Baltic sea enigma: Explorers' find explained by ice‑age relics
2011 Swedish explorers Peter Lindberg and Dennis Åsberg came across a mysterious structure at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. During their treasure hunt, their sonars detected an object with a diameter of about 60 metres located at a depth of 90 metres. Scientists also claimed that the structure has "formations resembling stairs," at a distance of about 200 metres, there is another unknown object.
Lindberg and Åsberg initially thought the formation might have a natural origin, but they were not certain. For this reason, they began to contact scientists about the matter, reports the WION service. "We were thinking, ‘What is that we have found here?’. This is not a wreck. At that time we thought for sure there was a natural explanation," said Åsberg in 2011 during an interview for Swedish TV4.
"We wanted to look into it some more and decided to keep this totally quiet. We contacted geologists, marine biologists and when they said they had never seen anything like this, of course, more thoughts were triggered. It could be something really awesome that we’ve found," he continued.
Mysterious structure at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
The discovery sparked a wave of speculation about its origin. Some even suggested it could be remnants of an ancient civilisation, UFOs, hidden Nazi weapons, or a bunker from World War II. In an interview with NBC in 2012, Lindberg stated: "It has these very strange stair formations, and if it is constructed, it must be constructed tens of thousands of years ago before the Ice Age. If this is Atlantis, that would be quite amazing."
In 2016, detailed studies of the underwater structure were conducted. The Ocean X team went to the site, collected samples, and filmed a documentary about the Swedish explorers' discovery. The samples were sent for further analysis. As noted by the WION service, geologist Volker Brüchert from Stockholm University, after examining them, concluded that the object is not mysterious at all.
"What has been generously ignored by the Ocean-X team is that most of the samples they have brought up from the sea bottom are granites and gneisses and sandstones. I was surprised when I researched the material I found a great black stone that could be a volcanic rock. My hypothesis is that this object, this structure was formed during the Ice Age many thousands of years ago," explained Brüchert.
Researchers thus concluded that the formation was created by glacial movements, likely from sandstone, basalt, or solidified volcanic lava.
