In 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) detected an unidentified ultra-low-frequency sound in the south Pacific Ocean.
The mysterious noise stretched over 5,000 kilometers (over 3,000 miles), and was picked up repeatedly by the Equatorial Pacific Ocean Autonomous Hydrophone Array. NOAA triangulated its position to 50°S 100°W.
Was it an earthquake? A giant sea creature? Had someone released the Kraken?
In the end, NOAA decided that the Bloop, as it had come to be known, was likely the result of large ice quakes, a type of cryoseism generally caused by ice shelves cracking and breaking apart. However, despite this official conclusion, many still believe the true mystery has yet to be solved.
Strange Sounds Below
You can listen to the Bloop in the video above, sped up 16 times. It is, however, not alone.
In fact, as Brian Dunning of Skeptoid pointed out way back in 2009, the Bloop is only one of many peculiar sounds NOAA has recorded within the ocean’s depths. Julia, recorded in 1999 by the same hydrophone array that captured the Bloop, sounds particularly strange. It too was determined to be ice-related.
Another, called Upsweep, sounded even weirder, like an emergency alarm going off on a space station. Recorded in 1991, Upsweep has many possible origins, but to this day remains unresolved.
The Bloop: Signs of An Alien Base?
Even with NOAA’s official conclusions and the existence of several ordinary explanations for these mysterious noises, another strange theory remains: That the sounds actually originate from an underwater alien base.
There have, after all, always been tales of aliens and UFOs existing beneath the ocean’s surface. When an unidentified object crashed off the coast of Shag Habour in 1967, for example, some speculated that it had actually been on its way to an underwater base.
In 2011, the so-called Baltic Sea anomaly became a huge story in paranormal circles. It was a strange object discovered on the sea floor that resembled the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. Many believed it was a downed alien spacecraft.
Another formation was discovered on Google Earth in 2014, located roughly 6 miles off the coast of Malibu, California. Some claimed it was undeniable proof of an underwater alien base, complete with 600-feet-tall pillars and an expansive ceiling (coordinates are 34° 1’23.31″N 118° 59’45.64″W). There were apparently many sightings in the 1950s, as well, involving UFOs diving into the Pacific Ocean, off the southern coast of California.
And so, while NOAA tells us the Bloop is natural – the result of icebergs breaking apart – others believe a cover-up is at play. Could it be sounds from a hidden alien outpost in the Pacific Ocean?
This is all, of course, wild speculation. It doesn’t help that the Bloop’s origin lies only 950 nautical miles away from the lost city of R’lyeh, of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu.” Lovecraft even provided coordinates: 47°9′S 126°43′W.
The truth is, Bloop or no Bloop, we don’t really know what’s down there. Do we want to?
