Google Maps sleuths spot a HELICOPTER in mid-flight in ultra-rare discovery

HAWK-EYED internet sleuths have made a very unusual discovery on Google Maps.

Satellite imagery available on the digital map tool has provided a rare birds-eye view of a helicopter in mid-flight.

Google MapsA helicopter captured in mid-flight on Google Maps[/caption]

The one-in-a-million shot captured over North Carolina was shared on the popular r/GoogleMaps Reddit forum on Monday.

The aircraft is blurry, but viewers can clearly make out its tail fin and a set of rotor blades spinning around a rotating mast.

Reddit user raezin wrote alongside their post: “I’ve seen dozens of airplanes, sure, but this was my first helicopter.”

The chopper action shot was nabbed by a satellite as it orbited over woodland near the town of Colfax in Guilford County.

It’s unclear what kind of helicopter is visible in the shot.

One commenter on Reddit proposed that it’s a CH-53, a type of heavy-lift chopper operated by the United States military.

Google obtains snaps for its Maps and Earth services from a number of satellite companies.

The source of the helicopter image is listed as Maxar Technologies, a space technology company based in Colorado.

The vehicle specked with red, green and blue artefacts, which are the result of how satellites capture images.

It’s not the first time that an aircraft has been immortalised by Google’s map service.

In December, netizens revealed that even the infamously tricky-to-detect B2 stealth bomber cannot hide from the all-seeing eye of Google Maps.

Satellite imagery available on the digital map service provides a rare birds-eye view of one of the angular aircraft soaring over rural Missouri.

Eagle-eyed Reddit user “Hippowned” unearthed the once-in-a-lifetime shot and shared it to the site’s popular r/Damnthatsinteresting forum.

The image is slightly blurry, but viewers can clearly make out the bomber’s W-shaped wing design and famous “hawk’s beak” nose.

That shape means there are very few leading edges for radar to reflect from, helping it to fly incognito in enemy airspace.

The aircraft’s twin-engine exhaust channels are also visible towards the rear, as well as its jet-black windscreen.

Read all the latest Phones & Gadgets newsKeep up-to-date on Apple storiesGet the latest on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at tech@the-sun.co.uk