A luminous disc in the abyss
What lies beneath the surface ?
15 November 1959, dive n°61: Jacques Piccard, the famous Swiss oceanographer, and Andreas Rechnitzer, an American oceanographer, beat the world diving record with the bathyscaphe TRIESTE by reaching a depth of 18,150 feet (5,530 metres) in the Mariana Trench 30 miles south-east of the island of Guam1.
At a depth of 4,200 feet (1,280 metres) during their descent, they observed a ‘fairly large disc-shaped object with numerous points of light (about 1 flash per 1/2 metre3. Generally isolated points)’. This observation is recorded on page 36 of Andreas Rechnitzer's research report on the TRIESTE bathyscaphe dives between 1958 and 19602.
Almost continuous observations to determine the presence of bioluminescence in the large water column were made during the TRIESTE dives. These dives showed that bioluminescence was present at all depths, but that it was not necessarily uniformly distributed from the surface to the bottom.
According to Rechnitzer's report, which contains a chapter dedicated to observations of bioluminescence, protozoa, coelenterates, ctenophores, euphausiids, decapod crustaceans, salps and fish are the common pelagic and bathypelagic (between 1000 and 4000 metres) sources of bioluminescence.
These groups of animals exhibit both intermittent and constant luminescence. Direct visual observations reveal that deep-sea fauna mainly exhibit intermittent flashing. It would appear that bioluminescent flashes are normal at great depths and do not necessarily require tactile stimulation, such as that generated by the movement of the bathyscaphe, for example.
Jacques Piccard's observation was reported in Daniel Gerritzen's latest book ‘La crise cosmique - Pourquoi les extraterrestres ne nous sauveront pas’3, in which he reviews the history of unknown aerial phenomena.
Journalist Matthias Bieder picked up on this information in an article published in the German daily Bild on 28/05/2024: ‘Jacques Piccard has dived into the Mariana Trench. The famous ocean explorer has reported an underwater UFO! The logbook speaks of a ‘luminous disc’’4.
After contacting Daniel Gerritzen on this subject, the writer and journalist pointed us to another interesting sighting reported in the transcripts of the audio recordings of Jacques Piccard and Robert Dietz relating to the dives of the Bathyscaphe Trieste from 1958 to 19635.
Although the observation is not directly linked to that of the luminous disc, on page 21 of these transcripts, which can be downloaded from the University of San Diego library website, mention is made of a ‘threatening mass’ seen in the distance by Piccard from his porthole, such as a large rock, a ledge or some kind of object.
Daniel Gerritzen gave us his take on these sightings:
"At first glance, the “rather large disc-shaped object with many points of light” could be explained by bioluminescent jellyfish or Soviet diving technology, and the “threatening mass” by a rock. In the depths, it is very dark and the human eye and brain have difficulty adapting to this darkness. But Piccard and Rechnitzer would not have called a deep-sea animal a ‘disc-shaped object’. They would have called it an ‘unknown bioluminescent species’ and added certain movement characteristics that you would expect from jellyfish. The Soviets would not have equipped a spy ship with ‘many lights’...
So, as mentioned above, the ‘object’ is unidentified. However, the ‘extraterrestrial’ option is the last one we should consider. It was most likely something natural and terrestrial, and we don't have enough evidence to say what it was a posteriori. We also have to bear in mind that Piccard and Rechnitzer were very experienced divers. It is very likely that they would have recognised natural things in the ocean, even in difficult light conditions’.
We also contacted Marco Bianchini, president since November 2023 of CISU (Centro Italiano Studi Ufologici). Marco Bianchini has been studying UFOs for over 33 years and USOs in particular for 25 years. Since 1995 he has been coordinating USOCAT, the national catalogue of Italian UFO reports. To his knowledge, there are no cases of deep-sea light sightings listed in the 350 reports in the Italian catalogue. There are only cases of sightings at or just below the surface of the sea (at a depth of a few metres). For him, it is therefore difficult to know whether this is bioluminescence or other natural or unnatural phenomena (such as the lamps used by divers, for example).
For an expert scientific opinion, we asked Séverine Martini, a CNRS researcher at the Institut Méditerranéen d'Océanologie since 2020, whose research focuses on understanding the ecological roles of marine bioluminescence and its impact on the biological carbon pump. In her view, ‘given the number of animals in the ocean that can be bioluminescent, there is no way of knowing which organism is responsible for this bioluminescence’.
As Séverine Martini concludes her 2017 publication on the quantitative study of bioluminescence from the surface to the deep sea6, "76% of oceanic marine organisms observed in the deep waters off California are capable of bioluminescence. [...] The extent of bioluminescence capabilities has not yet been established, particularly in the deep ocean, where new discoveries are expected. However, given that the deep ocean is the largest habitat on the planet in terms of volume, we can certainly say that bioluminescence is a major ecological feature on Earth."
What to decide? Object or animal?
Jacques Piccard's observation at a depth of 1,280 metres is unique. Our very partial knowledge of the bioluminescent life forms that inhabit the depths of the ocean does not allow us to identify a listed animal species. Could it be an unknown, very large species whose circular shape suggests that of a jellyfish? Just like this unusually large red deep-sea jellyfish that researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) described in 2022 in the scientific journal Animals7. They named their discovery Atolla reynoldsi in honour of the first volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Could this be an unclassified underwater vehicle? We have no knowledge of a disc-shaped submarine capable of diving to a depth of 4,000 feet in 1959. The submersible whose shape comes closest is the SP350 ‘diving saucer’ known as the Denise. This underwater vehicle was developed by Jacques Yves Cousteau and engineer Jean Mollard at the Centre Français de Recherche Sous-Marine (CFRS) in 1959. With a diameter of 2.85 m, the saucer could only dive to a maximum of 350 metres. It wasn't until 1965, with the Deepstar 4000 project, that a new saucer, again designed by Jacques Yves Cousteau and built by Westinghouse, reached a depth of 1,200 metres.
The luminous object observed by Jacques Piccard in 1959 will probably remain classified as unidentified for a long time to come. Perhaps one day it will emerge from the pile of unexplained sightings to be elucidated in the light of our future new knowledge... or the abyss will swallow it up forever in the depths of oblivion.
Lieutenant Don Walsh, Navy Electronics Laboratory Research Report 1096, 27 july 1962, The bathyscaph TRIESTE. Technological and Operational Aspects, 1958-1961
Andreas Buchwald Rechnitzer, Navy Electronics Laboratory Research Report 1095, 2 april 1962, Summary of the bathyscaph TRIESTE Research program Results (1958-1960)
Daniel Gerritzen, “Die kosmische Krise – Warum Außerirdische uns nicht retten werden”. Matthes & Seitz Berlin, 2024
Jacques Piccard tauchte in den Marianengraben: Berühmter Ozeanforscher meldete Unterwasser-Ufo! Im Logbuch ist von einer „leuchtenden Scheibe“ die Rede. https://www.bild.de/leben-wissen/meeres-aliens-beruehmter-ozeanforscher-sah-unterwasser-ufo-664f6216fee5ba39eb18f510
Dives of the Bathyscaph Trieste, 1958-1963: Transcriptions of sixty-one dictabelt recordings in the Robert Sinclair Dietz Papers, 1905-1994 from Manuscript Collection MC28. Archives of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California, San Diego https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=c8s46zct;developer=local;style=oac4;doc.view=items
Martini, S. and Haddock, S. H. D. Quantification of bioluminescence from the surface to the deep sea demonstrates its predominance as an ecological trait. Sci. Rep. 7, 45750; doi: 10.1038/srep45750 (2017).
Matsumoto, G.I.; Christianson, L.M.; Robison, B.H.; Haddock, S.H.D.; Johnson, S.B. Atolla reynoldsi sp. nov. (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa, Coronatae, Atollidae): A New Species of Coronate Scyphozoan Found in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. Animals2022, 12, 742. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12060742