On July 20th, the so-called Ocean X Team will be launching their third expedition to explore and analyze an anomaly on the floor of the Baltic Sea such as they have never seen before. And it just so happens to look like the Millennium Falcon.

Peter Linberg and Dennis Asberg joined their diving forces in the mid-90s to create a Stockholm company called Sweden Ocean Explorer. They, however, call themselves the much more awesome (superhero-esque) name, Ocean X Team, and they scour the seven seas (or, at least, the Baltic Sea) for sunken treasures.

On 19th June 2011, they found something so unique, that it gave them pause. An object they describe as an “anomaly” showed up on their high-tech sonar scans. Why was it an anomaly? The round object had curious 90 degree angles and straight walls – very unlike most natural sea structures. The divers described the texture as being very similar to concrete…or solidified merengue apparently.

The circular object is 197 feet (60 meters) in diameter. By measurements in Wookiepedia, this puts it at about double the size of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon. So perhaps not Han Solo’s vessel…

Nevertheless, the object is still of great interest. There’s a track behind it, almost like it slid into position. A second, similarly bizzare anomalous object was found 600 feet away, suggesting a possible link. Also, a circle of approximately 25-30 stones were positioned in a sort of fireplace arrangement on top of it – not a particularly common arrangement for stones underwater.

The entire object sits perched atop a champagne cork-shaped pillar. There was also a strange hole somewhere on the object, of which they’ve only got a glimpse from a camera on a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) so far. They hope to find and examine it more closely on the mission later this month. What I find most incredible (magical) are the (what I’m calling magic) black rocks that are mysteriously (magically) free of silt – unlike all the rocks around it (because they’re magic mermaid stones).

It’s all very curious down this watery rabbit hole but there isn’t nearly enough data yet to draw any conclusions about what any of it is, where it came from or how it came to be. However, one can speculate.

Even putting aside notions of the Star Wars universe being real, there are some fantastical explanations that rise from the over active imagination: lost relics of a forgotten civilization, long since buried in a great flood – Atlantis anyone?

Or perhaps down a more conspiratorial route; an abandoned secret space-flight initiative by the Russian government? Did I mention the rocks, when tested, actually had 20 times more radiation than normal (conveniently explained by the fact that the waters in the area were affected by Chernobyl – perhaps all part of the conspiracy?).

Or maybe (and this is the one I’m going with) it is the remains of the home of mystical mermaids, who were driven to extinction by horny, drunken sailors who raped and murdered them in the mad desperation for food and sex that came from the long sailing expeditions of the past.

There are many (totally plausible) explanations, but no definitive answers yet. We shall simply have to wait for the fancy technology from Ocean X Team to uncover the mysteries after the July 20th expedition.

Here’s an interview on The Unexplained with Howard Hughes:

And here’s some news from Dennis (skip to 36.14 for the English) who makes sure to tell you they have not said it’s a UFO:

I’m quite sure it’s mermaids, but we will see.

[Via EarthFiles]