It seems that during the summer of 1997, an eerie, ultra-low frequency sound was detected by SOSUS, the array of underwater microphones constructed by the US Navy in the '60s to monitor Soviet submarine activity. Not once, but several times. By sensors over 3,000 miles apart. It was recorded, and given the name "The Bloop." There's a wave file of the sound on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's web page, and you do hear a "bloop" noise. The creepy thing about it is that this file is sped up 16 times; listening to it at its naturally frequency is otherworldly.
These undersea sounds have been well studied. Scientists and naval technicians can even identify the species of whale based solely upon the sound print it leaves. Fairly quickly non-organic sources - such as machinery, ocean currents, or earthquakes - have been ruled out as the cause of the Bloop. So, what is it?
A couple of theories have been put forth. But consider this: if it is the sound print of a living creature, it would have to be larger than a blue whale. Some scientists speculate of a new species of giant squid or octopus. However, such creatures lack the gas-filled sac needed to create such sounds. They would need to periodically surface for oxygen, and thus would increase the probability of a sighting. What if such a monster had tubes like an elephant's trunk to replenish its air supply? How about an entirely new species of animal that need not surface at all? Perhaps its a school of smaller creatures that rarely encounter man?
Where do you think the sound originated? The Bermuda Triangle? Any of the pattern of "devil's triangles" of lost shipping that grid the planet's surface? No. It's been pinpointed to a location approximately 1,000 miles due west of the southern tip of Chile, in the southern Pacific Ocean. Is there anything remarkable about this? Sure is. If you're familiar with H.P. Lovecraft's most famous short story, "The Call of Cthulhu," this is extremely close to the coordinates where the undersea god-monster lies sleeping ...
Lovecraft is the undisputed master of moody atmospheric horror, and many others have made the observation of the Bloop phenomenon seems tailor-made for his pen. I went through a phase where I read most of his short stories, and his strengths compensate his weaknesses (he doesn't know how to write how people really talk). I have a horror anthology that I may pick through during my down time this week and read one or two of his more obscure stuff. Oh, and since I first read of the Bloop on wikipedia last summer, an idea for a short fiction piece has been gestating in my mind. Once my original idea raises the hairs on the back of my neck, I'll start writing it.
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