Well, the same thing occours when you search for "Ganderkesee, Germany" and zoom. Spiegel Online featured this last year in juli. http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/tech/0,1518,425949,00.html

It appears to have a drop shadow, coming out from all directions...

Can't even compare that area in Microsoft Maps Live or Yahoo Maps as they don't have images for that zoom level.

I find it rather odd as well. That's quite an irregular shape... so much to be attributed to just missing data? In fact, I think it's intentional cause if you look at the little mini-map in the lower right corner it displays everything just fine. If it were missing data, wouldn't that grey spot also be there as well?

It makes a shadow in the ground...strange...

There are many areas censored by the data providers to Google Earth. This is an example. Read about the Data Error Compendium and download the network link which will let you view the current placemarks of known censored areas, or errors in the data:

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2007/01/google_earth_data_er.html

In my opinion it is just missing data. When you look in the south-east corner of that grey blob, you can notice that two satellite images are overlayed. So, perhaps its caused to this?

...and when you zoom-in close enough, you can see the grey blob in the mini-map, too.

It's the cloaked alien ship! :-) :-) :-)

Is it possible that it's someone's bad 3-D model in Google Sketchup? They could have uploaded it, and it's blotting out the actual map itself.

Must be Area 52.

It's not just an alien ship. Apparently it's the mothership. It's like an aircraft carrier of sorts (judging from the shape, or at least that's what an equivalnet Earth technology would be), with fighter ships ready to launch at a moment's notice. Kind of makes you wonder what kind of alien technology Google is using for their searches.

On second thought, it looks like someone's been playing with Windows Paint and is not very good at it. The grey blog reminds me of cut-out newspapers used to patch or cover something. Maybe someone messed with the satellite imagery from Digital Globe (or whatever other company is supplying for this region) before being sent over to Google.

I dived through Monzelfeld one times (living just 30km away), can't remember any special things, just fields like the whole area

Same with GoYellow:
http://www.goyellow.de/map?lat=49.89589&lon=7.06191&z=15&mt=1

Google Tutor: No, no, it's not that Google is using alien technology. It's plain old Earth technology. It's just that the alien cloaking technology is apparently not working perfectly with that satellite imagery. If you walked to that spot on the ground, and looked up, you wouldn't see the alien ship, because it's *cloaked*, remember? If you were above it, on a plane, and looked down, same thing. That's what cloaking technology *does*, see

http://science.howstuffworks.com/invisibility-cloak.htm

But apparently the retro-reflective material used by the alien ship is opaque to whatever wavelength and optical system used by the satellite images. So it just shows up as a blob. Remember, it's a glitch with *shadows*!

The aliens probably didn't think anyone would look at that particular area with enough resolution – or maybe they didn't know the particular frequency vulnerability of the cloak had made it to commercial use by Earthlings. Now they've found. Prepare for First Contact. Or a very weak explanation from Google.

[Note: Humor! I don't believe this. It's a science-fiction story. Or at least that's what I'm saying to prevent a visit from the Men In Black. If I disappear, you'll know why ...]

Somewhere in this area south of Bonn the former government shelter could be found.

I really like that shadow. If you zoom in around the "shoulders", you can see the outline curve is very detailed – and it doesn't follow the grey patch exactly!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=monzelfeld,+germany&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=49.898595,7.06526&spn=0.006787,0.017724&t=k&iwloc=addr

[again, this not meant to be taken seriously]

Another good spot:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=monzelfeld,+germany&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=18&ll=49.895225,7.066344&spn=0.001673,0.004678&t=k&iwloc=addr

Guys, check the preview in the bottom righthand corner of Seth's link... no blob... It's just a glitch.

See more places here:

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=SupportData&Number=330340&page=0&fpart=3

From that page, here's Microsoft Live's clear-view Monzelfeld satellite image:
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=49.891649~7.07262&style=a&lvl=13

Philipp, if you search in the Internet you will find that this region was military restricted area. Today there is no restricted area (as I read correct here http://www.kreis-euskirchen.de/tourismus/fahrradfreundlicher_kreis/maas-mosel-radweg.php), so maybe Google is using "old" military restriced area information.

I don't know if you already know this page here (German):

http://www.googleerde.de/jgs_db.php?action=showkat&katid=13&sid=4bab606e601d884eb01fce60b83df2a2

Philipp: Obviously, Microsoft Live or another provider wouldn't show anything at the spot. The alien ship likely wasn't there at that moment! And it may have moved by now. Not because they monitor blogs, heaven forbid, but simply going whereever they go. for their own reasons.

:-) :-) -)

http://www.geoportal.rlp.de/portal/karten.html?geomuid=fa50d540-5337-7ef4-11bb-053883eb04f1&geomid=wp0

Da siehst Du mehr! Der link funktioniert nciht richtig, aber auf dem geoportal kann man sich auch Karten angucken und da ist die ganze Gegend um Monzelfeld deutlich zu sehen.

Sieht nicht wirklich geheim aus!

Gruß
Judith

Google Translator says:

"There you see more! That left does not function correctly, but on the geo portal one can be seen clear also maps to look at itself and is the whole area around Monzelfeld there. Does not look really secret! Greeting Judith"

Maybe it's just something that fell on the screen during the scanning process similar to the big bug that was in Germany:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannysullivan/255000299/

i think it's eitehr a kind of bug or there is something you should not see at that zoom level (zoom out a bit (or more) and the shape will disappear)
maybe there aren't pictures available and google failed to show the normal picture shown normally in this case

The reason it is also on Go Yellow is that the maps are provided by endoxon, which google recently aquired and are incorporating into google maps for their european data

I'd suggest it is a new e-commerce initiative..

Perhaps google has offered the local hiking supply shop / corner store a new source of 'traffic' in return for a cut of the profits...

It's a Vogon ship. Haven't any of you read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?