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Here’s What That Mysterious Compound Found By Google Earth in China’s Desert Might Actually Be

Jan. 14, 2013 9:32am Liz Klimas

Last week, TheBlaze showed off a new set of mysterious buildings in China’s desert found using Google Earth that even an ex-CIA analyst couldn’t identify. Shortly afterward another tech expert came out with what he thinks is the answer.

Mysterious Structures in Chinas Desert Identified as an Economic Zone

(Image: Wired/Allen Thomson)

LiveScience reported technologist and geospacial blogger Stefan Geens saying the satellite images do not show a secret military compound, as many might believe. On the contrary, Geens, who spent months in this area of the Xinjiang province, said it is an “economic zone.”

Here’s more from LiveScience regarding the buildings at 39.6 N, 76.1 E near the city of Kashgar:

China announced its plans to build a special economic zone in Kashgar a few years ago, and has taken on a number of projects — from creating high-speed rail lines to the razing of the ancient Islamic buildings in the heart of the city — in order to achieve that goal, Geens said.

In fact, the region in question is located next to the rail lines and the airports, making it even more likely that the structures are industrial factories, Geens said.

In addition, some of the roads are partially covered in sand, and construction-related vehicles can be seen in some of the satellite images, suggesting the area is still being built, Hamilton said.

LiveScience also reported the interesting phenomenon of “armchair analysts” that Google Earth has spurred. GIS program director at the College of William and Mary said analysts look for infrastructure like rail, roads, power lines, building footprint and more to understand what might be going on.

Geens told LiveScience though that the amount of data on Google Earth can sometimes “[go] to people’s heads.”

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Comments (55)

Harry19
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 6:21pm
That is so easy to figure out. Hey dummies,it is a WALMART

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tomacz
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 6:13pm
its a roller rink for party members
power for the mother of all sound systems from 3 gorges hydroelectric

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Gladileftcalifornia
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:36pm
Nuke it.

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SGT Rock
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:36pm
OMG its the FEMA camps.

All kidding aside, isn’t it weird they build things in the middle of nowhere, glad to see our American money hard at work in China. I wonder if this counts as jobs created or saved????

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bbwayne
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:57pm
Looks like an underground Nuclear Waste Storage facility like the Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada. Looking at the left of the image you can see a shadow showing egress into the ground with either road or tracks in the center.

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- paulusmaximus
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:04pm
  If it is good at least their not sending it here!
  
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lzzrd
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:17pm
Let’s throw a little more, “what if”, into the mix. Let’s say,come the big war, all the major cities are going to be targeted. When they are destroyed, they will have ready made place to move the population to. Just a thought…..

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- 1TrueOne55
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:46pm
  Its probably their version of the Star Gate Complex built in Wyoming. LoL…. or more likely a combination of manufacturing and if it goes under ground then it would have a military significance to either basing a high tech future Army/Air superiority fighter or its the New FoxConn Apple production factory that will reduce the suicide rate by going underground… Just sayin’
  
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BehindBlueEyes
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:38pm
If we had access to the high resolution satellite pictures available only to the military we could see what the workers were having for lunch.

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- De-Elect
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 5:25pm
  Absolutely. They were taking detailed pictures of the shuttle’s heat resistant tiles from the ground while the shuttle was in orbit over 20 years ago. I can only imagine what is available to our government now.
  
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Jim S
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:35pm
Here’s What That Mysterious Compound Found By Google Earth in China’s Desert Might Actually Be..
Ok guys #1…it wasn’t mysterious in the first place, I don’t know what this is would be the correct headline..#2 ..”…might actually…”…actually isn’t a “might” it is a is…as in I am alive..not I might actually be alive..something is or isn’t..your misunderstanding of what something is doesn’t make it mysterious..it shows your lack of knowledge of what it is…what is mysterious is why you think your ignorance is a news story…this site is slipping into National Enquirer land..

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- RepubliCorp
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 3:23pm
  so go to the huffy-post and stay there
  
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- dfarm
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 4:40pm
  If you think you could be a better journalist, then why not prove it. You think you are all knowing and better, then prove it. How would you know what is in the picture just by looking at it? What raised the issue is this mysterious structure is being built in China in the desert and an ex-CIA analyst couldn’t identify what it is. Sounds worthy to me to investigate it.
  
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JQuentinEvermann
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:45pm
My political posts get deleted for being too straightforward, but your spam makes it through? Thanks, but no thanks.

Want to know what I do in front of my laptop at home?

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Mr.Fitnah
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 11:42am
razing of the ancient Islamic buildings.
I like that.

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- lani59
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:06pm
  Yes, Islam has no place in China as they don’t tolerate Allah and will stomp down any Muslim activity.
  
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- DMONIC
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:21pm
  I like it too- is there actually something we can agree with the Chinese on finally??
  
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- bartjoebob
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:49pm
  funny, why is all the jihad directed to the US and now france? I have not seen one ancient islamic site bulldozed in France or the US. Could the Chinese and Jihadists be in collusion?
  
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- JQuentinEvermann
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 12:57pm
  @BartJoeBob – While I agree that the U.S. is much more tolerant of Islam and their misogynistic and anti-progress stance, France is certainly under threat from Islam. Giving them their own city and allowing the practice of their own laws wasn’t enough…now they’re under threat of a mass bombing nationwide. France isn’t immune, just a little slower to realize the monsters they harbor…they’re kind of like California and New York.
  
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- castious
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:23pm
  Iyuh so do i like the raising of the the ancient Islamic buildings, also there should be raising of more modern Islamic buildings every where they are at all over the world…..
  
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- IntheDirt
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:55pm
  Keep an eye out for nut-jobs with stolen airplanes.
  
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- jhrusky
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:05pm
  No, have to disagree with you on that. If ‘ancient’ means very, very old, then I’d hate to see them razed just as much as we don’t want to see the pyramids in Egypt razed by crazed muslims. History, whether good or bad, is important and we need to keep ancient structures of all types.
  
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Comcast3
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 11:34am
Razing ancient islamic cities is a good start. Hats-off to the Chinese!

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- jhrusky
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:27pm
  I think some of you people would be happy to raze/wipeout/destroy/remove/burn anything that doesn’t fit your theocratic vision of your ‘utopian’ religious society. While I may agree with you to remove from power any crazed muslim of the type that hate the free world, I totally disagree with wiping out historical buildings, books, monuments, etc. I believe any sane individual would agree.
  
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kurwa
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:59am
looks like becks new city, independence

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rdk
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:57am
Looks like a mining operation.

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Gonzo
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:41am
It’s Obama’s Presidential Library.

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- KILLACOMMIE4MOMMY
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:50am
  To big, all you need to be able to store is, Mein Kamp, The Communist Manifesto, Dream From My Father and The Audacity of Hope.
  Oooh and Rules for Radicals……and many gay mens magazines!!!
  
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- muffythetuffy
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:58am
  FEMA NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT
  
  Those FEMA camps are really economic zones and they are all connected by railroad lines. Hitler also had economic zones too run by the SS in what is called FORCED LABOR.
  
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michaelmoron
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:34am
I still Believe that this is a Prison / Organ-Harvesting Facility.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0whb5vdtmbU

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- Shasta
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 11:03am
  And yet China is the model that Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE and on OBlamo’s job council, desires for the US.
  
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- crazyrightwingmom
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 1:30pm
  I heard someone say it looked like a facility for storing people….few doors, etc.
  
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batteredtaxpayer
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:21am
Could be Fast and Furious guns for the Chinese….ARs.

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1_Smoot_Tall
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:07am
It’ a Chinese thing-a-a-jiggy…you know – for Chinese people…. uh…..NAIL SALON!!!!! That’s it!

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BLAZE-READER1
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:07am
So that’s where all the shovel-ready jobs went

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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:29am
  I can see the high-speed rail-thinggie(not in tis pix), but the “raizing” of a deffunk-ancient-city is annother CHINA-MAKEWORK to keepa duh peons busy so they donna revolt across the country!! Accross alla CHINA are whole cities and towns with PEOPLE-NOT-ALLOWED!! These areas will NEVER be used and are all slowly degrading and falling-appart. This is when CHINA will have the worker/slaves teardown and rebuild still without population….and it will happen over and over again. All “MAKEWORK” never makes any NEWMONEY…it just spends their poorpeople’s TAXMONEY which is added to their UBERDEBT…cause their GUBBIMENT can PRINT FUNNYMONEY the same as alla the freeworld adn will eventually will come crashing-down. then the MUSLIMBERUTHERHOOD will takeover jusrt the same as in many other countries!! The NWO is allive and healthy!! After THE U.S.A.’s wealth is “spread-arround”, they(NWO) will see alla GOLD CHINA has and will NECESSSARILLY wana spread theirs too!!
  
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lawrench
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:56am
I find it interesting that we are concerned about out personal privacy, however we are all invading another countries privacy. Seems a little hypocritical to me……
As long as the Chinese do not effect me, I do not care what they build in thier country. All of these satelite images are open to interpretation and the wrong analysis can put us into a War footing. Leave them be, and maybe they will leave us be.

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- oldguy49
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:06am
  fema compound………for american workers to help pay off debt to china
  
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- MK2
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:25am
  They won’t leave us alone we owe them way to much money.
  
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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:47am
Soon to be just another Ghost City.

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- Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:14am
  Indeed.
  
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Go Glenn
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:46am
Well it looks like there are some jobs sprouting up. I guess Obama’s Stimulus is finally kicking in.

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- gyro
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 2:37pm
  this
  
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banjarmon
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:45am
I still think it is where BHO keeps his Sealed records…birth certificate, school papers, etc…..

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woodyee
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:45am
from creating high-speed rail lines to the razing of the ancient Islamic buildings in the heart of the city..

Can anyone say “Jihad”?

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huey6367
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:45am
I thought it was a time share development

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13th Imam
Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:39am
A collaboration between Barry and his Chinese owners.A facility to put all the freedom wanting troublemakers. Like the TEA Party.

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- Wojciech W.
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 9:58am
  How do we know Geens is speaking the truth? Verify reports! And the “… analysts look for infrastructure like rail, roads, power lines, building footprint and more to understand what might be going on.” is what someone says when they don’t know what the are talking about. EVERYTHING can be covered up(buried or poured over with concrete). China is excellent at forced labor building Dams and tunnels … until we do more research we will never know. I’m not taking the word of a liberal/socialist outfit like “LiveScience”. Lets go Blaze, start researching lol. I’m goin to get a HotPocket.
  
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- Todd P
  Posted on January 14, 2013 at 10:25am
  You’re such an optimist. The Leftists will exterminate all opposition, just like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao.
  
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