One marvel of the 21st century is that anyone with an internet connection and device newer than the year 2000 can at any point pull up satellite imagery of the entire world. Even more, if the area is mapped, you can even see the “street level” view of much of the world. However, that comes with the reality that humans are sometimes just doing very strange things.
We’ve gathered some of the most random, chaotic and hilarious moments inadvertently captured by Google Street View cars. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts, experiences and observations in the comments below.
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At Least They Had The Decency To Censor The Legs
I love everything about this scene, from the flowery tablecloth, to the Pink flamingos to the banana that a horse faced guy or a guy wearing a horse mask can't eat, it's a great photo.
Browsing Google Street View Today
Bird’s Eye View
Another fantastic posed group shot, how do people know the Google Street view vehicle is coming around so they can organize to all have these masks and be ready at the same time? This is great? People are so funny.
Despite its futuristic feel, Google street view is almost old enough to drink in many countries, as it was launched in 2007. Very quickly, Google realized that showing thousands of people’s faces alongside what might be their homes was an issue, so the following year they also rolled out face blurring software.
While it’s hard to pin down what is the exact “use case” of something like this, the truth is that it’s just a cool tool. After all, the internet is full of evidence that many people’s knowledge of geography is downright terrible, so this seems like at the very least a step in the right direction.
Boy Falling Off A Bench Found In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!
Batman In France
It's a good thing they blurred his face to hide his secret identity
Google Camel
While the idea seems deceptively simple, just hiring folks to ride around in cars equipped with special cameras, Google had to overcome all sorts of different challenges. For example, in Japan and Switzerland, their cameras were too high and would hit the bottom of some low-hanging bridges.
Ah! So Many Pandas!
Penguin And Penny Farthing
Among our favourites and definitely one of the strangest Google Street Views we’ve seen is this Penguin riding on the back of a Penny Farthing bike. The passenger penguin has long moved on, but you can see the site of its escapades below.
The Stig
Flying Rabbit
Google caught this little fellow in the village of Olszowice in Poland in 2013. More than a decade later, the bunny is still there.
Escaped Prisoner Found Near A Jail!
Found Uzbek Deity At 39.834520, 65.498884
Street View Car Getting Pulled Over In Poland
Streetview Censored This Cat For His Privacy
I would be disappointed if that were my cat and he was blurred out. I want to see a cat!
And Stay Out!
Found In Zambia
Interesting Car On The Wall Found In The Netherlands!
As a Dutch man I can confirm this is how we park over here in the Netherlands. Gravity is outlawed since 1874
That's A Weird Looking Cone
Sea Creature
Someone in California saw the Google camera go by, draped themselves in seaweed and pulled a photo up? Hilarious!!!!
Public Swimming Pool
looks like a party to me. and in the Netherlands if I'm not mistaken
Fairy Tale In Uxbridge
In what looks like a scene straight from Disney, a carriage ride is adding a bit of magic to the day – except for those stuck behind in traffic, that is. You can see the street below, but the carriage has vanished, presumably by the wave of a wand.
It’s One Of Those Days
When You Realize That You're Going To Be On Google Street View But You Have Nothing Funny Planned
That would be me, now that I've seen what other people have done, I feel like I should always be traveling with a face mask or funny prop just in case I see the Google mobile.
Humans Out Of Water
There's either an awful lot of dedication to have costumes and props at the ready, able to at a moment's notice grab a friend or a few folk and change and pose for a photo, or else people are just doing crazy things all the time in the world....
Gift Car
Captured for the world to see! The gift that keeps on giving!!
Nice Day For A Walk
Google Cars Meeting
This Kid On Google Map Trying To Get By
Splash
They should know the driving on flooded roads is dangerous, but it does make for an interesting photo
Reaper Spotted In Poland
The Best Way To Travel
Giant Phesants
Harry Potter During A Live Stream
Highland Flung
Want to know if they got the car out of the ditch? We’ll have to wait for the Google car’s next trip. As far as Street View is concerned, it’s still there.
Vienna Grand Prix
Portal Car
Japes And Ladders
Is he....pouring a bottle of water on the head of a mummy...while they're both on ladders???
What Is He Doing?
You Ok There Guys ?
Mont Blanc Skier
Incoming!
The Galapagos Islands are known for their wildlife, but this huge bird is getting a little too close for comfort. Time to Galapa-go.
Bunch Of Dummies
Apart from it being dummies, this is giving some strong Letterkenny vibes.
Road Guitarist
Counting Reindeer
My Friend And I On Google Maps, Circa 2013
Young Man “Attacks” His Friend With Hammer
Over the summer, I went to the very North of the Isle of Lewis on a field trip to map the geology there with a close friend of mine. The google street view car went past. We had a geological hammer. The following masterpiece, now on google street view, was the result
Good thing they were smiling in the second photo, you don't want any policeman knocking on your door wondering what the heck's going on?
Speed Demon
Most people don’t record their own traffic infractions, but this is no ordinary vehicle. The Street Car’s speed is captured while driving into what looks suspiciously like a 30mph zone. Tsk tsk, Google.
Spiderman Is Here To Save Japan
That's kinda tame for a Japanese building- look out for the big crabs on various restaurants, Godzilla in Shinjuku and giant frog in Kobe.
Mickey Mouse Family
Oops, didn't see that child due to the copious amounts of mice in my eyeline!
How To Make A Perfect Shot For Instagram Stories
I may have missed it somewhere but is there a site that says where and when the Google Street View vehicles will be in the vicinity?
That's what I was wondering also, some of the shots like the guy who stuck a construction cone on his head, they must have seen it coming and posed because they only had a few seconds to do something silly, but other ones? With costumes and props and multiple people? That takes a lot of dedication to be prepared for, I would like to think they had some kind of advanced warning, and they're not actually just running around like this everyday hoping that a Google vehicle will be driving by LOL
Load More Replies...Soon we normal-users can only see like 30 of these. Thanks BP for that 🎈🥳 /irony
yep, can see myself leaving BP soon now, but in reality it all began months ago with the constant reddit reposts and amazon shopping advert lists. This site used to be about arts and feelgood news etc. Now its just... shite, really.
Load More Replies...Some of these, especially the more surrealistic ones, look like they were generated by AI.
Some years ago the street view car drove past our house, so I waved and the driver waved back. I figured I'd be on the next iteration of SV along our road. Instead they just removed SV entirely from our road. The old images are gone and it's no longer active all the way up the road. Not sure why. Maybe Google didn't find us interesting enough.
I may have missed it somewhere but is there a site that says where and when the Google Street View vehicles will be in the vicinity?
That's what I was wondering also, some of the shots like the guy who stuck a construction cone on his head, they must have seen it coming and posed because they only had a few seconds to do something silly, but other ones? With costumes and props and multiple people? That takes a lot of dedication to be prepared for, I would like to think they had some kind of advanced warning, and they're not actually just running around like this everyday hoping that a Google vehicle will be driving by LOL
Load More Replies...Soon we normal-users can only see like 30 of these. Thanks BP for that 🎈🥳 /irony
yep, can see myself leaving BP soon now, but in reality it all began months ago with the constant reddit reposts and amazon shopping advert lists. This site used to be about arts and feelgood news etc. Now its just... shite, really.
Load More Replies...Some of these, especially the more surrealistic ones, look like they were generated by AI.
Some years ago the street view car drove past our house, so I waved and the driver waved back. I figured I'd be on the next iteration of SV along our road. Instead they just removed SV entirely from our road. The old images are gone and it's no longer active all the way up the road. Not sure why. Maybe Google didn't find us interesting enough.