The View From Above: belgium

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Is this a photograph of two very large UFO's parked at Area 51?

(Click on photo to enlarge)

50°56'44.40"N 4°23'43.79"E

Actually, no, it isn't. But made you look, didn't it? This isn't Area 51 at all... it's the airport at Grimbergen, Belgium, and those "UFOs" are actually unique airplane hangars which were constructed out of concrete in 1947. The airport itself was constructed in the 1930's to help Belgium defend against the Nazis, but ultimately ended up being more useful to the Nazis than to the Belgians.

Here's a view of the hangars from a different perspective. They don't look quite as "saucer-ish" from this angle. In fact, they look more like big bowls. Fascinating, but hardly extra-terrestrial.

No, really... We Love Aircraft Noise!

(Click photo to enlarge)

51°11'3.00"N 4°30'8.50"E

This rooftop message can be found in the town of Borsbeek, Belgium - not surprisingly, just off the east end of the Antwerp Airport. The structures surrounding the sign appear to be greenhouses, or something similar.

Why "View From Above"

I have an unquenchable thirst for exploration and mysteries. But that isn't the only reason for "View From Above." This blog exists primarily thanks to the despicable ignorance and laziness of the many, many people who will post a picture of some anomaly and simply make guesses about it, rather than do five minutes worth of research. I can't count the many times I've seen aerial pictures of "UFOs parked in a row on the beach" (They're beach umbrellas, you dork!) or questions like, "What's this aircraft doing sitting in the middle of the desert?" (It's a military firing range. They use junk aircraft as targets. Duh!) The unwillingness on the part of most people to do even a minimal amount of research just boggles the mind.

Another pet peeve of mine is the practice of posting an interesting site without a precise location. I don't know if it's laziness, oversight, or a desire to hoard information, but it's irritating as hell to me. That's why mosts of my posts will always include coordinates to the site.

I hope you'll enjoy perusing the sites I've listed. I can't take credit for being the first to "find" most of them, but I will do my best to let you know what I find out about them!

Michael Makai