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Did Bing Satellite Map Reveal a Secret SEAL Team 6 Training Facility? See for Yourself

Oct. 10, 2012 10:21am Liz Klimas

Before the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 raided a compound in Pakistan where they found and killed Osama Bin Laden, they trained for the mission. Their U.S.-based training facility has never been seen before, but thanks to satellite imagery and information gleaned from the controversial book detailing the SEALs efforts, some think the site may have been revealed.

The website Cryptome has pieced together information presented in “No Easy Day,” believing it has identified a CIA training facility in North Carolina modeled after the compound the SEALs would face in Pakistan. Cryptome writes:

If you go to Google Maps and put in these coordinates at Harvey Point Defense Testing (CIA training facility) there is nothing but an clearing in a field. If you go to the lower link in Virtual Globetrotting and look at the same location it appears to be the mock up training facility for the Bin Laden raid. It is not completed in the photo, but there is enough built to say it is an almost exact copy of Bin Laden’s compound.

Cryptome Pulls Together Satellite Maps Showing CIA Training Facility Allegedly Modeled After Bin Ladens Compound

This image shows what could be the training facility for SEAL Team 6 modeled after Osama Bin Laden's compound. (Image: Bing)

Cryptome includes this Google Earth satellite image (below) of the Abbottabad, Pakistan, compound for comparison.

Osama Bin Laden's compound after the May 11, 2011, raid. (Image: Google Earth via Cryptome)

On Bing, the training facility is found at coordinates 36.0983777-76.3265, with the image being taken on Feb. 15, 2011. Cryptome then points out the same location on Google Earth in a satellite image taken Jan. 30, 2012, shows that the facility has been completely demolished.

The training facility in North Carolina, pictured in 2012, appears to have been destroyed. (Image: Google Earth via Cryptome)

Defense Secretary Leon Pannetta has said that the information revealed in “No Easy Day” could “jeopardize other operations and the lives of those involved in those missions.” Cryptome’s use of the book to identify what appears to be a training facility of the SEALs is an example of how it could be used to reveal more detailed information about the mission.

This isn’t the only map service revealing sensitive information of late. Apple’s new mapping service is coming under fire for showing too detailed of images of Turkey’s high-security prisons and Taiwan’s top secret radar site. In fact, Taiwan’s military has asked Apple Inc. to blur a map image of its new $1.4 billion early warning radar station.

Comparison shows the level of detail from different map services of Imrali Island, Turkey. (Image: The Verge)

Defense Ministry spokesman David Lo said Tuesday that Apple should follow its rival Google in using only low-resolution satellite pictures to show sensitive facilities. He acknowledged the military should also try to camouflage them.

With these incidents, Popular Science raises the question of censoring satellite map data. Apple maps, it points out, are “absolutely crystal clear,” compared to other map services. Popular Science states that as the “map wars” between companies continues, questions of what should be “free” and “who, if anyone, should act as overseer of our digital maps” will too continue to be asked by those concerned about security.

Let us know what you think in the comments section.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(H/T: Atlantic Wire)

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Comments (51)

Whiplash
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:12pm
Much ado about nothing…I can assure you the Chicoms, North Koreans, and any other of America’s potential enemies already have all this info. The Blaze DID NOT reveal anything at all, except perhaps to bolster my confidence in our military. That was an accurate mock up in NC and that builds faith and creates confidence in my nation’s military and dedication to their missions. All the handwringing about the revelation here on the Blaze and other places is just arm chair, Monday monring quarterbacking.

Likely the mock up was built at Ft. Bragg and if ya don’t think our enemies aren’t already heavily eyeballin’ Bragg, you live in a a strange and surreal state of denied existence…ya know, like uber lefties do!

Personally I am glad the Blaze reveals many things to us citizens, who but for the Blaze’s revelations, might otherwise go unnoticed. Kwityurbellachin!

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helllsbellls
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:30pm
When flying I always take pictures of the terrain below. I caught a picture of what is some kinda electronic screen over a large area. Stuck out like a sore thumb so it must not have been secret. Hells Bells.

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UNIX_Techie
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:20pm
I enjoy looking at google earth, flying over mountains and looking at places like New Zealand are fun. I also, as Stoic One did, looked up the old bases that I was stationed at in the Philippines in the early 1970′s. They all went back to Philippine ownership after the volcano erupted covering Clark AFB. Many of the structures are still there at San Miguel and Subic Bay. The Receiver site at San Miguel was turned into a GPS ground station.

Having had a Top Secret clearance I know that there are things that the government knows that the general public has no need to know. Not that the concern is with the good American citizens but there are always those who are a risk to the country’s security. If the population knows something then the enemy can know it.

The President has the first responsibility to keep sensitive information secured. The Organizer in Chief was the first one to release detailed information about the Bin Laden operation. So he is responsible for the subsequent release of information and any retaliation that might happen to Seal Team 6 and their families.

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JETJOCKEY737
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:15pm
Camo netting!!!! If you want it hidden from the public eye use camo netting. Look at the concealment efforts during WW2 they hid entire factories and towns, we have just gotten LAZY.

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contentedhomemaker
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:12pm
Okay… so we are concerned because someone may have given away the secure/secret training camp of our Navy SEALS. Soooo, why is the Blaze showing all the same info? Not smart!! This is not the first time you folks have done this type of thing. My opinion- use some discretion. Just because other media sources don’t, doesn’t make it smart to run the same info and expose the info to that many more people!! Come on.

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BannedByHuffpo
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:10pm
You want to see something REALLY compromising United States security? Show a map image of our border with Mexico.

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OUTRIDER WRITER
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:02pm
And I’m interested in knowing the exact location because……?

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KevINtampa
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:01pm
Hrrrm, the logic here is flawed.

There’s plenty of Chinese, Russian, North Korean, and etc., satellites imaging satellites that have high res images of the entire globe that are constantly getting updates, much more so than commercial mapping satellite data.

The real issue is, can we stop people from talking about it in the cloud? It’s not the image that’s damaging, it’s the ability for the intellect of connected people talking about it. This would be a perfect argument for why we need something like CISPA.

If we shut down images like those on Bing, what’s to stop China from hosting a site of their images, that shows the rest of the world in high detail excluding Chinese borders and their allies. People would still look at it their and discover where certain “secret” bases are. The reason I bring this up is because such a Chinese site, which is public, already exists. Censor Google and Bing maps all you want, but in the end what we’re really discussing is should the people of the world be aware of their environment? There’s a good argument such knowledge is to powerful for the common man, because when the common man is connected to information of other common men they soon become a cohesive unit that can scour high amounts of data and it’s revelations may threaten their very existence.

I of course do not agree.

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SUNTZU
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:57pm
This will be the site of
The BHO I killed UBL Presidential Library
and summer home,
Room enough for the Black pantie security team.and outside the wall
is Joe Biden’s house OUT HOUSE,that is…

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VRW Conspirator
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:49pm
you know what…SUCK IT UP!!….if the public can get satellite maps that are as detailed as the military of other countries… TOO BAD!!..guess that means your intelligence community SUCKS!! If APPLE is using a public satellite…NOTHING can be done about the resolution of the images… the USA government can only stop the Constitution in matters of national security of THIS country….

I say Apple had better have maps like this to Russia and China and all countries hostile to the USA… then we know if the government is lying…they can’t hide behind “we don’t know where Usama is” or whoever else…if Joe Sixpack can get on his Iphone or Ipad and say.. “i found him, look he is smiling for the camera right now…”

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Newone
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:45pm
The compound in Pakistan has been torn down, so why keep the replica. That’s why I find the satellite pictures a big joke. But I do find this type of behavior damning, I find it a national security threat, training compounds are necessity for successful special forces missions, “”giving out coordinates to locations”" the Pentagon needs to put a stop to this, this is a traitorous act.

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- KevINtampa
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:08pm
  Odds are it’s an old photo, mapping software only needs to be updated when roads or lands are altered. A new picture of this area could now lead you into what mission they are training on now. I’m sure all of our nations enemies have a new satellite snapshot of these coordinates since this story broke, and I’m sure their new pictures show a new structure which can give them a inkling of where our SEALs will be next…
  
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- child of God
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:19pm
  The replica was torn down. Not the one in Pakistan.
  
  Report this comment
- Elena2010
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 2:36pm
  Both were demolished.
  
  Agree w/the poster who calls for cammie netting over sensitive places until they are no longer sensitive.
  
  Report this comment
carl_in_ohio
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:42pm
Well, between Bing and The Blaze if anyone missed this nugget of classified information – they won’t now. Thanks for the explanation Blaze.

Could you post the article translated into several languages (Arabic, Urdu, Pasto languages) – it would make it more useful to those who don’t speak English very well.

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- contentedhomemaker
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 1:14pm
  My thoughts exactly!!
  
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Tyler520
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:34pm
The mockup of the compound obviously no longer serves a purpose – of course they would demo it.

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NoDoubtTom
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:31pm
This only points out a version of the old saying “If a thief wants it bad enough, they’re going to get it”.
I think it referred to your car and security systems, but it’s relavent.
Re-applying it here… If some country wants to have pictures of the earth in specific areas, they’re going to get them.
Blurring images may take care of the lame criminals, but any country could launch their own satellite.

@Split 54 you’re dead on!
We should suggest that to AbbaJimmaBob. Then he could pound his chest and demand respect for Iran.
??What if we all started building phoney Nike sites(or pictures) in our back yards??
For those to young to remember a Nike site was a missle area we used in the ’60s to protect our key infrastructure like power plants.
Any body remember the Cheech and Chong movie where they had the pot field under the swimming pool canopy? What a hoot!

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- KevINtampa
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:50pm
  “I think it referred to your car and security systems”
  
  It referred to any type of theft. These days, it’s most relevant in cyber security. From illegal mp3 downloads to firewall boot strapping. If someone wants something, your level of security only buys you time. Fact is eventually a thief will crack the safe, hack the encryption, or haul it away. A security structure should be used as a mechanism that slows the thief down so that you can catch them trying.
  
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BasketFullOfPuppies
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:10pm
The RSA encryption algorithm has never been broken. The code to make it work is in the public domain, so that people can inspect it and try to find a fault with it. To date, no one has.

Secrecy is NOT security. Until our government learns this lesson, and how to deal with real security, we will not be safe.

Blurring a satellite photo is akin to burying your head in the sand. You may not be able to see it. But, it is still there. And, some people have access to photos over which you have no control.

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PCDoctors4u2
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:33am
Yes, I can see right there, the foot prints of Big Foot!!!!

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bankerpapaw
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:18am
Maybe we should show aerial photos of polling places so Obama will know that he will lose in
November.

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Split54
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:17am
It would be awesome if some country were to print out large lifesize prints of a satellite view of a facility or something, then just spread the print across the ground. Then it looks like you have a multi-million dollar facility when in fact you just have a several thousand dollar print.
I’m going to put a print of some rocket launchers in my back yard.

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- schroeder123
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 7:10pm
  That ah Boy !!!! Me too !!!
  
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Borrys
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 11:12am
It makes sense. The DEVGRU compound is less than a 2 hour drive from this location. There is not enough room at the compound to build something this big.

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Individualism
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:57am
maybe secret service can guard it now instead of wasting their time going after someone who says something they don’t like about the president.

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- Fubared
  Posted on October 10, 2012 at 12:21pm
  Windy
  DoD has physical security you couldn’t fathom. Get higher and go attack a nuke site. Use your remaining brain cells and go all red cell.
  
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Ironeagle
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:54am
If this was taken over Ft Bragg, then definitely yes!

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k1ttt
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:45am
Well, lets think about this a bit… if the map services have to blur everything that any government wants hidden then they have to have locations and sizes of all the things that have to be blurred. How long would it take for that database to be leaked or stolen for use in finding all those secret places all around the world? And who has access to the unblurred images? They have to come down to somewhere from the satellites and survey planes and street level image collectors, then have to be stored, and sent to the mapping services, then stitched together, then quality checked (though apple seems to have skipped this step), then blurred before going public… lots of hands to pass through and copies of clear images that could also be leaked or stolen.

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schroeder123
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:42am
If I were to build a facility like this, it would be just like the compound.

This is not a replica of Osamas place. and if it was a practice area, NO wonder the chopper crashed.

After all is said and done…. SO What ? why print this ?

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ginger100
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:35am
Under this administration, the car that was in the ditch is now on blocks and all four wheels are gone with the gas tank ready to explode from the fire that was set to cover up the tracks of the crime that was committed by the criminals in charge.

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Stoic one
Posted on October 10, 2012 at 10:35am
I used google maps to look at where I live on Guam back in the late 60′s…. I could not find 219 Horne street. that is ok…saw the pool, px… that was enough.

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