Since the launch of Google’s Street View, we have been blessed with seeing the world close up from the comfort of our own homes. While it’s fun to take a virtual walk down Sunset Strip or gaze at the Arc de Triumph, often things get captured that are just downright strange.

Taking a tour around the world often catches on film some sights that we weren’t expecting to see. Street View has uncovered more than just a beautiful sunset on the Galapogos Islands – it’s also captured suspected murder, complete chaos and just some embarrassing moments of an unfortunate few. Although it might seem it, Google Maps isn’t always a walk in the park; it can be an insight into the human condition that leaves us thinking…”WTF did I just see?”

With that being said, we thought we would take you on a tour of our own, taking the road less traveled to bring you a comprehensive look at the top 15 Creepiest Things Ever Discovered on Google Maps. If you think you’re brave enough, it’s time to put on your best hiking boots and place your complete faith in us. Let’s get started.

15. PHONE HOME

Sometimes it’s the sight of something so out of place trying to look like it belongs that scares the living daylights out of us most. It’s the extraordinary parading as the everyday – and that is truly terrifying. We can hope that this is a doll that someone thought would be hilarious to dress up in homemade tie dye apparel and leave on the sidewalk. The other option is that it’s a real life ET and surely, being technologically advanced (that’s what the movies tell us, anyway) they’d know better than to leave themselves in plain view…wouldn’t they? Unless, they’re everywhere and we just don’t know it…

14. IT’S A COO

Japan is known for being an advanced city always three steps ahead of the rest of us when it comes to technology. We also know that they absolutely love their cosplay, in all sorts of different guises. In this instance, the Google car caught this flock of people dressed as pigeons. Pigeon role-play has a huge underground following in Japan, and you can even attend pigeon dating parties. So, next time you’re feeling a little alone in your nest why not fly over to Japan and find someone to ruffle your feathers. Seriously though, I’d run in the opposite direction if I came across this bunch – wouldn’t you?

13. LOCK YOUR DOORS

Driving along a highway in the middle of Nevada can be scary at the best of times. You’re surrounded by desert and high temperatures, hick towns and no ocean in sight. Then, you happen to drive past four individuals dressed in a way that can only be described as ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. Whether this was a prank or a robbery waiting to happen, the Google car caught this on film during its tours, and probably swiftly locked the doors and whispered a prayer. The angry cowboy and the 80’s wolf on one side and two scream masks on the other. I don’t fancy the chances of escape.

12. DEAD BODY DUMPSTER

The streets of Chile are steeped in culture, a South American paradise full of…dead bodies stuffed in dumpsters, according to this horrifying image. Rest assured gentle readers – it’s just a dumpster full of discarded mannequins, but it does look pretty convincing. It’s like a snapshot from a Saw movie, isn’t it? You expect a detective wearing a trilby hat and smoking a cigar to pop out at any moment, scribbling notes in his pad as he makes a vow to catch the perp. It’s an image that shocked viewers as they strolled through the virtual city. Even though there was no actual foul play, it’s a harrowing image, isn’t it?

11. HOOD LIFE

Being the driver of a Google car can’t be easy, especially when it comes to driving through gang territory. Reddit user SourCreamWater posted this image of a group of residents standing outside a Detroit home. Although Google blurred out the image, the original clearly showed one individual pointing a large gun at the car. Do Google pay their drivers enough to put themselves in the line of fire like that? I suspect not. In a dark twist, this is supposedly the same house in which a 17-month-old child was found dead a few months prior. It’s not somewhere I’d like to visit.

10. HOW DID THE COW CROSS THE ROAD?

It’s not always the conventionally scary images that shake us, but the sad ones too. Street View documentarian Jon Rafman stumbled across this image of a cow that was unable to walk. On the side of a highway, the poor animal drags itself from one side of the road to the other, presumably to get to a place of safety. The image looks like an art piece that should be hanging in an exhibition, thanks to the desolate landscape. We’re all that cow, aren’t we? Just trying to get from one side of the road to the other before our time runs out. Deep.

9. IT’S A GLITCH

In the uber-popular Matrix trilogy, there is what’s known as a glitch. A glitch occurs when the programming of the people controlling our brains makes a mistake, or something bad is about to happen in our virtual reality. Clearly, this is exactly what’s happening here with this elderly gentleman walking down the street after collecting his morning paper. He is followed a few steps behind by…himself, walking down the street after collecting his morning paper. Of course, it’s likely just a glitch in the Google system, but you never know. The truth is out there.

8. THE BIRDS

Alfred Hitchock’s movie, The Birds, terrified audiences with the thought that winged creatures could gang up on us and peck us to death at any moment. In this image caught on film, it’s no longer just a movie – but a reality. At least, that’s what I would think when coming across this scene. Hide your children and your potato chips, they’re coming and you could be next. Don’t attempt to get into your car – their razor-sharp beaks would only smash through your windows and you’d add broken glass into the equation. My advice? Run – head underground. Save yourselves.

7. MURDER?

Picture the scene. It’s in the early hours of the morning. No one is around. The only sound is the singing of the birds in the trees as they stir in the hazy dawn light…and the thump of the body that is being dragged along the dock. This picture created a media frenzy when discovered on Reddit, with many worried that the trail of red along the dock in the Netherlands was blood from a dead body being dragged into the lake. Turns out the concern was unfounded as it was just a trail of wet water from an overexcited dog that jumped into the lake. Bet you feel silly now, don’t you?

6. GOOGLE – THE HARBINGER OF DEATH

As witnessed in our previous entry regarding our cow friend, sad images can be creepy too. Think on this for a moment – the Google car we all trust to scout innocently around, showing us pictures of the places we long to go but can’t, ramming down a poor donkey in cold blood, leaving it for dead on the side of a dirt track. Suddenly puts everything into perspective, doesn’t it? Fortunately for us (despite the initial panic) Google came forward to clear up the circumstances surrounding this image. The donkey was taking a dirt bath before he hopped back up and went merrily along his way. Sure, Google. We believe you.

5. Baby Shopping At GUCCI

We don’t know the location of this photograph, but it’s way more likely that this child has a neglectful parent rather than a taste for the finer things in life like designer shirts. The baby is crawling out on the sidewalk, probably to a road – and there is no adult in sight. This image had people the world over wondering what on the Google Earth this tot’s guardians were thinking. Hopefully they learnt their lesson after little Junior came back with 10 bags and a maxed-out credit cards. Seriously though, jokes aside, WATCH YOUR KIDS PEOPLE.

4. BROKEN FACE

In an unspecified location, on the top of a grassy verge lays this piece of art…a giant broken face. Its haunting appearance is unnerving, considering its strange positioning. What is it exactly? It seems to me like the giant stone masters that control us mere mortals plunged to the earth, shattering various body parts around the globes. It might sound crazy, but most theories usually are. In reality I’m sure it’s just an avante garde art installation that is meant to be just as puzzling as it is. If that was the intention, the artist has clearly done their job well.

3. DEMON?

In France, this scarily thin figure was spotted standing on a balcony in an apartment building. When Reddit user karma_companion discovered the image, it quickly became shared and speculated upon throughout the online community. Was it a person in dire need of help? Was it a ghost, or even a demon? While most dismissed the figure as a Tiki statue, occult enthusiasts went crazy when Google blurred the image out, speculating that this was undeniable proof that demons walk among us when they think they can’t be seen. What a trip, right? Demon or not, Google clearly didn’t want to keep the figure on Maps.

2. GIANT PENTAGRAM

In the Kostanay province of Kazakhstan, there lies a giant pentagram etched into the ground, you know, just chilling. The symbol measures around 366 meters in diameter, so it was no small feat to create. The most instantaneous reaction of all who saw it is to believe that it must be a site for devil worship or what’s more, the mouth of hell itself. However, the pentagram is a symbol that has been around for thousands of years and was originally nothing to do with the devil. That may be the case but it’s still a damn scary thing to come across when looking where to go on the next family vaycay.

1. DOUBLE TAKE

Sometimes images just go askew…but think about all of those ghost photos we’ve seen that supposedly show us a glimpse of the other side that we are unaware of until we get them developed, or look back at them (does anyone get film developed these days?). This could be a prime example of that, or just technology causing a blip. In this image one lady has split into two, seemingly having the time of her life as she sits in her wheelchair…only there’s two of her. It’s a sight that would send chills down the most robust of spines, I’m sure.

Sources: mashable.com