SUNY Maritime Ghost Ships?

April 27, 2007 7:42 AM

Ghost Ships exist, and they're in Throgg's Neck!

Anybody know what this ghost-ship-like image is on google maps? It appears to be half in the pier at SUNY Maritime under the Throgg's Neck Bridge. Is this just an artifact from the imaging process or is it some ethereal ship come to prey on the young sailors there?

If it is an imaging artifact, have you seen it happen anywhere else on GMaps or Google Earth?

posted by .taft to technology (10 comments total)

I have no expertise in the area but I would have to assume that there were two overlapping source images and that google tried to blend the overlap together.
posted by frieze at 7:48 AM on April 27, 2007

You see the same thing on either side of the bridge, with the water and the shadows: They merged data of the water with (more detailed?) data of the land features. The dock sort of fell on the border of the merger, hence ghost ships.
posted by Harry at 7:49 AM on April 27, 2007

looks like an artifact. I would not be surprised if the smaller boat is a packet boat for carrying heating oil and the larger one is a similar cargo vessel. Notice that to the left of the two large boats is the watermark of another 'ghost' but that ship is visible as-is a few inches to the left of that mark.
posted by parmanparman at 7:50 AM on April 27, 2007

There used to be a ship there (and about that size too) for training at the maritime school. It was docked there for years.

Maybe it is a double exposure of the same area. Possibly the first picture wasn't good enough but the ship was moved before the second was taken.

Just a guess though.
posted by lampshade at 7:55 AM on April 27, 2007

It's a well known paranormal fact that the lenses used in satellite and aerial photography usually don't pick up non-corporeal or "ghost" images.

Just kidding. What others said. Google tends to use an overlay of many images for the same location. Sometimes you'll notice high-rise buildings a few blocks apart from each other in the same urban area "pointing" in a different direction due to multiple images used from different passes or flyovers.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:07 AM on April 27, 2007

If you scroll south, you'll see a ghost on-ramp to the Throgs Neck Bridge, aieee! Are those really ghosts rollerblading by Croceron Park?
posted by dr_dank at 8:09 AM on April 27, 2007

Google Sightseeing has a Weirdness category. If this isn't already there, I'd submit it.
posted by desjardins at 9:15 AM on April 27, 2007

"Strange Map Quirks" found within Google Earth. via
posted by Oddly at 10:43 AM on April 27, 2007

The big one is definitely SUNY Maritime's school ship, the Empire State. I have no idea about the ghosting though.
posted by boots at 1:05 PM on April 27, 2007

I run a maritime website and am an SUNY Maritime grad. I'll post this on our site to see what the alumni make of it.

gCaptain Maritime Forum
posted by unofficialsquaw.com at 2:25 AM on May 7, 2007