The "Bloop"

[FordSVT]

I've been reading H.P. Lovecraft recently, and while researching I came upon this.

"The Bloop".

What do you make of it? It was a "natural" sound with no apparent explanation.

Cthulhu calling?

 

[Brandonv]

Wikipedia
The site of the Bloop is remarkably close to the site of the fictional city of R'lyeh from H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu", where an ancient undersea monster (Cthulhu) lies sleeping. Lovecraft said that R'lyeh is located at 47°9′S, 123°43′W in the southern Pacific Ocean, with the bloop also being targeted somewhere in that range [1].
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop

Okay, now I'm scared.

 

[tharpdevenport]

http://www.bloopwatch.org/thebloop.html

 

[Goliath]

Maybe it was the sound of Cthulhu snoring, after he rolled onto his back?

 

[JustAFriend]

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."

Definitely sounds artificial. Probably US or Soviet Navy.

 

[FordSVT]

JustAFriend said:

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."

Definitely sounds artificial. Probably US or Soviet Navy.

They seem to have discounted that, unless it's some unknown technology. And as the article I linked to said, while the frequency itself is not impossible for a machine of some kind to emulate, it's the strength or loudness of the signal that tends to eliminate that possibility.

I think a freak distortion of a known species is the most likely candidate. An unknown species is a possibility, though what that would be (and why it hasn't been recorded again) is a mystery. I was also thinking maybe some kind of geological activity, but you'd think they would have found correlative data to support that.

Mysteries like this intrigue and serve to remind me that there are places on our own planet as unknown as outer space, and that's rather cool.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

Hehe, this reminds me of the legendary - in SETI circles, anyway - "Wow!" signal.

TGT

 

[Zachary Smith]

Rumor has it that the actual sound itself was a high-pitched, rapid series of yips that sounded somewhat like "RUB-RUB-RUB-RUB-RUB", which reportedly followed a mysterious, human-like voice that said something like "Wilma, I'm home!"

The noise of two heavy physical bodies colliding came after, accompanied by the sound of sloppy "licking" and a rapid intonation of "DOWNDINODOWN".

No one is quite sure what to make of it all.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Reminds me of what boat props sound like when one passes over a diver. No motor noise typical of the outboards and inboard/outboards that I've encountered when getting some bottom time, though.

Sounds artificial to me, but I'm no expert.

AG

 

[Spider]

Reminds me of an effects sound from an old 50s scifi movie.

 

[M'Sharak]

Spider said:
Reminds me of an effects sound from an old 50s scifi movie.

60s TV, actually.

 

[Spider]

M´Sharak said:

Spider said:
Reminds me of an effects sound from an old 50s scifi movie.

60s TV, actually.

Ah yes, Penny. I remember her well. I had a crush on her as a kid.

 

[Zachary Smith]

M´Sharak said:

Spider said:
Reminds me of an effects sound from an old 50s scifi movie.

60s TV, actually.

What exactly are they trying to suggest with the phrase, "The Dumbing Down of America"?

 

[M'Sharak]

You could follow the link back to their main page as easily as I could. Looks to me like a poorly-researched and -presented tirade, blaming somebody for something-or-other that probably ruined their life (or something -- it is not immediately clear whom, what, how or, for that matter, why, but there it is. Oh, the pain! )

I only used that one because it was the first page I found that had a decent image of Debbie the Bloop. (Well, as spider pointed out, there is a nice picture of Penny Robinson, too. )

 

[Agenda]

Re: The "Bloop"

I think this is really cool. When you slow it down, it sure sounds like a creature.

http://www.bloopwatch.org/bloop_realtime_nr.wav

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Re: The "Bloop"

So it can't be natural, because no species we've encountered makes this sound. It can't be artificial, because no human-made device makes this sound. But why is everyone excludes the most obvious possibility – it's artificial but it's not human-made?

 

[farmkid]

Re: The "Bloop"

Definitely sounds artificial. Probably US or Soviet Navy.

They seem to have discounted that, unless it's some unknown technology. And as the article I linked to said, while the frequency itself is not impossible for a machine of some kind to emulate, it's the strength or loudness of the signal that tends to eliminate that possibility.

I think a freak distortion of a known species is the most likely candidate. An unknown species is a possibility, though what that would be (and why it hasn't been recorded again) is a mystery. I was also thinking maybe some kind of geological activity, but you'd think they would have found correlative data to support that.

I don't know about that. If it's too loud for any man-made object to have made, I can't see how a creature could have made it. There can't possibly be any creature capable of a higher energy output than anything man can make. Just think of the largest, most powerful machines made and the energy produced by them...then the size of an animal required to produce the same amount of energy.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Re: The "Bloop"

I think this is really cool. When you slow it down, it sure sounds like a creature.

http://www.bloopwatch.org/bloop_realtime_nr.wav

Good lord, was it necessary to bump a four-year-old thread for this?

 

[Sephiroth]

Re: The "Bloop"

up from the depths, 30 stories high, breathing fire, his head in the sky, GODZILLA! GODZILLA!

 

[Blip]

Re: The "Bloop"

Feh, it's just my cousin.