One summer in 2011, a team of divers set out on what they thought would be a routine expedition in the northernmost part of the Baltic Sea. They were searching for lost shipwrecks, hoping to find something valuable beneath the waves. But their sonar picked up something unexpected instead of sunken treasure—a massive, circular shape resting on the ocean floor. It looked nothing like a shipwreck, and its size and shape defied explanation.
Since that day, every attempt to uncover the truth about this mysterious object has only led to more confusion. What lies beneath the cold, dark water? And why does it seem to resist all efforts to get close?
The OceanX Crew Gets to the Baltic Sea Anomaly Site
The journey to the site had not been easy. The waves were high, the wind was strong, and the ship had struggled against the rough waters. By the time they finally arrived at the right location, the crew was exhausted. But there was no time to rest. A storm was moving in, and they had already burned through more fuel than planned. If they wanted to investigate, they had to do it quickly.
On the deck, workers hurried to prepare the remotely operated vehicle or ROV. This robotic submarine would be their eyes beneath the sea, sending back video footage from the ocean floor. Below deck, Peter Lindberg and Dennis Åberg sat in front of the sonar monitors, watching intently. They needed to be sure they were in the right place before lowering the ROV into the water.
For a few tense minutes, nothing appeared on the screen. Then, at last, something took shape in the darkness. A familiar pair of large, curved forms emerged from the static, standing out against the smooth seabed. They had found it. But there was no time for relief or celebration. The storm was getting closer. They had to act fast.
A call came from above. The ROV was in the water.
Inside the control room, the team gathered around the screen, waiting for the first images to appear. The room fell silent as the video feed flickered to life. At first, there was only darkness. The water was thick with sediment, making it hard to see more than a few meters ahead. The ROV’s twin spotlights struggled to cut through the murky gloom. The depth counter on the monitor climbed slowly.
As the drone descended past 70 meters, something large appeared in the distance. A blurry, uneven shape rested on the seabed. As the ROV moved closer, its outline sharpened. The edges of the formation began to connect, forming the unmistakable shape of a perfect circle.
Then, just as the depth gauge hit 80 meters, everything went wrong.
The drone’s compass started spinning wildly. The numbers on the screen flickered and jumped. The video feed suddenly cut to black.
Everything had happened so suddenly that the crew had no time to react. Above deck, a voice shouted that the ROV’s control line had gotten caught on something. Panic set in. The controller shook his head. He had no readings. The drone’s instruments had failed, and no one knew what was happening to it.
Minutes passed in agonizing silence. Then, without warning, the screen lit up again.
The crew froze.
There, directly in front of the ROV, stood something that should not have been there. A staircase.
baltic sea anomaly official sonar that was released
Wide stone steps, carved from what looked like solid rock, rose out of the seabed. It was impossible. There was no reason for something like this to exist at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
Onboard the ship, strange things began to happen. Systems flickered off and on. Instruments failed, then restarted on their own. No one had an explanation.
The team documented as much as they could, capturing every detail on video. Then, with the storm closing in, the order was given to bring the drone back.
Who is OceanX?
OceanX (not affiliated to Elon) was a Swedish maritime expedition company best known for uncovering lost wrecks hidden beneath the sea. They had first made headlines in 1992 when they located the remains of an American B-17 bomber, a relic of the past resting deep off Sweden’s eastern coast. Encouraged by their success, they began combing through historical records, searching for ships and aircraft that had vanished without a trace.
By the summer of 2011, the OceanX team had turned their focus to the Gulf of Bothnia, a vast and frigid stretch of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Finland. They aimed to locate valuable shipwrecks using sonar grid scans, mapping the seabed in precise detail. The work was slow and methodical, but they knew that patience often led to discovery.
Then, on one particular scan, something unexpected appeared on their monitors.
Resting on the seabed, nearly 300 feet below the surface, was a massive circular formation. It was unlike anything they had seen before. The sonar image revealed a shape too symmetrical to be a natural rock formation, yet it did not resemble any known shipwreck or ocean-going vessel. It lay far from established shipping routes, in a place where nothing should have been.
A render of the Baltic Sea anomaly
The team’s excitement was immediate, but reality soon set in. They were not equipped to dive at that depth. The best they could do was gather their initial data and return home, where they could study the sonar imagery in greater detail.
As they zoomed in on the scans, more strange details emerged. But for every new detail they uncovered, the mystery only deepened. The crew left, but they were determined to return.
OceanX Returns to the Baltic Sea Anomaly Site
Determined to get a clearer picture, the OceanX team returned to the site the following year. The coordinaets of the Baltic Sea Anomaly is 61°22’36.0″N 18°26’54.0″E. This time, they brought improved sonar equipment and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), hoping to capture detailed images of the structure. Peter Lindberg and Dennis Åberg, the founders of OceanX, had expected their return expedition to provide them with answers. Instead, it only deepened the mystery. But almost as soon as they began, they ran into unexpected complications. Any electronic device that came near the object would suddenly fail. ROVs sent down to scan the formation lost power without explanation. Satellite phones, fully charged just moments before, were found drained of energy. Even the ship’s sonar began experiencing interference, rendering their scans useless.
The object they had discovered on the ocean floor was enormous, measuring roughly 200 feet across. It bore no resemblance to any shipwreck they had encountered before. Across its surface, strange markings and grooves created patterns that almost seemed intentional, as if forming the blueprint of corridors and rooms. Behind it, a 1,000-foot-long stretch of sand lay completely flattened, as if something had once slid across the seabed before coming to rest in its final position.
It really seems like a ship that has crash-landed. especially with the trail behind it.
Despite these setbacks, the team pressed on. When their technology failed, they relied on more traditional methods. Divers were sent down to examine the structure firsthand. As they explored, they found details that only fueled further speculation. The grooves and striations on its surface seemed too precise to be natural. At various points along the object, they discovered perfectly round holes drilled into the rock. Some sections resembled staircases, rising from one level to another, while a domed formation jutted out from the main structure like a command center.
The mysteries did not end there. Surrounding the main object, divers uncovered a collection of rectangular stone blocks and monoliths, each with unnaturally sharp edges. Some of these formations appeared to be embedded deep into the seabed, suggesting the presence of underground passageways or hidden structures beneath them. The more the team documented, the less sense any of it made. Eventually, with equipment continuing to fail and conditions worsening, the expedition was forced to conclude.
Before leaving, the team gathered samples of the materials they had found. When these samples were later analyzed by experts at Stockholm University, the results sparked even more debate. The object was primarily composed of basalt, a volcanic rock. Yet, no known volcanic activity had occurred in this part of the Baltic Sea for over a billion years. The anomaly’s composition, combined with its inexplicable location and structure, left scientists divided on its origin.
What could the Baltic Sea Anomaly Be?
Without a definitive explanation, theories quickly spread. Some believed the object was proof of extraterrestrial visitors, its circular shape resembling that of a classic flying saucer. The flattened path behind it hinted at a crash landing, while the domed section could be interpreted as a cockpit. These ideas gained traction in tabloids and sensational reports, but they failed to account for one crucial detail: the anomaly contained no metal. If this was a spacecraft, it had been built entirely from stone, an unlikely choice for an advanced civilization.
Others leaned toward a different theory. The presence of tunnels, staircases, and carefully arranged structures suggested human involvement. Could this be evidence of a long-lost civilization, one capable of building vast stone monuments now buried beneath the sea? Some compared it to sites like Stonehenge, speculating that it might have served as a place of worship or as a gateway to another realm. The idea of Atlantis resurfaced, fueling speculation that the Baltic Sea had once harbored a thriving, ancient society before being swallowed by rising waters.
Yet another possibility placed the object in a more recent historical context. Some suggested it could be the remains of a secret Nazi military installation from World War II. The markings on its surface could indicate hallways and rooms, making it the possible remains of an abandoned bunker or observation post. Its ability to interfere with electronic signals seemed almost too deliberate to be natural, leading to theories that it might have been an experimental anti-shipping weapon, a communications hub, or even a supply base that was never completed.
Were those stairs or… engine exhausts?
While these dramatic theories captivated the public imagination, skeptics offered more grounded explanations. Some suggested the formation was nothing more than a geological oddity, a rock formation shaped by time, ice, and water movement. Others argued it could be debris that had fallen from a passing ship centuries ago. A more extreme suggestion was that the entire discovery was a hoax, fabricated by the OceanX team to generate media attention. According to this line of thought, the blurry sonar images had either been misinterpreted or deliberately altered to stir excitement.
Whatever the truth may be, the Baltic Sea anomaly continues to baffle researchers, explorers, and theorists alike. For now, it remains untouched on the ocean floor, its secrets hidden beneath layers of cold, dark water. As technology advances, future expeditions may one day provide the answers that have eluded everyone so far. But there is always the possibility that the closer we get to understanding it, the more questions we will have.
If you like this, I suggest my blog on The Mystery of the MS Babel ship. Until next time, take care.
