Mysterious holes on Atlantic's ocean floor leave scientists baffled; trigger alien theory

Scientists were recently left perplexed when mysterious holes were found this week 1.7 miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite forming a straight line across the seafloor, the origin of the precisely matched pits is still unknown. Further, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was so baffled that it even appealed for assistance from the general public. Taking to social media, NOAA shared two images of the perfectly-aligned pits.  

Following the release of the images, netizens speculated a number of theories that led to the formation of the peculiar pattern, such as anything from "wormholes" to "aliens". 

In the Facebook post, NOAA said, “Okay Facebookers, time to get out those scientist hats!” It further added, “On Saturday's #Okeanos dive, we observed several of these sublinear sets of holes in the sediment. These holes have been previously reported from the region, but their origin remains a mystery.” 

Speculations surrounding the mysterious holes

Meanwhile, one of the most widely circulated hypotheses on social media was that some type of marine animal—possibly sea critters—left holes in the sea bed. According to the Daily Mail report, one such creature is the Bobbit worm, which is known to dig into the ocean floor, leaving just its mouth and enormous, scissor-like jaws open. The Bobbit worm closes its jaws quickly enough to split its food in half if a fish brushes by one of its antennae. The Bobbit worm leaves a hole in the seabed in its wake when it has done eating. 

Further, others have proposed that the holes might be caused by gas pipes under the water. One individual responded to NOAA on Twitter by saying, “Maybe a piece of pipe that was perforated and laying on the seabed. Now buried in sediment, it makes a good home for burrowing sea life?” 

Notably, as the photographs have been captured in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge's deep waters, which are mainly unexplored, it is highly unlikely to be home to any underwater gas pipelines, Daily Mail reported. 

According to NOAA, “Spanning the north-south length of the Atlantic Ocean and stretching an impressive 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles), the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is the longest mountain range in the world and one of the most prominent geological features on Earth.” 

One user even responded to NOAA by speculating that the holes could have been created by methane gas bursting. Besides this, a lot of people are persuaded that aliens are the sole option for explaining the holes. 

(Image: Facebook@NOAA Ocean Exploration)