The ocean: it makes up most of our planet and is home to a great many fascinating and majestic creatures. Dolphins, sharks, whales, squids, and Jason Mamoa are but a few of the magnificent denizens that lurk in the depths of its comfy, blue surface. It’s below this surface that a great many mysteries lurk: the Mariana Trench Sea Serpent, reports of living plesiosaurs, underwater civilizations, living megalodons, and many other stories come from sailors, fishermen, and average Joes alike. It’s a place of wonder, awe, and fascination. So it should come as no surprise that upwards of 95% of the ocean remains unexplored.
Despite so much of the ocean not being explored, most of us often look to the stars to colonize Mars and proclaim Elon Musk as our God-Emperor, Indeed, we likely know more about the cosmos than we do about the vast majority of our own planet. Every year, new species of animals are discovered in and out of the ocean, so if you were to ask me: I would say we should start diving down into the depths more often.
As you may have guessed by now: today’s story will do just that, though it holds an “official” explanation. So why cover it? Well, I received this story as a request last year and attempted to write it. Although I was successful, the end result was something I was very disappointed with; it was like a half-baked Wikipedia article. So I deleted it and decided to focus my efforts elsewhere (I believe I went on to write about the 3x Killer after scrapping it).
From there, I let the idea collect dust until now, a little under one year later. I’m feeling a lot more motivated and want to take a shot at what’s known as the Bloop once more. So from hell’s heart I shall stab at thee! Let us dive into the ocean and see what the truth is behind this enigmatic sound.
The Blooping Story
There isn’t a whole lot to this story. In 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded a sound in a remote portion of the Pacific Ocean; west of the southern tip of South America (thank you, dear Wikibloopia). This sound, can be listened to below, was recorded by the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array; a device used to monitor an array of things, such as animal populations and ice noise.
The Bloop gained a lot of attention as the NOAA initially suspected it was made by an unknown animal. That, on its own, wouldn’t be anything exactly noteworthy. Many new animals are discovered every year and most are quite fantastical and unique. What makes the Bloop stand out is just how massive the creature would have to be in order to create it, with estimates putting it at upwards of 700 feet (213 meters) in length. That’s roughly 7 times the size of a Blue Whale.
Because of this, the Bloop became legendary for being proof that sea monsters are, in fact, real; the leviathan lurks in the depths and it has awoken! Oh, let flaming chariots rain from the heavens and herald in the end of days! We’re all going to die because a ginormous sea beast will consume the world’s cities. Om nom nom.
Well, that didn’t happen. Rather, the Bloop was more a talking point of speculation among scientists thanks to its enigmatic nature. However, no sound (no pun intended) conclusion was ever agreed upon until 2012. It was in the year of the Mayan Calendar that the truth was revealed—kind of. The NOAA stated that the sound was made by ice movements; a simple act of nature that happened to be caught on an underwater microphone, albeit thousands of miles away.
That’s technically where the story of the Bloop ends. Anticlimactically and leaving many unimpressed. Though there is one final thing I’d like to point out. A YouTube channel by the name of Stuart Wahlin posted a video on February 11, 2015 entitled “The Bloop is Back”. In it, he claims that Russian scientists picked up a sound that, when overlapped with the Bloop, was a near exact match. He then goes on to cite a supposed anonymous source that is wanted for eco-terrorism who states that “it’s coming”. If you want to watch the video, here it is.
While no doubt a piece of fictitious entertainment, I wanted to mention it as I vaguely recall hearing somewhere that a sound like the Bloop was once picked up. However, it’s been a great many years since I recall hearing this and as such, I wanted to at least make a brief note of it. Besides, it’s entertaining to see that even within the past decade, the Bloop’s legacy is alive and strong.
Alas, with that, the story of the Bloop comes to an end. Most of what has existed within the 20+ years since the original recording is simply speculation. That’s where the theories come in. So, rather than linger here in the story, let us advance into them!
Theories
1. It was a sea monster
For our first theory, we have what is arguably the most well-known and popular theory: a giant sea monster created the infamous sound. Roar XD, the leviathan has arisen and will devour us all.
This theory was what the NOAA thought from the day the sound was recorded up until 2012 when they changed their tune (which is the next theory). We’ve already gone over exactly what this creature would be, so I needn’t repeat myself, so that leaves us with the question: is there any evidence to back this theory up? The short is a resounding “no”. Given that the Bloop remains as elusive as that spider that vanished in your bedroom, there’s never been any evidence to back up this claim. Though to be fair: the location is also one that man isn’t really capable of exploring to their hearts content. It’s remote and given the gargantuan size of the ocean, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone would be able to explore the potential region[s] the creature would live in even a month's time.
Though assuming the sound was made by a creature, then what would it be? A whale? Squid? Shark? Well, in all likelihood, it would be a whale or something close to it. If that’s the case, then what’s it diet? That raises a great many questions and is where this theory hits a massive roadblock. When it comes to the diet of any massive creature, one has to take into consideration its impact on the ecosystem. The sea, although big, is susceptible to major changes when predators enter new territory. We’re talking about a creature that would be almost as large as the Eiffel Tower if it were to stand upright. This would mean the creature would need a really big meal in order to sate its immense hunger, yet nothing would likely satisfy it unless it had prey that wasn’t several times smaller than it. Unless, of course, there were creatures in-between the sizes of the Blue Whale and the Bloop. However, no sounds recorded have ever indicated such a thing.
This is where the theory ultimately enters the realm of strict speculation and nothing else. As such, I want to move on to the other theories before this becomes something that is more opinionated than simply going over factoids and other things. I’ve already rambled enough with the paragraph above too.
1. It was caused by ice or a glacier
The second theory is that the Bloop was caused by something normal. Nothing suspicious to see here, citizen, move along and ignore the 500-foot-long tentacle slowly wrapping around my neck.
The official explanation for this entire story is, admittedly, one that doesn’t have a concrete narrative. There are an array of explanations, but they all come to a very similar conclu: the Bloop was a byproduct of movements related to bodies of ice in the ocean, such as ice from a glacier falling off. These movements were picked up by the NOAA and the rest of history.
Could this truly be the case? Well, given how much different sound is underwater, I would personally say yes. However, I’m also not an expert with anything that would go into examining the Bloop. All I can ever extrapolate from it is that it sounds like a bloop and that it’s fairly eerie to imagine hearing something like that if I were on a vessel several miles/kilometers out in the middle of nowhere. As such, there’s nothing to really build off of this theory (in my eyes at least) beyond it being what the experts say. If I’m wrong, do leave a comment stating otherwise.
3. It was aliens
Ayy lmao, the third theory posits that aliens made the sound.
The idea of underwater aliens is by no means a new one; there are a plethora of sightings where eyewitnesses claim to see bright lights plunge into the ocean from great heights at astonishing speeds. This ranges from average Joes to fishermen and pilots. Some chalk this up to illusions or meteors, but there are a fair number of folks out there that believe ET has made his home under the sea with Ariel and Ursula.
So what exactly would have made this sound? If you go by traditional lore/beliefs, UFOs are silent; they produce no sound and as a result, it’s hard to believe they could produce a sound like the Bloop. As such, some believe that the cause was an unknown underwater machine or vessel that either backfired, malfunctioned, or even exploded. Of course, this is purely speculation and I cannot vouch for any of this. If I could, I’d no doubt be hanging with Epstein for sharing this information.
4. It was an underwater civilization
Theory number four is somewhat similar to the previous one, but with a few key differences. It puts forth the idea that an underwater civilization was behind the Bloop.
Where this theory differs from the one about ET phoning home 20,000 feet below the sea is that the civilization is something akin to Atlantis. Highly advanced, but also human (and lacking Amber Heard as their queen). These sea humans would likely have some sort of incredible vehicles that allow them to go through the sea with extreme ease, but they may also be prone to breaking down like our own Ford F-150s and Lambos. As such, this theory presents the idea that the NOAA may have picked up a possible malfunctioning vehicle or machine created a noise that we now know as the Bloop. There’s little more to it than that other than exactly what these underwater humans may be. We’ll go over them sometime next year if all goes well, but I’m sure you can find some sources online that discuss them in detail.
5. It was a top secret military experiment
The fifth and final theory is that the Bloop was caused by some sort of top secret military experiment that was accidentally picked up by the NOAA. The cover story of an iceberg was produced once either something was settled on as being agreeable/plausible or that everyone forgot about it and threw the public a bone in the form of that explanation. Whatever the case may be, there’s a matter of what the actual experiment was. For some, it may have been some sort of underwater nuclear device. For others, it was perhaps a means of drilling into the ice to create an underwater base.
One of the more common explanations comes in the form of a very popular claim in some conspiracy circles: an underwater vehicle. Not a submarine mind you, but rather a high-tech underwater transportation device (I know, how descriptive, but I think it sounds better than “underwater car”) that either stalled a bit or utilized an acceleration feature that caused the Bloop. These types of vehicles are said to be classified to only the highest of high ranking government officials and are allegedly a part of Secret Space Programs (or SSPs; I’ll go over them more one day in the future). People like Jordan Sather and David Wilcock have both covered SSPs in great detail and if you’re interested in learning more about these types of top secret vehicles, I would recommend you go read what they have to offer until I cover them.
Anyways, is there any proof to this theory? That depends on where you stand on conspiracies. For some, their distrust of the government makes this theory plausible. For others, those who claim to be whistleblowers makes them believe such claims. I won’t judge either way, though I would recommend (as per the norm) that you do your own research. There’s a plethora of sources out there, though I find it’s easier to get the results via Bing over Google. That’s simply my experience though, but enough rambling. Let us move onto my personal take as this is where the theory ends.
My Take
Although the prospect of a gigantic sea monster is truly awesome, albeit terrifying, in my eyes, I’m inclined to believe the official story when it comes to the Bloop. There are a great number of factors that make the idea of a sea monster as large as the one that would have made the Bloop extremely difficult to believe.
For starters, the appetite of this beast would be massive and while it’s always possible it would have next to no predators, but ample prey, the Bloop monstrosity would see its entire life be one endless hunt (this also goes for if the megalodon were still alive, but that’s a topic for another day). Such an existence would likely create an ecosystem that would be 99% Bloop and 1% Penguin. To put it in simpler terms: there would be no balance and it would create a major fracture in the animal population because there wouldn’t be anything to counteract the Bloop—unless we’re to assume that Julia is the predator to the Bloop. However, in that case, this creates even more questions and calls into question not only what Julia eats, but exactly how in the world something that massive could feasibly survive.
The appetite of the Bloop is but one of several problems that I have with the Bloop being a sea monster. A monster of such stature like the one that would have made the Bloop would have a lot of difficulty hiding for so long. While one can argue that fiendish brings like Mothman and Sasquatch should have a hard time hiding, one can at least argue that both are of normal stature (appearance aside) and can blend into their surroundings as something normal; a large owl in the case of Mothman and a bear standing upright with Sasquatch. With the Bloop, a creature like the one hypothetically proposed would, eventually, be seen with an underwater camera or by people aboard a vessel. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see it putting in a $1.99 pair of plastic glasses and saying “top of the morning” before swimming off to listen to Robert Palmer with Patrick Bateman.
Then there’s the size. There’s a theory out there that dictates that an animal can only be so large until it more or less is killed by the sheer magnitude of its size. To most: the Blue Whale is as large as a creature can get before it can’t survive. I personally believe this isn’t the case and it’s possible that there could be a creature larger (perhaps a snake or squid), but when it comes to a 700-foot-long monstrosity like the Bloop, I’m extremely hesitant to nod in agreement. There’s a point when something is so large that it’s closer to being something out of a fantasy or Lovecraft story than a real life creature.
So, to make a long story short: while much of the ocean may be unexplored, I sincerely doubt that the Bloop was an actual sea monster.
As for the theories of the sound having been made by aliens, an underwater civilization, or a top secret military experiment: these fall into the category of simply not having anything to back them up. I consider myself open minded enough to not disregard these types of theories without batting an eye, but in the case of the Bloop, I’ve never seen anything that backs them up, let alone any sort of argument. Though if I have to call any of these theories out, it’d be the one about aliens. Given how silent and stealthy UFOs generally are, I find it incredibly bizarre that one would create such a strange noise this one time and never make it ever again anywhere else at any point in time.
So yeah, I think it was nothing more than an ice quake. While it may seem like a cop out, I really don’t see anything that would suggest otherwise. If it truly is a sea monster though, then I dare not contemplate what its predator—or predators—are.
Conclusion
The Bloop is one of those stories that will forever remain fascinating due to how little we know about the ocean. Whether or not it’s an unknown leviathan that lurks in the darkest depths of the ocean is up for debate, though I don’t think a creature needs to be 700+ feet/meters/light years in length or width in order to be terrifying. Something as small as the blue ringed octopus or the Irukandji are horrifying due to how poisonous they are.
That is, however, merely my view on this. I would, as per the norm, love to know your thoughts on the Bloop. Do you believe it was a Lovecraftian monstrosity? Or was it something perfectly explainable? Bloop off in the comments below and I will be sure to report it to the NOAA.
As a side note: this is going to be the last post for the month of September. October will contain a lot of posts though. So until then, have a great month and I hope you all stay happy and healthy.
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