Fact Check: Google Earth Video Does NOT Reveal Unknown 'Conspiracy' Feature In Australia; It Shows Established Naval Station

Comms Station

Does a Google Earth video reveal an unknown "conspiracy" feature in Western Australia? No, that's not true: The video shows a well-known and long-established military installation in northwestern Australia. Naval Communication Station Harold E Holt is a joint Australian and United States naval communication station.

The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) published on Facebook on August 26, 2024, under the on-screen title "WTF are the Australia building??" The video's caption said:

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Sep 4 15:03:35 2024 UTC)

The video later zooms in on northwestern Australia, revealing a hexagonal shape on a peninsula near Exmouth, Western Australia. The image appears below:

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Sep 4 17:04:46 2024 UTC)

Naval Communication Station Harold E Holt

Lead Stories used Google Earth to virtually explore the area and quickly identified the location as Naval Communication Station Harold E Holt, which is "operated and maintained by the Australian Department of Defence on behalf of the Commonwealth and the United States." It was commissioned in 1967. The image from Google Earth, which identifies the facility by name, appears below:

(Source: Google Earth screenshot taken on Wed Sep 4 17:36:47 2024 UTC)

A 2017 media release (archived here) from the Australian Department of Defence on the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of the base said:

'The Station provides Very Low Frequency (VLF) communication transmission services in support of Australian, US and allied submarines and has strengthened the relationship between Australia and the United States,' [then-Defence] Minister [Marise] Payne said.

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At the time this was written, a related claim had previously been reviewed by Yahoo News in 2020.

Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to international stories can be read here.