In November 2020, a TikTok user told his followers that he discovered a crowd of zombies using the Google Earth application. In a short time, the video received 1.3 million views. We checked whether the field with the living dead actually exists.

Google Earth is an enhanced version of the Google Maps application, in which satellite images are combined with photographs from different parts of the planet. The data from these services has repeatedly attracted the attention of Internet users. For example, back in 2013, a photo from the Netherlands went viral, showing supposedly The killer is captured dragging the corpse to the lake to get rid of evidence.

November 30 user @google.earth.thingss published on your TikTok account, record your screen while using Google Earth. Gradually zooming in, the blogger demonstrated a field in the countryside, where the service offered several rather low-quality photographs. One of them depicted human-like figures. The blogger captioned the video: “Zombies?”

https://www.tiktok.com/@google.earth.thingss/video/6900705600292834565

The author of the video was treacherously betrayed by the inscription “Hiljainen kansa tilataideteos Reijo Kela”, which appears in Google Earth when the satellite image is enlarged. These words can be translated from Finnish as “The Quiet People”: installation by Reijo Kela.” Unlike zombies, this art object really exists - 1000 figures of mowers were placed in an open field in eastern Finland.

Dancer and choreographer Reiyo Kela installed this installation for his performance back in 1988. Six years later, the figures of the mowers were temporarily moved to the stairs of the Helsinki Cathedral, but then returned to their original location - on a field near the highway. There is a restaurant next to the installation for travelers, and if you want to spend the night here, you can do so free to do in the barn to feel like a real mower. Using donations left by travelers, the figures are dressed in new clothes twice a year and stuffed with fresh straw collected from the field where they are placed.