‘Straight line’: Mind-boggling map goes viral

This map shows that it is possible to sail from India to the US in a “completely straight line” – and that has social media users very confused.

A map showing it is possible to sail from India to the US in a straight line has proved mind-boggling to social media users – and even impressed Elon Musk.

The picture of the 2D map, which has been viewed 6 million times since being shared on X, formerly Twitter, shows a curved blue line between the two countries.

“Without touching a single piece of land, it’s possible to sail from India to the USA in a completely straight line,” the caption simply stated.

Theoretically it showed you could set sail from Mumbai, pass Madagascar, and arrive in Alaska without hitting land.

The social media platform’s owner, Musk commented: “Whoa”.

This map is confusing the internet. Picture: Twitter / Epic Maps / @Locati0ns

But some users had trouble understanding why the line on the picture was curved, stating things like “that straight line is a half circle” and “this line is far from straight”.

One social media user recreated the path on a 3D globe to help them out.

“Weird, it’s almost as if we live on a sphere,” one user said sarcastically.

“More like an oblate spheroid,” the person who created the 3D path clarified.

Here's the same line on a globe pic.twitter.com/8oVFCElDnp

— Rajit (@rajitsingh) September 27, 2023

People thanked the X user for putting the journey into perspective while others lashed those who found the original picture confusing.

“Thank you. I was a flat earther for half a minute and couldn’t wrap my brain around that one,” wrote one person.

“Glad I read the comments before writing ‘THAT’S NOT A STRAIGHT LINE,’” said another.

A third criticised: “People who remark on it not being a straight line have the same exact voting say you do.”

Some argued the line was not straight regardless because it followed the Earth’s curvature.