Scientists baffled by mystery found on ocean floor

A deep sea mystery has bubbled to the surface during an exploration of the ocean floor.

“I’m not saying that it’s aliens, but it’s aliens,” one person claimed on Facebook.

“The obvious answer is extraterrestrials,” another wrote.

In a series of photos, scientists have revealed a strange phenomenon almost three kilometres below the surface.

A line in the sand (left) and a close up of the holes (right)
Photos reveal a prculiar line in the sand at the bottom of the ocean. Source: Facebook

A cryptic pattern of identical holes can be seen in an eerily straight line on the sand that's left even the experts mystified.

“On Saturday’s Okeanos dive, we observed several of these sublinear sets of holes in the sediment,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said online.

“These holes have been previously reported from the region but their origin remains a mystery.

“While they look almost human made, the little piles of sediment around the holes make them seem like they were excavated by…something.”

The NOAA said it tried to look inside the holes but couldn't get any closer. Source: Facebook
The NOAA said it tried to look inside the holes but couldn't get any closer. Source: Facebook

Public baffled by discovery

Stumped by the find, the NOAA turned to Facebook for a “hypothesis”.

“It looks like the fingerprint of a device which landed on the sand,” one person wrote.

“UFOs,” another claimed. “Might end up stumbling upon an underwater base with extraterrestrial biological entities while down there.”

While many wondered if sea life was to blame with a “swordfish sharpening its bill” and a “starfish doing cartwheels” among the suggestions.

Others were more concerned with what lies beneath.

“The sand looks to be falling through the ‘holes’ so there’s some kind of void underneath, a shipwreck or something has died and is decaying,” someone suggested. “Or mermaids.”

“I’m going to suggest the spine of a whale or something else that was buried,” another added.

“It’s clearly someone drunk on a cruise ship who has slipped and all the loose change in their pockets has fallen into the sea,” someone else added. “Case closed.”

But for most, it always came back to life in outer space.

“Obviously it’s a circulation vent from a buried spacecraft.”

A remotely operated vehicle in the water
As part of the mission, scientists are delving into unexplored areas of the ocean floor. Source: Facebook

Unexplored territory

After admitting that they tried to look inside the holes and give them a poke but weren’t able to do so, the NOAA elaborated on its own theory in a later post.

“This was not the first time that such holes have been seen in this region,” they wrote on Facebook.

“And while scientists are not sure how the holes form, they hypothesise that the holes are likely biological in origin, using the term “lebensspuren,” which translates to 'life traces' to describe the holes.”

The images were picked up on Saturday during the NOAA’s Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition.

As part of the venture, the team is using remotely operated vehicles to navigate unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas of the Atlantic Ocean.

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