth tonight when I noticed a huge red X pointing to an area in Antarctica. When you zoom in, it appears to be pointing directly to a particular point in Antarctica. Is it a glitch? Or is somebody at Google showing 'X marks the spot'?"

The cross only appears when a user enables the weather feature on Google Earth. The weather feature isn't yet available on the online version of the tool, making it harder for others to check the legitimacy of the video. However, that didn't stop people on the internet were discussing theories, broaching everything from the spot in the Antartica being the location of buried treasure, the site of a UFO landing and the entry to hollow earth.

However, one YouTuber had a more logical theory for all of the conspiracy theorists out there. Andrew Woodhead wrote in a comment: "I'm guessing it's a marker for an issue in the software that needs addressing and has gone out to the live environment. Like a comment in the code saying 'fix this bit'. Completely plausible and logical."

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnliVkXzB94&t=10s]]

This certainly isn't the first time that Google Earth has been caught up in conspiracy theorist whisperings. Just days ago, alien hunters claimed to discover evidence of a UFO in Antarctica, with a video showing an estimated 160-foot long object on a glacier in South Georgia quickly going viral.

The baffling image showed lots of disturbed ice on the side of a glacier near Mount Paget, a 9,629-foot-tall (2,935 meters) prominence on the British-controlled island far to the south of Argentina. This led YouTube channel SecureTeam10 to claim that it showed the remains of an extraterrestrial craft that had slammed into the side of a mountain and skidded a lengthy distance across the ice.

Nonetheless, others dismissed the far-fetched hypothesis, claiming that the ariel photography simply showed a landslide or ice avalanche.

So, are the conspiracy theorists right? Does Google Earth have something to hide? Or should we listen to the voices of reason who offer a logical explanation for everything? It's up to you to make your own mind up. Although, one thing we do know for certain is that people on the internet will continue to question anything and everything.