The Baltic Phenomenon

THE BALTIC ANOMALY

“All things, are full of gods.” –Proclus

“The irrational is not necessarily unreasonable nor the incommensurable incomprehensible.” – Patrick Harpur, Daimonic Reality

Indeed. It’s not often that I get genuinely excited by something in the news. Rarely am I struck-dumb, giddy, or overwhelmed by a story. Oddly enough, I had read blurbs about the so-called Baltic Anomaly for weeks. ‘Believers’ were calling it the best UFO evidence since Roswell. There was wild yapping about a submerged ship or even Atlantis. I wasn’t buying into the bullshit. I knew better. The whole bit reeked of a janky, probably bourbon-soaked sea captain screeching through a fit of the bends that he’d found some goddamn saucer. I deemed it about as believable as ‘the face on mars’ or a unicorn.

And then it happened. It was bewildering-like being blasted with soft-ball size hail. I received a text message from somebody my phone could only identify as Mr. Swillers. Feeling uppity, I stared at the message

            All things, are full of gods.

After a couple of minutes of waiting for something else to happen, maybe another message or a sudden explosion, I slowly and deliberately put the phone away. Hours passed without another message, until finally, just as I began to feel safe, Mr. Swillers came calling at 3:33 am. This time the message was:

                        You can’t dance with discord.

Paralyzed in those few stunned minutes before the onset of something hysterical, I shot back, “Who is this?!” Without delay, the phone lit up with:

You’re not wanted in the Baltic. All trespassers will be shot on sight. – Mr. Swillers

I stared in horror at the phone till I was sure no other jolts from the beyond were forthcoming then I phoned my editor in a rage. “You dirty bastard!” I screamed. “How dare you call my home at three am?!” I heard the thump that signaled the poor bastard had fallen out of bed then a snarl on the other end of the line. “What the hell are you talking about- you crazy dumbass?” I paused because I knew he was telling the truth. He hadn’t made the call. It wouldn’t have even occurred to him to make a call of that nature. Not because he was polite or good-natured but because he cared so little about me or the deadline that it was a non-issue. If he had called, it wouldn’t be cryptic or mysterious. I had been contacted by somebody or something else. This Baltic situation was getting heavy. What didn’t they want me to know? What was the secret? And who is this rotten Mr. Swillers?

            I dashed over and jumped on the interweb to glean something of this Baltic nonsense. The more I read the more I began to recognize dimensions and details that reminded me of archaeological methodology. Something approaching the truth was being revealed. There seemed to be not just something there but something magnificent. Suddenly I felt that child-like wonder; those few fleeting moments of inspiration that sometimes-if experienced just right- map out an adult life. It was the mystery again. Artist renditions of whatever rests on the sea-floor became something tangible and real. And there was trepidation as well. What if it is an alien craft? What world would then be reality? Are they gods? Dennis Aasberg was right when he remarked,

“When we went out and saw the walls which were straight and smooth, it was frightening, as in a science-fiction film.”

            It’s still difficult to believe. A completely circular plate-like structure with a 180 meter circumference and 4 meter thick dome on top that rises 40 feet above the seabed is something reminiscent of Ridley Scott or Arthur C. Clarke. Nevermind the visible formations on top of the object that are set at 90 degree angles and strangely resemble a staircase. Or the stone circles i.e. “fireplaces” of burnt looking stone a few inches in diameter that are aligned like pearls in a necklace. The possibility of this being merely a UFO now just seems trivial. We still haven’t got all the pieces and even if we had, putting them in a correct sequence will take months. We’re in it now for the long-haul. Ocean Explorer co-founder Aasberg described during a Swedish radio interview some “features which seem to indicate that the object is man made, or perhaps a natural formation that has been altered or engineered.” (http://ufo-sightings.co/latest-news.com)

            Furthermore, there is a long runway or “skidmarks” on the sea-floor leading to the object. And 200 meters away is a second anomaly that also has a sort of runway. The atmosphere of inquiry is now divided between the initial UFO theory, some lost archaeological treasure or a Pillow Basalt rock formation. But nobody really knows. And the OceanX team isn’t saying much. Needless to say, high-powered ocean teams are now following the White Rabbit down into the Baltic.

            We’re diving into some strange nuances as OceanX discusses some of what happened down there. There is no question that strange things accompany sea adventures. Like blasting into space, the deep has a reality all its own. Stories about whirlpools, Bermuda Triangles, Ghost Ships, and USOs saturate this form of folklore. And, frankly, OceanX is also reporting that things went sideways as they descended the 260 ft to the anomaly. The team remarked that a primary objective was to film the object but when they got close, cameras stopped working. And Aasberg wondered: “Why isn’t anything working, anything electric out there and the satellite phone as well stopped working when we were above the object and then we got away about 200 meters and it turned on again and when we got back over the object it didn’t work [sic] so that’s kind of strange. Portentous is perhaps the right word when considering an anomalous something that behaves as though it is equipped with an EMP shield. The folklorists are used to this sort of narrative but what do you tell the scientists? And how long before the government makes the whole mess disappear?

            Not everybody is doing handstands and babbling about the success of the OceanX mission. There is a vocal minority that regard the entire find as stupid and probably a scam. Jonathan Hill, a researcher at the Mars Space Flight Facility at ASU howled that, “Whenever people make extraordinary claims, it’s always a good idea to consider for a moment whether they are personally benefiting from the claim or if it’s a truly objective observation.” He went on to warn: “Peter Lindberg either has let his imagination run wild or has an ulterior motive.” Hill brings up a reasonable point. If it turns out that OceanX is already peddling bootleg low-grade video copies of the expedition or planning for the Lifetime TV movie then something is very amiss. In the context of discovery, the Baltic Anomaly should be an open invitation to multidisciplinary study. Geologists, Archaeologists, and Oceanographers are just a few of the academic milieus to find interest in the anomaly. If we spice up the pot with some folklorists, engineers, and artists, we have the makings for an outrageous and/or horrid network.

            Aside from the academics and professionals falling all over themselves to find an inscription of impending doom or some jangled alien script, internet bloggers are also weighing-in on the Baltic phenomenon. One Blogger quoted

…The furnace-like rock formation on top of that which constitutes the large circle was discovered with a scanner tool last year. Divers images show that the circle in turn consists of several blocks formed by “rolls” or “mushrooms” that are attached to each other, forming the circle…(www.overclock.net)

The responses are where this thread gets particularly interesting:

Dylan33p- Heh- no UFO. Seems like they are hinting that the rocks might not be a natural formation. 6-15-2012

Dph314- Damn. Was hoping to see some little grey guys down there that had a bit of engine trouble. 6-15-2012

Stealth Pyros- It’s false, they’re hiding the true findings. *tinfoil hat. They found and extracted the UFO already. Maybe not the same team, the government had MANY months to do this after the discovery, before the team finally went back there. In hindsight, we should have totally expected this. 6-15-2012

Marin- I’m not saying its aliens, but its aliens.

            In only a few sentences, these four savvy writers have touched upon every supernatural or UFO folklore theme. We have lost civilizations, little grey men, and distrust of the government. Somewhere this strange collection of motifs are the tentacles of a giant sea-monster bashing its way through Nessie and any other piece of sea-lore. And I’ll tell you why. Rarely, and I mean once in a blue moon does an event happen that captures the minds and hearts of popular culture. It happened at Roswell and at Area 51 but the Baltic Anomaly is different. The romance of the mystery has led not just to UFO speculation but to a myriad of folkloric forms. This won’t end in a hurry. There are too many places to move and too many trajectories it could take. Trying to pinpoint where the Baltic Anomaly will eventually land is a mystery that will leave a massive crater. In a year’s time, perhaps we’ll know the how’s and why’s. Till then, we can only watch while this underwater spectacle streaks through the sky.