These Eye-Catching Satellite Images Show the Rare Side of Iconic Places

Oh, man. The next time you’re traveling by plane or helicopter or hot air balloon, or any other kind of airborne device across the great land of Northern England, you may want to make sure you don’t have any people under the age of 18 with you, seeing as the view can get get a little rated-R at times. This gorgeous and unique attraction garners over 200 thousand yearly visitors.

The Plaza Del Ejectuvio in Mexico City is surely one of the world’s most amazing and impressive works of urban design; it is a perfect expression of how sublime our advanced civilization can be at times. In a way, however, it’s only possible to truly appreciate this architectural feat when you look at it from above. That, to us, just makes this accomplishment that much more unique and breathtaking.

By this point, we’re pretty sure that nearly everyone has already seen Hoover Dam. But have you ever seen Hoover Dam from above like this? It’s a pretty thing to see, in our opinion. Pictures like these make us think that this is definitely a place worth visiting or perhaps revisiting. It seems as though this place’s vibe becomes that much more special and unique as time marches on.

When you look at this photograph from top to bottom, it looks as though those squiggly things are tree branches. Not only that, but it also looks as though those tree branches are getting redder and angrier as you go down, which is strange. In truth, however, those aren’t tree branches, and they definitely aren’t angry. What’s photographed in this picture is Everglades National Park in Florida. Didn’t see that one coming.

It’s funny how people can live in one place for tens of years, perhaps their entire lives, and never actually thoroughly look at their living grounds from all angles. Before we had drones and airplanes and expensive cameras, it was pretty much impossible to get a view like this unless you hiked up to a nearby mountain, if there even was one. Thankfully, the advent of modern photography has allowed us to enjoy this view.

Okay, so we’re not going to lie. Our first thought when we saw this photograph for the first time was: “Yeah, no way that’s real.” Then, finally, when we made peace with reality and accepted that this photograph was indeed genuine, we immediately thought that it had to be a picture of some kind of micro-organism as seen from under a microscope. But no, this is just a place in Hong Kong.

Don’t believe us? Well, just feast your eyes on all that yellow stuff in the picture. That’s not corn, nor is it a huge stretch of daisies or sunflowers; what that is, is canola. Now, we’ve never even thought to ourselves how large the canola fields of the world must be for there to be so much canola oil in the world, but now we know, and we won’t forget this.

We’re not sure how we got to this point in human history, but we as a species have gotten to the point where we can just pretty much make very complicated and huge things look extremely organized and neat. Now, we’re not sure who designed this place, but we’re pretty sure whoever did it was kind of obsessed with symmetry and organization and other visual fixations. There is absolutely no denying that.

Yeah, there’s absolutely no doubt in our minds that if dragons exist, this is where they live. It’s like this terrain was written by a fantasy writer like Tolkien or George R.R. Martin, given just how dragon-like it seems. Just look at that steaming lake in the middle. Yeah, now way a human’s dipping his toes in one of those without suffering the repercussions. In short, this is the ultimate place to go dragon spotting.

There’s absolutely no way any American city could look so good when photographed from above. No offense, it’s just that European cities are literally built differently for some reason. Europeans didn’t go for the whole grid urban design thing and just kind of went for weird, wacky, zany shapes instead. This is great when you’re taking photographs from above. It’s a bit more troublesome when you’re trying to navigate the city as a tourist.

Seriously, anyone who has ever been to a flower field in person knows just how amazing those things are. Surrounding yourself with what some consider the most beautiful thing in nature, flowers, is nothing short of a majestic experience. But who knew that flower fields were just as pretty from above? This photograph of the Tulip Fields in The Netherlands proves just that. It’s as though they were simulated into reality.

There is this one video that has been circulating all around the internet for quite a while now. The video depicts an iPhone lying on its back with the screen facing the camera right next to a bunch of ants going about their daily ant business. Then, suddenly, the phone begins to ring, and the ants all begin to orbit the phone as if they were possessed by some magical cult spell.

This definitely looks like some kind of bug in the Matrix-type scenario, but it’s not that at all. Imagine our surprise when we found out this picture wasn’t CGI depicting the misadventures and shenanigans of Neo, The Matrix’s Chosen One. It can’t be just us that thought about the famous movie series when we first saw this picture, can it? Truth be told, it probably can. We just love The Matrix.

Oh, wow. This is one incredibly freaky and psychedelic picture. It looks as though those houses were picked from our reality and elated into some other, higher plane of being. Now, although this photo does certainly look like something straight out of a Doctor Strange movie, it is a real place in our world that any one of us could actually visit if we wanted to. The only problem is, it’s in France.

Now, this spectacular view, as photographed from above, may look like a flower upon some alien land, but it isn’t – it’s just Earth. Well, more specifically, what we’re seeing in this satellite photograph right here is a bird’s-eye view of Willie Creek, Western Australia. Located approximately 17 kilometers to the North of Broome (another more recognized place in Australia), this place is known for its intricate pearl jewels and such.

It’s no secret that France is a beautiful country when it comes to architecture and its views. And who knew that from a bird’s-eye view, it’s just as beautiful. The photo below shows the complexity and detail that went into designing Paris, a city that then inspired urban design all over the world, including in the United States capitol of Washington, D.C. Talk about being a big deal!

So, we definitely don’t want to be the ones to roast a literal river, but we might just have to. Look at the difference between these two rivers; what on Earth is up with that? The people of Chongqing, China (yes, that is the actual name of the place) certainly do have some explaining to do as to why one river is so squeaky clean and the other one is so polluted.

Look, we’re not trying to dunk on anyone here. We’re sure whoever tried to solve this puzzle had the best intentions and is probably a very talented and intelligent person. That being said, they did a horrible job with this puzzle piece right here. Just look at all those disparate pieces. They’re not forming a coherent image at all. This isn’t how puzzles should be. Wait, what do you mean this isn’t a puzzle?

Now, pretty much all of us have seen an airshow or something along those lines, whether it was in person, on TV, or on the internet. But what we’ve never thought about is how the people performing the airshow, as in the pilots, witnessed the airshow themselves. While we were looking up at them, they were looking down on us. We’ve got to say that the airshow looks pretty cool from the pilot’s point of view, too.

Look, we’re not going to lie; this island definitely looks like Patrick the Star from the hit TV show SpongeBob. What’s worse is that this island doesn’t just look like regular-old Patrick; it looks like a very abysmal version of the lovable sea creature. It looks as though Patrick is suffering or something like that, which is definitely one effective way to pull on our heartstrings. Pray for Patrick, everyone.

No, this isn’t a map of the stars taken by some kind of futuristic telescope that costs more than the accumulative wealth of half the population of the United States that only NASA has access to; it’s just a satellite picture of the great city of London. What’s truly cool about this image is how you can spot the different kinds of lights which vary in brightness that are scattered all across the city.

Who on Earth thought it was a good idea to design a rooftop in such a way that it would create an optical illusion that would make it seem to anyone taking a picture of the building from above that there were huge spiders crawling all over the entire construction? Well, we’re not sure who it was, but we do hope he’ll take a good, hard look at himself in the mirror.

This spectacular view we’re all getting the pleasure to feast our eyes upon is none other than Valhalla Dam, New York. Now, this definitely isn’t your average view, not in New York nor anywhere else. What’s truly amazing about this view is just how natural and oceanic it is. Like, imagine driving across that long bridge on your way to work. It must be nothing short of a serene experience.

Somehow, this isn’t a painting. Yeah, finding out that this wasn’t drawn on a canvas with oil paints definitely took us by surprise too. What this is, surprisingly, is a top-down photograph of Roebuck Bay, located in Western Australia, which seems to be a prime location for zany natural landmarks. Yeah, all those weird markings are just the way this ocean shore looks when photographed from above. Pretty crazy, right?

Okay, forget that other place we mentioned when we talked about dragons and their habitats. This is definitely where they would live if they existed. Seriously, what’s even going on here? This habitat looks unhospitable even to the most hard-boiled and tough species. It should be common knowledge by now that scary purple things in nature are pretty much always bad news. We wouldn’t go anywhere near this place if we were you.

No, this isn’t some kind of painting inspired by the works of Vincent Van Gough and other modern artists; this is just a satellite picture of Algeria. Well, to be more specific, we are talking about the Algerian part of the great Sahara desert. This region is known for its dry climates and can go without rain for long periods. For that reason, it was given the nickname: the “Triangle of Fire.”

No, seriously. This cannot be a real place. It just can’t. Think about it. This thing looks like some kind of 3D CGI nightmare, like some kind of thing you’d see at a digital art exhibition where all those young, hipster artists showcase their skills in 3D animations of eerie and crystalized creatures. Okay, that might have been an obscure reference, but we’re pretty sure the point got across anyhow.

Some people certainly do appreciate things being nice, clean, organized, and orderly more than others do. That’s just the way things are with people; some of them need to have their houses spotless at all times, while others don’t mind rotting in a pile of their filth for a month or two before giving their floors a nice vacuum cleaning. Those who appreciate cleanliness are bound to get a kick out of this picture.

What this photograph is depicting is none other than the Camp Fire in Northern California, which, for those who were living under a rock for the past few years, was the deadliest wildfire in Californian history and the second deadliest wildfire in the history of the United States. All things considered, that’s quite the wildfire if we do say so ourselves. Just looking at it from above is enough to give us the chills.

Look, we’re pretty sure there are some very interesting things we could mention about this photograph. Things like the location of this place, the way this place took shape over the years, the geographical and human factors that led to this happening, but we’re just going to talk about how this island kind of looks like a rabbit to us. Can you really blame us, though? The resemblance is uncanny.

Did somebody just scatter a bunch of mirrors all across this land or something? Because there’s no way that natural land can look that shiny from above. Well, while those aren’t mirrors, they aren’t exactly pieces of regular, old land. In Almeria, Spain, a hefty load of greenhouses were bunched together for agricultural purposes. The result is one heck of a picture taken from above. Bet the people who built the greenhouses didn’t even think of that.

Whoever designed this probably didn’t intentionally design it to be shaped like a bottle opener, you know, the ones people use to open bottles of wine with. That is, however, what came out in the end. At least, we can’t help but see a bottle opener in that lake, or whatever that body of water is technically called. Also, all those colorful crates really look nice when they’re photographed from above.

This photograph, surprisingly, is an aerial picture of none other than Antarctica. Well, technically, it’s a photograph of Mcmurdo Station, which is located in Antarctica. Mcmurdo Station is one of those Arctic research centers that people go to in order to study snow and icebergs and other nerdy meteorological phenomena. Truth be told, as far as a life devoted to science goes, living in Antarctica does sound kind of cool to us.

Okay, bear with us for a second. Doesn’t this satellite image of some real geographical location kind of remind you of the Pringles mascot? You know, the guy with the pale, white skin and the iconic mustache? Because that’s definitely the first thing that popped up in our heads when we first saw this image, but maybe that’s just us and our twisted brains. That’s probably what it is.

Who knew rock formations could look so cool? Well, actually, if we’re being honest, we have to admit that rock formations are admittedly some of the coolest-looking things in the world. Rocks are just super cool in general, in our opinion. Like, ordinary rocks. Now imagine an entire formation of rocks; that’s got to be overwhelmingly cool. The way they twist and contort and all that, you can’t say that isn’t cool.