What the heck is this?
Inspired by something I saw somewhere on the Internet (MSNBC maybe?) I went searching for weird things on Google maps and stumbled across this. To put this in perspective, it is just east of Kabul, Afghanistan and is nearly a kilometer long sitting right next to what looks (at least from space) to be an abandoned residential neighborhood. To really put it in perspective, it’s so big you don’t have to zoom in very far to notice it. In fact, I’ve included a second picture to give you an idea. Any soldiers out there who have served in the area and know what it is (assuming it’s not classified)?
December 10, 2009 at 6:25 am
How very strange! Maybe some kind of water or waste processing plant…?
December 10, 2009 at 8:47 am
I don’t think so. If you zoom in as far as possible (which is much farther than the picture above), the “spoked wheel” thing looks like a building and there’s not the usual machinery that I tend to associate with a waste or water treatment plant. My guess was a prison, though, if it is a prison it’s enormous.
December 10, 2009 at 10:00 am
With the additional data available at Google Earth, that seems to be the Pul-e-Charkhi prison (wikipedia article available).
December 10, 2009 at 10:17 am
Interesting! I hadn’t thought to check Google Earth. In any case, that is one huge prison – and apparently I guessed correctly. I don’t know why, but it just gives me the creeps for some reason. It’s like something out of a Neal Stephenson novel.
December 12, 2009 at 11:47 pm
Actually, it’s Bentham’s Panopticon.
December 13, 2009 at 8:48 pm
> Actually, it’s Bentham’s Panopticon.
Interesting. That central wheel-and-spoke portion does recall Bentham’s idea.
August 4, 2010 at 7:50 pm
That is correct. It is Pol I Charki Prison. The neighborhood surrounding it is not deserted though. I drove by there last week.