天外來客——不明水下飛行物

USB:The Underwater UFO?

Many people know about reports of UFO sightings—strange objects that fly through the air of our planet. Only through the air? It is remarkable that most parts of our world are covered with water and that there is some evidence that UFOs also use this \"matter\" to move to most places of the planet without being seen by anyone. If a UFO moves beneath the sea， we call it a USO—an unidentified submarine1) object.

很多人聽說過有關UFO——在地球上空飛行的奇異物體——的目擊報道。UFO只現身于空中嗎?值得注意的是，地球表面的大部分區域都被海水所覆蓋，且有證據表明UFO同樣會利用這一“介質”去往世界上的絕大多數地方而不為任何人所知。當UFO在海面下出沒時，我們就稱它為“USO”——不明水下物體。

In Ancient Times

Just like UFO， sightings of its underwater equivalent2) go back to the dawn of civilization. Indeed the cultures of ancient Mesopotamia believed they derived3) all their learning from beings that emerged from the sea. In 329 BC， Alexander the Great \"told\" people via his historian， that he saw flying objects \"as shiny shields4) flying into and out of a large river in India.\" People of Norway also reported a flaming object that descended from the sky and went into the sea in 1067 AD.

One of the most famous cases of USO sightings came from Christopher Columbus5). His log recorded that at 10:00 pm on Oct. 11， 1491， his ship Santa Maria was passing through a deep part of the Atlantic， which we now call the Bermuda Triangle， when his crew saw unearthly lights flashing near the bottom of the ocean. Then the crew of the Santa Maria saw a disk shaped object rising up out of the water. The craft then erupted from the surface of the water and took off into the night sky. This was not an isolated incident for Columbus and his crew. They reported many sightings of unidentified craft all throughout a two month period at sea.

In Modern Times

Modern times have witnessed more cases about such strange submarine objects. And there are more USO sighting reports than most of us know. Below are some famous ones.

Aug. 1， 1904 Reported in the Philadelphia Enquirer， a British cargo ship， the Mohican， while on route to Philadelphia became enveloped in a strange metallic vapor that glowed like phosphorus6). Then an object flew over the sea and hovered near the ship， which brought the ship to a standstill. The captain reported that while the unidentified object was near， their compass needle was spinning as fast as an electric motor. Then the USO plunged into the ocean and the Mohican's instruments began to function as normal.

Mar.， 1963When U.S. Navy submarines were exercising off the coast of Puerto Rico， their sonar7) systems indicated an unidentified submerged object traveling well below them. The object was traveling at speeds of over 150 knots8)， and U.S. personnel were also astonished at the depth at which the USO was moving. The object was over 20，000 feet under the ocean. A typical \"crush\" depth for a submarine9) is 7，000 feet， but this object was exceeding the technical capabilities of all subs， even those of today.

Oct. 4， 1967This incident in Shag Harbor， Nova Scotia， Canada， has been called the most highly significant USO sighting to date. At approximately 11:45 pm on October 4， 1967， eyewitnesses noticed lights come down from the sky and enter the water at a 45 degree angle. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers witnessed this event from shore and searched the water until 3:00 a.m. The strange craft rested on the sea bed. Several days later， another craft came and joined the first one. They together broke the water's surface and flew off into the sky. Witnesses reported seeing two sets of lights， one red and one yellow， leaving the water and flying away.

Apr. 5， 1967 In Scandinavia， mystery objects are known to have flown into and out of frozen lakes. A report in The Times of the 5th of April 1967 gave the following account: \"Something incredibly powerful has smashed a huge hole through the ice covering a lake in central Sweden， but scientists and military experts are uncertain what it was\". The possibility of a meteorite10) was quickly discounted11) and several days later there was a further incident. Once again it proved that USOs are every bit12) as elusive13) as their aerial counterparts14).

在古代

就像UFO一樣，人們目擊不明水下物體的歷史可追溯到人類文明發祥之時。事實上，古代美索不達米亞文明認為，他們所有的知識都是從海中出現的生命體那里得來的。公元前329年，亞歷山大大帝通過史官“告訴”民眾，他看到飛行的物體“像閃閃發光的盾牌一樣飛進飛出印度的一條大河”。公元1067年，挪威人也曾報稱一個發光物體從天而降鉆入海中。

最有名的USO目擊事件之一來自克里斯托弗·哥倫布。他的航海日志記錄了他的船員們看到海底附近有詭異的燈光在閃爍，當時是1491年10月11日的晚上10點，他的“圣瑪麗亞”號船正行經大西洋深處的一片水域——即我們現在所說的“百慕大三角”。接著“圣瑪麗亞”號的船員們就看到一個碟形物體從海中升起，沖出海面飛入了夜空。這樣的事件哥倫布和船員們經歷了不止一次。在為期兩個月的海上航行中，他們記錄了多起不明飛行物目擊事件。

在現代

在現代，出現了更多這類奇異水下物體的目擊事件，并且USO的目擊報道比我們大多數人所知道的還要多。以下是一些著名的目擊事件。

1904年8月1日據《費城調查者報》報道，英國貨輪“馬希坎”號在駛往費城的途中，被一層奇特的像磷光一樣閃爍著金屬光澤的霧氣所包圍。接下來，一個物體掠過海面并在貨輪附近盤旋，使船停了下來。船長描述說，當這個不明物體靠近時，船上的羅盤指針像電動馬達般飛速旋轉。之后，那個不明飛行物一頭扎入了海中，而他們的儀表則重新正常運轉了起來。

1963年3月當美國海軍潛艇在波多黎各附近的海域演習時，潛艇上的聲納系統探測到在他們正下方很深的地方運行的一個不明水下物體。該物體以超過150節的速度前進著，而它所處的水下深度也令美軍人員大為震驚。它位于距海面超過兩萬英尺的地方。通常潛艇的最大潛深為七千英尺，但這一物體卻超越了所有潛艇，甚至是現如今的潛艇的技術極限。

1967年10月4日發生在加拿大新斯科舍省夏格港的這次事件被稱為迄今為止最知名的一起USO目擊事件。1967年10月4日晚11時45分左右，目擊者看到有光從空中降下，并成45o角進入水中。加拿大皇家騎警警官們在岸上目睹這一事件后，在海水中一直搜尋到凌晨3時。這個奇異的飛行物在海床上停留。幾天后，又來了另外一個飛行物與之會合。它們一起沖破海面飛上天空。目擊者聲稱看到了兩組光——一組紅光，一組黃光——離開水中，飛走了。

1967年4月5日在斯堪的納維亞地區，曾有神秘物體出入于結了冰的湖泊。1967年4月5日的《泰晤士報》上有一篇報道做了如下描述:“某種極具威力的物體將瑞典中部一座湖泊上的冰層撞擊出一個大洞，但科學家和軍事專家都不能確定那是什么。”這個物體是隕星的可能性很快就受到了質疑，并且幾天之后，那里又發生了一起這樣的事件。這再一次證明:USO完全和它們的空中同伴UFO一樣神秘莫測。

Why are USOs moving through the water? What is their task? Maybe they have the same reason as the flying UFOs in the sky. Unfortunately we don't know their task. Are UFOs and USOs parts of the same phenomena and have they a common origin? Or can all UFOs also be USOs? Is it no problem for them to move in space， air or water?

Are there any normal and natural explanations for the sightings of USOs? Maybe. Some tiny plants and plankton15) in the sea are in fact able to emit light and to produce \"glowing spots\" on the water. Also chemical reactions can cause such phenomena—the mysterious \"white water\" in the Bermuda Triangle is maybe a result of chemical reactions. But can plankton produce \"illusions\" of solid and metallic cylindrical16) and disc-shaped objects moving with high speed? How can plankton rise from the water and start flying through the air as many USOs have done?

Finally， are there alien bases beneath the sea? Some people think so. They believe that one of the most suspectable alien bases is no other than the mysterious Bermuda Triangle. Hundreds of sightings of USOs and unexplainable lights beneath the sea in that area have been reported. Some people even claim that Atlantis， the ancient lost city， was located in this area and there are in fact some very unusual and maybe artificial structures on the sea bed there.

USO為什么要在水中出沒?它們的使命是什么?也許它們和空中飛行的UFO是為著同樣的目的而來。很遺憾，我們并不知道那是什么。UFO和USO是同一種現象，有著共同的來源嗎?又或者，所有的UFO同時也都是USO嗎?它們在太空、空中或水中穿梭都不成問題嗎?

關于USO的目擊事件，有沒有合乎常理、符合自然的解釋?或許有。海里的某些微小植物和浮游生物其實是可以發光并且在水面上形成“光斑”的。化學反應也同樣能造成這種現象——百慕大三角神秘的“白色海水”可能就是化學反應的結果。但浮游生物能制造出高速運動的堅固金屬圓柱形及碟形物體的“幻象”嗎?浮游生物如何能像眾多的USO已做過的那樣，從水中躍出、在空中飛行呢?

最后一個問題，海底有外星基地嗎?有些人相信有。他們認為最可疑的外星基地之一正是神秘的百慕大三角。數以百計的有關USO和無法解釋的海中發光現象的目擊報告都發生在這個區域。有些人甚至聲稱失落的古城亞特蘭蒂斯就位于這一區域，而那里的海底確實存在著一些很不尋常、并且可能是人造的建筑。

Whether USOs or UFOs exist on Earth or not， we know one thing for sure， that is， our steps to explore the sea and the universe will never stop.

無論地球上是否真的存在USO或UFO，有一點我們能確信，那就是:我們探索海洋和宇宙的腳步永遠不會停止。