Mystery surrounds why a tiny island in the Arctic has vanished from Google Maps, amid speculation that it could be a secret Russian military base.
People searching for Jeannette Island on the global giant’s digital map report seeing it only as a red pin on the regular chart, or as a sinister black smudge when zooming in satellite mode.
This curious blurring of the 0.2 square mile ice-covered outpost in the East Siberian Sea, with a 1,152-foot peak in its centre, was first observed in 2018.