Google Maps has a hidden feature that allows anyone to zoom in extremely close on some satellite pictures. This screenshot shows the closest zoom available for a location in the Sahara desert. Using this hidden feature, you can zoom in a little closer in almost any Metropolitan area, and MUCH closer in select areas.
Here's Google Blogoscoped's instructions on utilizing this feature:
1. Select a location and switch to satellite view
2. Zoom in as far as you can, and click “link to this page†at the top right
3. Now replace the “z†parameter in the URL with a higher value, e.g. 20, 22, or 23, and wait. Some locations will now show more detailed imagery
Since people are good at identifying faces at low resolutions, someone should be able to identify the guy looking skyward in the upper right. My vote is that he's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, in hiding.
Click on the Link [Google Maps] to navigate the rest of this location. Via Google Blogoscoped
OR IS IT??
I'm pretty sure I heard that most satelitte cams take two shots. One high-res b&w shot for the detail, and a lower quality color shot for the coloring. The slight delay between the pictures means high-speed targets get shot in two locations. The "ghost" occurs when the two images are merged.
Sorry I don't have a source, and don't remember where I heard it, so I could be completely off.