Quacker (sound)
Encyclopedia
Quackers are mysterious sounds, similar to a frog noise, widely reported by the crews of Soviet Navy
submarines from various parts of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans
during the peak of the Cold War
, as well as their assumed sources. They are an example of Unidentified Submerged Objects.
, when Soviet ballistic missile submarine
s went to patrol northern seas, their crews started reporting the mysterious frog-like sounds, which soon were dubbed "quackers", from the Russian rendition of a frog noise. These sounds appeared when submarine
s passed certain zones in the sea and behaved as if they were emitted by some moving underwater object that failed to register on the active sonar. When the sub left their "patrol zone", the objects disappeared after emitting one final "quack".
These objects exhibited behavior not unlike some living being or manned vessel, showing obvious interest in the passing submarine, circling around it, trying to actively avoid sonar pulses, and so on. The speed of some of these objects (estimated from Doppler shift of their sound frequency) was in the range of 200 km/h, much higher than any then-known man-made vessel. Contact
was attempted on several occasions, but, apart from some obvious reactions to these attempts (such as changing the pitch of the sounds or movement of the apparent sound source), nothing came of it.
The peak of quacker observations occurred at the end of the 1970s, when the areas where the sounds appeared started to multiply and spread over from the Barents Sea
to other areas including the North Sea
and the North Atlantic in general. The Soviet Academy of Sciences was invited to create a joint commission with the representatives of the Navy, as this phenomenon was identified as a potential national security risk. This commission worked for about a decade, but despite extensive investigations results remained inconclusive, and it was eventually disbanded. In the 1980s the phenomenon slowly faded, and now quackers may have disappeared completely.
activity.
these mysterious happenings greatly affected the morale of submarine crews, and as such were seen as direct threats, even if they exhibited no hostile intent. It was initially believed that these sounds were sonar pulses from American fixed sonar barrages, analogous to passive SOSUS
network. However, it soon became apparent that their sources were mobile and active, so they were then believed to be small tracking subs, deployed to keep an eye over Soviet boats' movements.
Some experts are said to hold this opinion to this day, although apparent speed, mobility, and noise level of these "subs" (that are moving absolutely silently and could be only identified by their "quacks") are still unmatched for any known man-made vessel. They also failed to be observed by active sonars, despite numerous efforts, also casting doubts on their human origin. Also, while such technology appears at least hypothetically possible for current engineering and manufacturing techniques, the cost of it seems to be prohibitively high, even for the most affluent nations like the U.S.
's mating calls, which sound rather similar, but orcas usually mate on the surface or close to it, while quackers were always observed at depths of no less than 200 m. Other cetaceans were also proposed as a candidate, both living and extinct, such as the ancient somewhat snake-like whale Basilosaurus
. Basilosaurs are of special interest to cryptozoologists, who propose that they are somehow still alive, and sea serpent
s of marine lore are true sightings of these animals. Their purported habitat also roughly matched areas of quackers observations.
Another animal that could be responsible for it would be some type of giant squid
of the Architeuthidae family. That would explain the quackers' active behaviour, as squids are known to possess a high level of intelligence and could possibly mistake subs for their eternal rivals, sperm whale
s. They are also deep-sea creatures, and are reported to have mobility matching some of the quackers. Being cephalopod
s, they also lack rigid internal skeleton
, and that might contribute to their invisibility to sonars. However, squids do possess an internal shell remnant known as a gladius or pen. Squids also do not have lungs or vocal folds, and so might be unable to emit sound underwater, as a whale or dolphin (both mammalian) could.
These hypotheses, however, fail to account for the dynamic of the phenomenon, which slowly started in the mid-60s, grew in frequency and area through the 70s, when quackers' "patrol zones" began to appear as far as around Greenland
. While they were originally observed only in the Barents Sea
, they slowly faded out in the 80s disappeared by the end of century. Matching this in living animals requires enormous behavioral changes to happen species-wide and almost immediately, no less than two times, which is unheard of in modern biology.
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
submarines from various parts of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
during the peak of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, as well as their assumed sources. They are an example of Unidentified Submerged Objects.
Story
During the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, when Soviet ballistic missile submarine
Ballistic missile submarine
A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...
s went to patrol northern seas, their crews started reporting the mysterious frog-like sounds, which soon were dubbed "quackers", from the Russian rendition of a frog noise. These sounds appeared when submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s passed certain zones in the sea and behaved as if they were emitted by some moving underwater object that failed to register on the active sonar. When the sub left their "patrol zone", the objects disappeared after emitting one final "quack".
These objects exhibited behavior not unlike some living being or manned vessel, showing obvious interest in the passing submarine, circling around it, trying to actively avoid sonar pulses, and so on. The speed of some of these objects (estimated from Doppler shift of their sound frequency) was in the range of 200 km/h, much higher than any then-known man-made vessel. Contact
First contact (anthropology)
First contact is a term describing the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another. One notable example of first contact is that between the Spanish and the Arawak in 1492....
was attempted on several occasions, but, apart from some obvious reactions to these attempts (such as changing the pitch of the sounds or movement of the apparent sound source), nothing came of it.
The peak of quacker observations occurred at the end of the 1970s, when the areas where the sounds appeared started to multiply and spread over from the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
to other areas including the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and the North Atlantic in general. The Soviet Academy of Sciences was invited to create a joint commission with the representatives of the Navy, as this phenomenon was identified as a potential national security risk. This commission worked for about a decade, but despite extensive investigations results remained inconclusive, and it was eventually disbanded. In the 1980s the phenomenon slowly faded, and now quackers may have disappeared completely.
Proposed explanations
There never was much consensus about the nature and origin of these sounds, and the only hard fact about them is that they existed. Official reports of the commission remains classified to the present day, even if it was known that it never reached a conclusion. Several hypotheses were proposed, but none reached full acceptance, as they all failed to account for at least some of the phenomenon's properties. The three main ideas about the origin of this phenomenon propose some secret new technology developed by the US or NATO, an unknown marine animal or extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
activity.
Secret technology
This was the most popular hypothesis explaining this phenomenon. During the height of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
these mysterious happenings greatly affected the morale of submarine crews, and as such were seen as direct threats, even if they exhibited no hostile intent. It was initially believed that these sounds were sonar pulses from American fixed sonar barrages, analogous to passive SOSUS
SOSUS
SOSUS, an acronym for Sound Surveillance System, is a chain of underwater listening posts across the northern Atlantic Ocean near Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom — the GIUK gap. It was originally operated by the United States Navy for tracking Soviet submarines, which had to pass...
network. However, it soon became apparent that their sources were mobile and active, so they were then believed to be small tracking subs, deployed to keep an eye over Soviet boats' movements.
Some experts are said to hold this opinion to this day, although apparent speed, mobility, and noise level of these "subs" (that are moving absolutely silently and could be only identified by their "quacks") are still unmatched for any known man-made vessel. They also failed to be observed by active sonars, despite numerous efforts, also casting doubts on their human origin. Also, while such technology appears at least hypothetically possible for current engineering and manufacturing techniques, the cost of it seems to be prohibitively high, even for the most affluent nations like the U.S.
Unidentified marine animal
Marine animals are another proposed source of these sounds and now are viewed as the most probable hypothesis. At first, it was ascribed to the orcaOrca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
's mating calls, which sound rather similar, but orcas usually mate on the surface or close to it, while quackers were always observed at depths of no less than 200 m. Other cetaceans were also proposed as a candidate, both living and extinct, such as the ancient somewhat snake-like whale Basilosaurus
Basilosaurus
Basilosaurus is a genus of cetacean that lived from in the Late Eocene. Its fossilized remains were first discovered in the southern United States . The American fossils were initially believed to be some sort of reptile, hence the suffix -"saurus", but later found to be a marine mammal...
. Basilosaurs are of special interest to cryptozoologists, who propose that they are somehow still alive, and sea serpent
Sea serpent
A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of sea monster either wholly or partly serpentine.Sightings of sea serpents have been reported for hundreds of years, and continue to be claimed today. Cryptozoologist Bruce Champagne identified more than 1,200 purported sea serpent sightings...
s of marine lore are true sightings of these animals. Their purported habitat also roughly matched areas of quackers observations.
Another animal that could be responsible for it would be some type of giant squid
Giant squid
The giant squid is a deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae, represented by as many as eight species...
of the Architeuthidae family. That would explain the quackers' active behaviour, as squids are known to possess a high level of intelligence and could possibly mistake subs for their eternal rivals, sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
s. They are also deep-sea creatures, and are reported to have mobility matching some of the quackers. Being cephalopod
Cephalopod
A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda . These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles modified from the primitive molluscan foot...
s, they also lack rigid internal skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
, and that might contribute to their invisibility to sonars. However, squids do possess an internal shell remnant known as a gladius or pen. Squids also do not have lungs or vocal folds, and so might be unable to emit sound underwater, as a whale or dolphin (both mammalian) could.
These hypotheses, however, fail to account for the dynamic of the phenomenon, which slowly started in the mid-60s, grew in frequency and area through the 70s, when quackers' "patrol zones" began to appear as far as around Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. While they were originally observed only in the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
, they slowly faded out in the 80s disappeared by the end of century. Matching this in living animals requires enormous behavioral changes to happen species-wide and almost immediately, no less than two times, which is unheard of in modern biology.
Extraterrestrials
Extraterrestrial activities were also proposed as an explanation, but this claim was already quite dubious in the 1960s, so it received the least attention of all three major ideas. No evidence were collected towards this end. The said conjectures are patrol-like pattern of quacker behavior, as if they tried to protect their underwater base, their active interest in the submarines, and mobility unmatched by human vessels. Dynamics of their observation would also match the life-cycle of a large Cold War monitoring project that was eventually closed as tensions dropped and nuclear exchange became less and less probable.External links
- НЛО: Происшествия на Земле on Secret Planet
- Weblog about UFO
- Призраки со дна океана
- Необычное вокруг нас on Sci-Lib.com