17 Strange Things Found Underwater Nobody Can Explain
17.
7500 Year Old Village In 2014, an underwater expedition near Haifa,
Israel uncovered the remains of an extremely old village.
The ruins, which turned out to be more than 7500 years in age, date back to the neolithic
era of human development.
The civilization which built the structures had not yet gained the use of metal or pottery.
Tools found within the site were made of stone and bone, and used other materials such as
plant fibers.
Interestingly, the ruined village is possibly the oldest discovered location used for the
production and refinement of olive oil - thousands of crushed olive stones and other similar
early olive oil production technology was found in areas within the site.
16.
Ancient Greek Computer Perhaps one of the most well known but nevertheless
also one of the most mysterious things ever found underwater is the Antikythera Mechanism.
The Antikythera Mechanism has been described as a sort of ancient computer, and for good
reason.
The complex combination of gears and clockwork-like machinery was likely used to predict astronomical
positions and eclipses, and was used to guide the creation of calendars as well as to provide
astrological information.
It was discovered in about 150 feet of water in a shipwreck off of a Greek island after
which the device was named - Antikythera.
The discovery took place in July of 1900, but the device is believed to be more than
2000 years old.
Dating methods put the creation of the ancient Greek device at or around 87 BC.
15.
Bimini Road Just off the northwest coast of North Bimini
Island in the Bahamas, there is a very strange and mysterious configuration of limestone
blocks which has many experts baffled.
The formation, which lies approximately 18 feet beneath the water, very closely resembles
a manmade cobblestone road.
The blocks forming the “road” are as small as 3 - 7 feet horizontally to as large as
10 - 13 feet, and seem to have rounded corners.
Even more strangely, the structure is perhaps 3500 years old.
The shape and age of these blocks have led many researchers to conclude that the Bimini
Road is indeed man made, but others aren’t so sure.
The location and depth underwater are unusual for that time period - as it is unclear if
that area could have been dry at that time.
IN a book called 1421: The Year China Discovered America, author and amateur historian Gavin
Menzies claims that the road could have been built by Chinese Admiral Zheng He as his fleet
circumnavigated the globe.
14.
Google Earth Anomalies Perhaps one of the strangest things to come
out of our current technological age is the ability for anyone in a first-world country
to access satellite imagery of our planet’s entire surface.
Just by sitting at your computer and firing up Google Earth, you can see everything from
your own house to aerial views of Area 51.
But one of the weirdest things to come out of that ability are lots of strange markings
and formations in our planet’s oceans.
Amatuer enthusiasts have found everything from what appear to be huge vehicle tracks
to potential secret military installations, UFO crash sites, and lost cities.
While it’s difficult to tell which of these could be real and which of these are just
the human brain’s attempt to find a pattern in anything, the fact remains that they are
very interesting to look at, and statistically speaking, at least some of them have to be
real.
13.
Ancient Japanese Monument In 1987, a recreational diver named Kihachiro
Aratake made a fairly astounding discovery when he was diving to observe sharks in the
Yonaguni sea on Japan’s east coast.
The find turned out to be a vast monument, now called the Yonaguni Monument.
The monument consists mainly of sandstones and mudstones as well as rectangular formations
and pillars.
Oddly, many believe that the formations are natural, and were not created by any ancient
people.
There are also those, however, who believe that the sharp edges and flat surfaces can
only point to the involvement of humans.
12.
Lake Michigan Stonehenge A very strange discovery was made in Lake
Michigan in 2007, though the story went largely unnoticed for most of the last decade.
40 feet below the surface of the Great Lake lies what many have compared to Stonehenge
- a formation of stone columns which does not appear to be natural in origin.
Petroglyphs and stone monuments of the kind are exceedingly rare in North America, leading
many researchers to remain skeptical about the authenticity of the site, but nevertheless
research continues to determine if the site is truly ancient in origin.
11.
Apollo 11 Rocket Engines Though they’re not quite ancient by most
standards, the remains of the colossal rocket engines used on the Apollo 11 missions were
recently recovered from the Atlantic Ocean after being underwater for more than 40 years
since their use.
The person responsible for the discovery and recovery is none other than Jeff Bezos, CEO
of Amazon as well as Blue Origin, the commercial spaceflight competitor to Elon Musk’s effort
in the same arena, Space-X.
Bezos set out to find and recover the engines, and was successful in hauling enough parts
for two engines to the surface.
These parts included thrust chambers, turbines, nozzles, and a part of the Saturn V rocket’s
initial stage.
Bezos and NASA then worked together to find a suitable home for the pieces, which were
technically still NASA property when they were pulled out of the ocean.
These components are now on display in the Museum of Flight, which is located just south
of Seattle, Washington.
10.
1800s Train Graveyard Two large locomotives which were originally
built in the 1850s were recently discovered off the coast of New Jersey under nearly 100
feet of water.
Although it is currently believed that the engines were lost in a storm during transport
by ship from Boston, there is not a definitive date or knowledge as to exactly when or how
the trains were lost.
These are steam locomotives, and as a result the pictures are quite eerie.
They show clearly defined smokestacks and huge wheels covered in the rust of more than
a century and a half under the ocean waters.
9.
Weird UFO Thing You know when something has “Anomaly”
in the name, it’s bound to be interesting.
This is definitely the case for the Baltic Sea Anomaly, which is a strange object found
under the waters of the northern Baltic Sea, more specifically at the center of the Bothnian
Sea.
At about 200 feet in diameter, the circular rock-like formation is no small artifact,
and it appears to be resting on top of a pillar.
The structure is even complete with a staircase leading to a dark hole, and its strange appearance
has led some to believe that it is in fact the remnants of an alien spacecraft.
More conventional explanations range from a sunken battleship gun turret to an anti-submarine
device or even a natural formation.
8.
WWII Ghost Fleet Remnants from the various wars mankind has
fought litter the surface of the Earth.
But what many don’t realize is that just as many - if not more - such relics can be
found in the planet’s oceans as well.
For instance, in 1944 bombers from the Allied fleets laid waste to a lagoon in which was
situated a large detachment of the Japanese Imperial navy.
This attack was so intense that many historians still refer to it as the “Japanese Pearl
Harbor”.
The resulting destruction saw hundreds of Japanese soldiers killed and many more craft
- both of the air and the sea - sent to the bottom of the lagoon.
The final count was 5 fleet carriers and 4 light carriers, along with their accompanying
support ships and as many as 500 individual aircraft.
On board those ships were many dozens of land vehicles as well.
In the cargo hold of one ship alone were nearly 400 soldiers, all of whom were killed in the
attack.
Today the ships, trucks, and even tanks still rest there at the bottom, and the skeletons
of the dead Japanese soldiers can still be found inside of the vehicles.
7.
The Palace of Cleopatra The history of Alexandria is long and complicated,
but it is also steeped in historical significance.
It was originally founded by Alexander the Great in approximately 331 BC, and was later
the site where Cleopatra would go on to make a play for the heart of Julius Caesar.
It was a city which rivaled even the fabled Rome in terms of size and prosperity, and
it was the seat of power for the Ptolemaic dynasty.
In the 1990s, the European Institute of Underwater Archaeology was given access to parts of the
Eastern Harbour, where the royal leadership of the dynasty held their quarters.
It was there, in 1998, that Franck Goddio made the discovery of Cleopatra’s royal
palace.
Inside were many wondrous relics of all shape and size, including a black granite sphinx
thought to represent Cleopatra’s father, Ptolemy XII.
6.
Underwater River It may seem strange to try to imagine an underwater
river, but they do exist.
One famous example of this phenomenon is in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
The river, called the Cenote Angelita, is comprised of a thin layer of hydrogen sulfate
which separates the freshwater above from the salt water which makes up the river.
The effect is quite striking - a foggy-looking river complete with banks and tree trunks
sticking out of it, located some 60 feet beneath the surface of the water.
This river is seen as just one example of the fact that we still have quite a bit to
learn about what is possible right here on our own planet - especially since much of
the planet’s oceans remain unexplored beneath the surface.
5.
Giant Ancient Structure Under about 30 feet of water in the Sea of
Galilee in Israel lies a very strange and mysterious structure, the size of which is
difficult to imagine.
Larger in diameter than the length of an airliner jet, the man made structure resembles a large
mound.
Researchers made the discovery with sonar and originally didn’t realize that it was
in fact a creation of man, but further investigation revealed that it was in fact a relic of the
Bronze Age - estimated to be between 2000 and 12000 years in age.
The exact dimensions of the cone-like structure are 230 feet wide at the base, 32 feet tall,
and about 60,000 tons in weight.
The purpose of the structure is unknown at this time.
4.
Manganese Balls In January of 2015, German scientists located
in the tropical region of the Atlantic ocean made a strange discovery.
While looking for deep sea organisms on the floor of the ocean, they came upon a field
of strange, dense, old metal balls.
There are thousands of the balls, and they are made of a rare earth metal called manganese.
In fact, this field is the largest deposit of such manganese orbs to ever be discovered
in the Atlantic ocean.
These types of balls have been found before, but it’s exceedingly rare to find such a
large cluster in the Atlantic.
The balls range in size from a golf ball to a bowling ball, and the scale on which they’ve
been discovered has tech companies watering at the mouth, since manganese is a highly
sought after substance for gadget manufacturers.
It’s believed that the balls form bit by bit over the course of millions of years - which
means that their layers could hold interesting clues about the ocean’s composition in the
past.
3.
Ancient Egyptian City Archaeologist Franck Goddio, who we mentioned
earlier, apparently didn’t want to stop at discovering relics from Cleopatra’s palace.
He also uncovered the lost Egyptian city of Heracleion, which was completely submerged
underwater for more than 1000 years when Goddio discovered it in 1996.
He additionally made discoveries in a neighboring sunken city called Canopus, which was originally
spotted by a British RAF pilot during WWII, who noticed formations under the waves while
flying overhead.
Discoveries within the sunken cities include a vast array of statues, many of which seem
to depict ancient Egyptian gods, including one statue which is more than 16 feet tall
and weighs approximately 12000 pounds.
2.
Gulf of Khambhat Ruins An ancient city discovered beneath the waters
of the Gulf of Khambhat was heralded as “history changing” when it was first uncovered in
2002.
Ocean scientists made the discovery by chance while conducting a pollution survey, finding
an entire city more than five miles long and two miles wide.
The ruins are believed to be older than the previous oldest ruins in the region by a whopping
5000 years or more, meaning that scientists have had to rethink their picture of how civilization
formed in the India region.
Estimates put the site at an astounding 9500 years old, and the city can be found at a
depth of approximately 120 feet.
1.
Living Jurassic Era Microbes Jurassic Park may be famous for its depiction
of creatures from a long-gone era brought back to life, but we don’t have to turn
to fiction for a story like that.
In 2012, a community of microbes was discovered buried within the Pacific Ocean’s muddy
floor, after core samples were drilled out from a depth of 92 feet into the ground.
The samples contained organisms which dated back more than 80 million years and were,
amazingly, still alive.
The microbes appear to have doubled their biomass every 1000 years, a rate exceedingly
slow due to their lack of exposure to fresh oxygen, but the slow usage of energy reserves
meant that the organisms were able to survive for millions of years.
These so-called “extremophiles” give us hope of discovering similar hearty life forms
on distant worlds, and also teach us quite a bit about how life can thrive in different
conditions right here on our own planet.