We’re not saying it’s aliens, but a team of scientists has just discovered a glowing purple orb at the bottom of the ocean, and if you’ve ever seen The Abyss, I think you know how this will end.
Our new overlord, blobus purpilis. Image: YouTube/Nautilus
A scientific research vessel operated by Ocean Exploration Trust, E/V Nautilus is currently parked off the coast of Southern California exploring one of the most tectonically active margins of our planet. Earlier this week, Naultilus‘s deep sea-diving ROV was scuttling around on the seafloor when it spied what appeared to be a bright purple jelly sac, several centimetres in diameter.
After some delightfully nerdy speculation regarding the nature of said blob — I think cnidarian, spider egg sac and ‘blobus purpilis‘ were tossed out — the scientists operating Nautilus’ undersea robot decided to suck the thing up and bring it back to the surface for scientific analysis. If it turns out to be a brand new life form, it could take years to identify.
Alternatively, the entire Nautilus crew might have already been compromised by a sentient alien parasite, a hypothesis which would seem to be supported by their last uncanny update: “After sampling, [the blob] began to unfold to reveal two distinct lobes.”
We’ll let you decide what happened next.
[Nautilus]