It’s been one full week now since divers from the OceanX team descended from their ship Ancylus through the depths to investigate the strange circular anomaly 85 metres down on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. So what did they see down there, and why is there such a delay in making the information public?
Since arriving on site the team have released JUST one brief and tantalizing statement:
“2pm, The divers are now down and investigating the circle and reports from the ship say they are really amazed. There is definitely something unusual hiding at the seabed – a Mystery Beneath. More information and pictures will be released next week.”
Meanwhile thousands of members of the team’s Facebook group (who’ve been following since June 2011) have been patiently waiting while the information drought continues into it’s second week. Some not so patient individuals have resorted to being abusive and demanding, but the general mood seems to be quiet anticipation of the imminent news.
One Year Anniversary
A close inspection of the original sonar images taken from computer screenshots of the software reveals that the original date of the anomlay discovery was June 19th 2011. Could the team be holding off on the information release to have it co-incide with the 1 year anniversary of the initial find? That would give a release date of Tuesday 19th June (5 days from today).
After conducting a dive on the object last week, there seems to be no doubt that OceanX team already have reasonably good information on the nature of what is down there, even if they do not know specifically what the anomaly is. So then why the delay in the release of information to the public?
There are a number of hypothetical scenarios which it may be useful to consider here. What has to remembered first and foremost is that the return trip to the Baltic was at least part-financed by a Swedish television production company, so the normal rules of commercial interest apply. The OceanX team may not be in control of the date of information release. The timetable and format of information release may well be being dictated by the television company.
Scenario 1 – OceanX have a tiger by the tail. The object is extraterrestrial in origin or some sort of highly controversial find and therefore exclusive rights to the story are being negotiated behind closed doors delaying the release of the information.
Scenario 2 – Nothing to see here. The object is curious but is an entirely natural formation which when revealed will result in little or no media and public interest. Not a good thing if you are trying to maximise publicity and therefore keep the story “alive” for as long as possible. (This is highly unlikely on the grounds that the resultant negative publicity would probably do more damage than good).
Scenario 3 – Sensitivity of site. The object is man made, but is of a secretive nature, along the lines of a secret undersea facility or base or illegal nuclear dumping ground. Time taken to release details due to the sensitive nature of the site.
Scenario 4 – Purely scientific. No subtext to the delay, just that The OceanX team want to be as thorough and scientific as possible by documenting and collecting as much data as they can including pictures, samples, and more detailed sonar imagery before finally going public.
Scenario 5 – Media Embargo. There exists the possibility that media outlets have ALREADY been given the information and new images from the dive team but they are under an embargo until a specifically agreed date. This would allow time for the maximum media exposure and a co-ordinated release.
Obviously, this is not an exhaustive list of what could be going on behind the scenes, but it illustrates perfectly that there are some cases in which a premature release of information could potentially be undesirable, unprofessional or even politically sensitive.
Meanwhile….an intrigued and somewhat frustrated public awaits answers.