Talk:Farallon de Medinilla

crosses on google maps

does someone knows what the crosses on google earth mean?(http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=k&ll=16.019684,146.061108&spn=0.014602,0.019913&z=16) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.72.65.53 (talk) 20:26, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

I saw something claiming they were arrangements of shipping containers set up for targeting purposes. Certainly if you look at the images, the bomb craters tend to be in the vicinity of the crosses. However, so far as I know this was just someone's speculation, nothing definitive. Mahousu (talk) 15:20, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Here's a brief discussion of them: http://www.fabprefab.net/smf/index.php?topic=1377.msg8442 Mahousu (talk) 15:24, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Even though that wasn't definitive, I figured it was better than the "buried treasure" business that was in the article, so I updated it. I deliberately did it with weasel wording (it is assumed that) in the hopes this would inspire someone who knows better to fix it up properly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mahousu (talk • contribs) 15:40, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

This reference does confirm that "metal containers" were placed as targets for U.S. Navy strike aircraft, which is probably close enough for confirmation. Also, this discussion thread says the targets are supposed to be XX and XY, and that bombers would alternate between the two. To be honest, they seem a bit too evenly spread to me to represent a grouping like that, but I suppose it's possible. Mahousu (talk) 03:17, 24 October 2010 (UTC)