{
 "schema": "googletreks.google-earth-finds/1",
 "title": "Places found or mapped with Google Earth",
 "checked": "2026-11-03",
 "note": "Coordinates are from each place's Wikipedia article. Status 'confirmed' means scientists visited and confirmed the find; 'claim' means it has not been verified.",
 "finds": [
  {
   "id": "hickman-crater",
   "name": "Hickman crater",
   "place": "Near Newman, Western Australia",
   "lat": -23.03706,
   "lon": 119.68314,
   "found": "July 2007",
   "found_by": "Arthur Hickman, a geologist with the Geological Survey of Western Australia",
   "what": "A meteorite impact crater about 260 metres (850 feet) wide and 30 metres deep, spotted by chance while browsing Google Earth.",
   "status": "confirmed",
   "earth_url": "https://earth.google.com/web/@-23.03706,119.68314,0a,1400d,35y,0h,0t,0r",
   "source": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hickman_crater",
   "guide_section": "https://googletreks.org/guides/google-earth-finds/#hickman-crater-western-australia"
  },
  {
   "id": "mount-mabu",
   "name": "Mount Mabu, the “Google Forest”",
   "place": "Northern Mozambique",
   "lat": -16.29778,
   "lon": 36.39417,
   "found": "Visited by scientists in 2005",
   "found_by": "Researchers looking for unknown wildlife hotspots in Africa on Google Earth",
   "what": "About 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of old-growth rainforest, well known locally but virtually unknown to science until a first visit in 2005; Kew scientists followed in 2008.",
   "status": "confirmed",
   "earth_url": "https://earth.google.com/web/@-16.29778,36.39417,0a,22000d,35y,0h,0t,0r",
   "source": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Mabu",
   "guide_section": "https://googletreks.org/guides/google-earth-finds/#mount-mabu-the-google-forest-mozambique"
  },
  {
   "id": "malapa",
   "name": "Malapa fossil site",
   "place": "Cradle of Humankind, South Africa",
   "lat": -25.8951,
   "lon": 27.8013,
   "found": "August 2008",
   "found_by": "Lee Berger, who mapped caves in Google Earth and then searched on foot; his son Matthew, 9, found the first early human bone",
   "what": "A cave site with some of the most complete early human ancestor skeletons known, dated in 2011 to about 1.977 million years ago, named Australopithecus sediba in 2010.",
   "status": "confirmed",
   "earth_url": "https://earth.google.com/web/@-25.8951,27.8013,0a,2500d,35y,0h,0t,0r",
   "source": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapa_Fossil_Site",
   "guide_section": "https://googletreks.org/guides/google-earth-finds/#malapa-fossil-site-south-africa"
  },
  {
   "id": "nikumaroro-earhart-claim",
   "name": "The Amelia Earhart claim on Nikumaroro",
   "place": "Nikumaroro, Phoenix Islands, Kiribati",
   "lat": -4.67556,
   "lon": -174.51778,
   "found": "Reported March 2026",
   "found_by": "Justin Myers, a pilot, measuring an object in Google Earth",
   "what": "A dark, straight object about 39 feet long on the island's reef, the same length as Earhart's Lockheed Electra. Not verified.",
   "status": "claim",
   "earth_url": "https://earth.google.com/web/@-4.67556,-174.51778,0a,14000d,35y,0h,0t,0r",
   "source": "https://www.foxnews.com/travel/pilot-claims-google-earth-image-may-show-amelia-earharts-missing-plane-pacific-island-reef",
   "guide_section": "https://googletreks.org/guides/google-earth-finds/#the-amelia-earhart-claim-on-nikumaroro"
  }
 ]
}