The Bloop
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:56 am
The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration several times during the summer of 1997. The source of the sound remains unknown. The sound, traced to somewhere around 50° S 100° W (South American southwest coast), was detected repeatedly by the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array, which uses U.S. Navy equipment originally designed to detect Soviet submarines. According to the NOAA description, it "rises rapidly in frequency over about one minute and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on multiple sensors, at a range of over 5,000 km." Though it matches the audio profile of a living creature, there is no known animal that could have produced the sound. If it is an animal it would have to be huge — much larger than even a Blue Whale, according to scientists who have studied the phenomenon. To date there has been no explanation as to what produced the sound. Further efforts to research the sound have been unsuccessful, because it has not been heard since 1997. Coincidentally, the geographic coordinates of the sound are somewhat close to those given by H.P. Lovecraft for the lost city of R'lyeh.