Unda Da Sea

Once upon a time the scariest things in the world were made up horrors emanating out of mythology, folk tales, and works of fiction. Werewolves, dragons, Medusa, the Yeti, the Cyclops, Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula all scary, yet all fictional. But nothing can be more chilling than real life horrors. The Donner party, Jeffery Dahmer, the Nazi death camps, and countless human tortures and mutilations that have occurred throughout history for real.

Seems like real life nightmares never stop coming. One day it's finding out that the FBI and the Department of Justice are not organizations of honorable patriots as we believed them to be, but crooked from the top down, taking sides politically, shilling for the Democrats and prosecuting Republicans.

Another day brings a deranged monster who decides to commit a mass killing. We learn of surgical atrocities being committed on young children in the name of "trans-genderism." Then we hear that the president of the United States has been raking in millions of dollars from foreign governments like Communist China. Nightmares all.

And now this week we have the latest nightmare. A minivan size submarine, or as it is called a submersible vessel, which had been on its way to touring where the shipwrecked Titanic sunk, has gone missing with five people on board. The Titanic is nearly 13,000 feet beneath the surface of the North Atlantic.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said the vessel was reported overdue around 9:13 p.m. Sunday, about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland. Lt. Cmdr. Len Hickey said a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and military aircraft were assisting the search effort, which was being led by the U.S. Coast Guard out of Boston on Monday.

The submersible named Titan belongs to OceanGate Expeditions which charges up to $250,000 a person for the excursion. Dives last up to ten hours each. The submersible has a total capacity of five people made up of three tourists, a pilot, and a "content expert." OceanGate has been offering expeditions and underwater tourism to those who have the money and the desire to see the Titanic on the ocean floor with their own eyes. The Titan is the only 5-person vessel that can reach the Titanic, which lies 2.4 miles below the ocean's surface.

As of Tuesday afternoon the vessel was still missing and things don't look promising. Reports have stated that the passengers aboard the submersible may not be able to escape. In 2022, CBS News correspondent David Pogue actually traveled on the submersible, and, this week, he explained to BBC that the surfacing capabilities of the vessel are limited. "There's no backup, there's no escape pod," Pogue told the BBC. "It's, 'Get to the surface or die.'"

Pogue described the vessel as no bigger than a minivan. The vessel operates using a touch screen and computers, and there is only one switch used to turn the vessel on. Once inside, crew members can only leave after the bolts applied on its surface are opened by someone on the outside. Not a good place to be if you have claustrophobia. Not a good place to be period, if you ask me.

So there you have it. Another nightmare. Imagine being locked in a cramped metal container no bigger than a minivan with four other people miles under the ocean, unable to get out, unable to bring the thing to the surface, and running out of oxygen. It appears we can add these five souls to the other 1,514 passengers who perished on the Titanic on April 15,1912. Ironically, some of those who died on the Titanic were quite wealthy, not unlike some of those who paid $250,000 to tour the wreckage.

The people on board the Titan wanted to get as close as possible to the sunken Titanic. Looks like they got their wish. Asleep in the deep.

(COMMENT, BELOW)