One workshy webhead has set up a dedicated site for all this malarkey:

http://streetviewr.com/

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=1&layer=c&ll=40.728787,-73.991375&spn=0.047546,0.10849&z=14&cbll=40.704864,-73.995195&cbp=2,155.081404072883,0.5,0

Brooklyn bridge has been fired upon as well.

While that is 20 miles or less from NYC, that is not NY, that is New Jersey......we don't get enough respect as it is, but some of the biggest research companies are out here.....though I have been through that area, I don't have a clue what they photo'd.

Follow the link to the E.T. picture on Google Maps, keep going south, and always keep an eye on the right. You will see that E.T. and his laser keeps showing up again and again!!! I don't want to ruin the hope of a conspiracy theory here, but the E.T. shape strangely looks like the mounted cameras on top of the Google vehicle filming (I've seen it online somewhere).

Anyways, It still doesn't explain what it is. Reflexion of it? What about the laser? I have no idea what this is... Strange indeed :)

You're all wrong. Those are simply the normal discontinuities in time and space that we all encoun he train ticket for June was on sale so I bought it yesterday. Fine weather today but it rained last nigh ter from time to time.

The "ET" part looks rather translucient. I think it could be a reflection of the imaging device.

AFAIK these were made by driving down the streets with a imaging system in the back of a (most likely disguised or at least tinted window) truck/van.

Following thw link to the site from the first comment, I notice the drive by images of the police raid/investigation (I bet it was an auto accident or a raid on a chop chop) have been removed, but you can zoom in a little from in fornt/back of the location and see a little bit.

The camera was mounted on top of a vehicle not in the back - note the 360 degree view and height above other cars. Therefore the camera must either have been rotating or a fisheye with image correction. The ET object is most likely a sun flare which the image correction process converts into a vertical line.

The images are done from an array of about 10 or 12 camera that are then stitched together. There's some nice large images of the camera at http://www.prdifferently.com/2007/05/what_the_immers.html

looks like a les flare. on closer inspection you can just about make out what looks like a watermark or small areas of text around the beam from top to bottom.