3-Foot-Diameter Sphere Retrieved by Ambulance in Decatur, Alabama

“On the Med Flight stretcher, the best I can describe it is a giant pearl - a shiny, white sphere.”

- Codey Terry, Decatur, Alabama

May 27, 2008 - Update Email

“Subject:      Re:  Pearl Marks on Google Earth - I know what they are.
Date:          May 27, 2008
To:            [email protected]

To Whom It May Concern:

I worked for the company, Aerials Express, that produced the imagery with the so called “pearl marks” from 2002-2007.  The aerial photographs were taken in the winter months, and when the negatives were scanned (on a cool morning back in our office in Phoenix) small drops of condensation had formed on the glass of the scanner.  These drops were so small, they went un-detected by the operator.  They were on the underside of the glass, and so appear to obscure the photograph.

At one point, I remember the CEO, Bill Lands, joking about them because a program from the Discovery Channel had contacted him directly.  He planned on releasing a PR piece with a picture of the scanner, and operator in an alien costume.  He had a great sense of humor.  Sorry to dispel the myth, just a bit of water under the scanner.”