back to article Black helicopters circle Street View car crash

Google has told El Reg that the video allegedly showing a crashed Street View spymobile in northern India is a hoax. A still showing the crashed Street View car in a rocky gorge As we reported yesterday, the 22-second vid shows what appears to be a pranged Great Satan of Mountain View black Opel, with someone rather unkindly …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The camera setup looks really similar

    I would wage that this part at least actually has Google origins.

    …But do StreetView cars have a Google logo on their side?

    AC, natch.

    1. Lee Dowling Silver badge

      Re: The camera setup looks really similar

      Yeah, like almost every London's borough's parking enforcement cars. They must have bought them from Google too!

    2. ElNumbre

      Re: The camera setup looks really similar

      "Do StreetView cars have a Google logo on their side?"

      From my limited experience of 4 of the buggers, 50% do.

      Although the ones that do only tend to be compact affairs, unlike the camera array of course.

    3. David 45

      Re: The camera setup looks really similar

      "But do StreetView cars have a Google logo on their side?"

      Yes, they do, because, by the most amazing coincidence, I saw one in my home town of Maidstone, Kent, UK this very morning, although this area was covered some time ago. Perhaps they're catching up on all the new buildings, houses and roads that seem to be springing up everywhere. Looked about the same as the pic. - always a bit Heath-Robinson to MY eyes and obviously all held together with string and elastic bands!

      1. PsychoHippy
        WTF?

        Re: The camera setup looks really similar

        String and elastic bands? That's boound to fall appart, thye should have gone with gaffer tape and tie wraps, they'll hold anything in place for ever!

  2. ukgnome
    Black Helicopters

    "hijacked one of your vehicles, took it to Area 51 in Nevada and faked the Indian desert".

    Hmm but who would do such a thing?

    Hang on, isn't the gates foundation currently installing some water pipes in india?

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Alien

      Re: "hijacked one of your vehicles, took it to Area 51 in Nevada and faked the Indian desert".

      If Einstein was right and that aliens probably do exist, then what's the probability that such an advanced race would also have developed a sense of humor?

  3. DrXym

    A covert op?

    This car, whatever it was has an enormous pole with cameras conspicuously sticking out of the top. Hardly covert. I'm sure if someone wished to covertly survey an area they'd just mount cameras on top of a bus or truck and could easily be disguised in some manner.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: A covert op?

      TERRORISTS SCOUTING FOR STUFF TO BLOW UP!

      PERFECT COVER!

  4. Hieronymus Howerd

    Not that it proves anything but

    there are no Indian people in any of the photos or the video. In fact the two guys in the video come across as typically American student jock types.

    Could be on a gap year I suppose, but I'm not convinced.

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Devil

      Re: Not that it proves anything but

      There isn't a concept of a 'gap' year here in the states. You go from High School to college then out in to the real world. Or you go from High School in to the military or directly from High School out in to the real world.

      Maybe someone stole the car for a joy ride and dumped it?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Viral marketing hoax

    Pound to a peanut.

  6. Stanislaw

    Not conclusive, but...

    The car has an Indian registration plate, yet appears to be left-hand drive (dashboard cowling just visible in a couple of the stills).

    India drives on the left - presumably as a result of the British colonial past - and all new cars there are required to be right-hand drive at registration.

    Not completely conclusive, as there are ways it could happen, but Occam's Razor suggests fakery.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Holmes

    Very mysterious

    I think the location of the photos is pretty solid, since the area does look like the popular trekking spot of Ladakh -around the Himalayas - and indeed Pit Keller has other photos of that area.

    The license plate shown photo is registered in Himachal Pradesh (the HP prefix), which neighbours Ladakh to the south and is connected to it by one of the world's highest motorways: the Leh–Manali Highway. (great photos on that wiki page too showing similar terrain and features)

    Video, photos, context details... It all seems a lot of a trouble if just as an hoax to promote a bookstore.

    It's more likely that this is really a Google project to streetview the northern India Himalayan region - they're already sending their human powered "Sherpa-cams" there - but for at least one car it went terribly wrong and now they're not owning up to it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "an hoax"

      What?

  8. Nuke
    WTF?

    Unfriendly Martians

    Isn't this Curiosity?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Unfriendly Martians

      That was a Rover was it not? The head gasket would blow before it was crashed.

  9. robin48gx
    Happy

    black silent helicopters

    in the book that taught me DSP, written by people in the the US Navy electronics something or other

    found it here

    http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Processing-Addison-Wesley-Electrical-Engineering/dp/0201095181

    it does do FFT analysis on helicopter sub-sonics. Most of it is 20Hz so some pretty big sub-woofers would be in order, but very doable.... esp as the turbines in helicopter engines are controlled to constant rotation, and controllable torque....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: black silent helicopters

      Big sub-woofers yes, but that's only half the equation. There are also movable control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of each rotor blade that dampens the wake turbulence each blade creates before the leading edge of the next rotor blade has a chance to impact the wake turbulence as it travels through the rotor disc, thus reducing the "womp womp " sound.

      Also, the guy in the vid throws like a girl.

      1. PC Paul

        Re: black silent helicopters

        Why worry about the 'next' rotor blade? Just use the one... takes less power and it's quieter too.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qhEsuhi1PU

  10. Efros

    registration plate

    Not quite right there is a digit missing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      Re: registration plate

      No there isn't, the second letter field can have none, one or two letters, "R" in this case.

      Another plate of the same lenght here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KA-19-P-8488.jpg

      1. Efros

        Re: registration plate

        IN that case it is genuine and appears to have been registered in Himachal Pradesh.

  11. Alan Brown Silver badge

    Not just google doing streetview

    It could be someone else (Bing?)

    As for being LHD - the streetview cars I've seen in the UK are LHD.

    Having said that: One mountainous region looks a lot like another when there are few landmarks to work on. It could be anywhere, even with the indian plates on.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not just google doing streetview

      The GSV car I saw was RHD:

      http://wgmnet.co.uk/opel3.jpg

      I don't think GM offer Astras in the Indian region anymore? Would they not have used a GM equivalent Chevy Cruze or Optra Magnum?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not just google doing streetview

      Bing would have Google logos on their cars?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Not just google doing streetview

        Bing would be using a Navteq/Nokia car since they have a partnership on some of the data collected.

      2. Darryl

        Re: Not just google doing streetview

        "Bing would have Google logos on their cars?"

        You bet they would... Right after they crashed and saw someone walking toward them with a camera. You'd be amazed how fast you can slap on those magnetic signs.

  12. Steve Evans

    Hmmm...

    It could very well be genuine, but the blatant promoting of the travel book shop makes me suspicious.

    In the picture on Flickr the guy is even wearing one of their T-shirts!

    The picture isn't as casual as it looks either, there appears to be a fill or reflector to the front right of the T-shirt guy too.

  13. mittfh

    Anyone noticed...

    ...that according to Flickr's extract of the EXIF data, the photos were actually taken in July 2011 (unless they set up the wrong date / time on their camera). Pit's photostream is rather sparse - four other non-crash photos, neither of which feature the TBS guy...

    1. Eddy Ito

      Re: Anyone noticed...

      Yeah, the EXIF data has been significantly altered, unless he managed to mount a Panasonic u4/3 lens on an Olympus ultrazoom compact.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If they really wanted to promote the bookshop with such a multi-faceted con I think the best they could do would be to have an English website first! They would also make the URL a bit more visible in photos...

    I hope El Reg follows up on this story

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    WTF?

    By any stretch of imagination the terrain does not look like that of the country (India). One more example of people who donno a thing about the country are writing about it. All "knowledge" about India is either via TV channels or fake videos! Pathetic!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: WTF?

      " the terrain does not look like that of the country (India)."

      the terrain of the country?

      We have every terrain from the Himalayas through desert plains to tropical beaches. There is no the terrain of India.

      You can take your foot out of your mouth now...

  16. SpaMster
    FAIL

    That isnt a street view car, just saying. All of the street view cars are plastered with google advertising. That car appears to have none of that. It's just a rather poor advertising stunt by this guys book company.

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