Mysterious barge allegedly connected to secret Google project
Oct 31, 2013, 9:06 AM | Updated: 6:27 pm
This photo shows a barge on Treasure Island with the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge at rear in San Francisco, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013. The barge is one of three mysterious floating structures that have sparked online speculation. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A mysterious barge, the length of a football field and four stories tall is attracting a lot of attention in the San Francisco Bay, not only because of its size, but because no one is talking about why it’s there.
It’s parked in plain sight on Treasure Island, and Bay Area residents can almost see it as they cross the new Bay Bridge. It also boasts tall poles that some have speculated are antennas sticking from the top the structure.
The Associated Press reports the barge, along with two others, another in the Bay Area and a third parked off the coast of Portland, Maine, are registered to a Delaware corporation as BAL0001, BAL0010, BAL0011 and BAL0100.
KCBS reporter, and former KIRO Radio reporter, Matt Bigler said there has been a lot of speculation around the barge since it first showed up in the bay. Only recently did they finally get an idea of who might really own it: Google.
“There are reports that at least one Coast Guard officer or employee has signed a confidentiality agreement with Google, preventing them from saying anything about it,” said Bigler.
The scuttlebutt, Bigler said, is that Google shouldn’t be able to force a government official to sign a confidentiality agreement.
“This is not a matter of national security – it’s not a defense project. It’s a Google project, from what we understand. So how can a private company force a government official not to say something about this boat that is in plain site?”
Bigler said freedom of information requests have been submitted, but many believe Google may have somehow pressured the U.S. Coast Guard in an attempt to keep it silent.
