Unidentified submerged object

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An unidentified submerged object, or USO, is any object or optical or mechanical detection phenomenon of unknown origin observed under water that remains unidentified even after thorough investigation.[citation needed] This particular use of the acronym should not be confused with USO, the popular abbreviation of the United Services Organization. The maritime analog to UFOs, or unidentified flying objects, unidentified submerged objects are often seen by those who study unidentified flying objects as a related phenomenon (ufologists). Likewise, many sightings of USOs constituting "typical" UFOs emerging from the water are seen as a subset of the latter rather than of the former. Although identifying unidentified flying objects and dispelling mistaken ideas about them has typically been important to the military as a national security issue, the comparatively rare USO sightings have not been reported as national security threats nor resulted in the sort of sensation that UFO sightings have often caused.

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[edit] USOs and ice

Unidentified submerged objects are occasionally reputed to have flown into and out of bodies of water that are choked with heavy ice coverings as if the ice presents no barrier whatsoever.[1] After these reports, large holes have been observed that do not appear marked by catastrophic impact. Some have proposed that these USOs possess the ability to melt ice at speed of transit. Examples of this have occurred in Norway, Sweden, and Russia, where these objects have been reported flying into and out of the water in the area.[2]

[edit] Shag Harbour

In 1967, a UFO was reported crashing into Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia. The craft was reported to be about 60 feet (18 m) long. It was reported to have been hovering and flashing orange lights, then it tilted at about a 45-degree angle and entered the water. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were notified about the incident. A yellow light was reported in the water moving and leaving a trail of yellow foam. The Canadian Coast Guard was dispatched but by the time they arrived along with other vessels at the point of entry the yellow foam was all that remained. Every conventional explanation was explored including that of downed aircraft. However, all flights in the area were accounted for and the divers found nothing.

[edit] Other reports

  • In May 1958 (17 days), in October 1959 (five days) and January 1960 (24 days) in Golfo Nuevo (Argentina), on each occasion an unidentified submarine was hunted by up to 14 Argentine warships (including an aircraft carrier) as well as over 30 navy planes. The submarines, though audible and occasionally visible to the naked eye, could not be triangulated by sonar, sonar buoys, hydrophones or radar. Despite intense bombing and depth-charging by the most up-to-date US explosives, torpedoes and naval gunfire, it proved impossible to damage or sink the submarines, and the hunt was abandoned on each occasion without success. Capt. Ray M Pitts, the leader of the U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare team involved in the third hunt, confirmed afterwards that it had been a definite submarine, but he was prevented from saying more. Some sailors and eyewitnesses described it as a Type XXI U-boat developed by the German Navy 15 years earlier.[3][4][5][6]
  • In 1966, an Australian banana farmer witnessed a USO emerge from a nearby swamp[7]
  • In 1967, a fleet of Brazilian ships was followed by a submerged USO for several minutes[8]
  • Since the late 1980s, there have been many sightings of USOs around the Lake District, UK. Most notably, a sighting in 1994 at Derwent Water of two USOs.[citation needed] It lasted almost five minutes and was observed by 22 people. The area now receives regular USO sightings (perhaps one a year), as well as numerous UFO sightings in the surrounding areas. The most recent UFO sighting was in January 2006, and the most recent USO sighting in December 2004.
  • In Sweden in 1999, a supposed USO crashed into a lake, with spectators nearby[9]

[edit] USOs in popular culture

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Sanderson, Ivan (1970). Invisible Residents. Cleveland, Ohio: World Press. 

[edit] External links

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