The Lake Baikal Swimmers

There are countless myths and legends associated with Russia's sprawling Lake Baikal. These include reports of mythical monsters which reside within its depths and a hidden fortune in missing treasure. But by far the most intriguing of such tales is an alleged encounter between the Soviet army and members of a mysterious underwater people, a race which has become known as the Lake Baikal Swimmers.

The mood amongst the shore party was gloomy despite the warm sunlight beating down from the cloudless skies above. Huddled together in small groups, weapons close at hand, they spoke to one another in hushed tones. It was clear that few had approved of the order which had been given earlier that morning to send the dive team back into the lake.

The men who had descended into the depths with their friends and were now being exposed to a very real and unnecessary risk. The whispered conversations continued until they were cut short by an unexpected disturbance in the nearby waters. The soldiers turned to watch as a section of the lake suddenly erupted into bubble and foam, as if the temperatures there had somehow become boiling hot.

A solitary black object then materialised amidst the churning waters, quickly followed by another and then several more. Not waiting for any orders, several of the men immediately plunged headlong into the lake towards the commotion. As they did so, more of their number ran for the nearby decompression chambers, flinging open the doors in preparation for their use.

As the trembling and shaking figures were hauled from the waters, their rescuers suddenly found themselves gripped by a wave of panic. Before they had resurfaced, it had been discovered that one of the two chambers was defective, meaning that only four of the seven divers could be treated for their sickness. Suppressing the urge to rage at their watching commander, the men hurried to move the chosen divers into the only working decompression chamber, forced to offer little more than comforting words to the three figures who'd been left to lie out on the shore.

In agonised and somewhat confused utterances, each of the afflicted men related tales of strange creatures, which they had encountered in the depths of the lake. Lake Baikal is located at the southernmost point of Russia's notorious Siberian Expanse, a short distance from the border of neighbouring Mongolia. It is not only the world's largest freshwater lake by volume, but also the deepest, descending at some points to depths of 1600 metres.

And yet, despite being situated in one of the harshest and most inhospitable regions on Earth, it is a place that positively teems with life. Studies have catalogued over 4,000 separate species living in and around this vast ecosystem, many of which are not found anywhere else on the planet. Key to the survival of all these different animals are the hydrothermal vents and springs, which enable the surrounding marine life to prosper and breed.

Fish have been known to develop to unknown sizes in these conditions, in turn generating equally oversized predators. For many years, there have been legends of a sinister monster which is said to reside within its dark depths, utilising underwater tunnels to travel between the lake itself and the surrounding bodies of water. In older tales, this creature was said to rise from the depths and prey on any travellers and hunters who stray too close to the edge of the water.

In more recent times, however, local residents have reported inexplicable damage which has been caused to their fishing nets and cattle that have gone missing whilst grazing near the lake. Descriptions of the offender allege that it is over 10 metres in length, possessing a huge set of jaws that make up over a third of its body. This has prompted speculation that it may be a species similar to a pike which has somehow grown to staggering proportions in this unique environment.

It has also been ventured that this may be some ancient species of aquatic dinosaur which has somehow avoided extinction and detection for some time. In addition, the area has been plagued by sightings of bizarre otherworldly craft, moving through both the skies above and beneath the waters of the lake. On occasion, the occupants of these vessels are alleged to have interacted with those who have witnessed them, sometimes with fatal consequences.

As well as having attracted countless species of flora and fauna to its shores, Lake Baikal also plays host to all manner of human visitors, from holidaymakers to members of various sailing clubs. The lake's topography in particular has been utilised repeatedly by elements of the Russian military as a means of training its naval divers. In 2009, rumours began to surface in relation to a tragedy that was alleged to have taken place there nearly 30 years before.

This story is believed to have originated from a declassified Soviet intelligence report which described an incident that had transpired in the summer of 1982. During that period, a detachment of sailors had been dispatched to the lake along with their instructors to conduct a programme of diver training. During the first few days, this training had largely been uneventful, with the various drills and exercises playing out as they had so many times before.

But one morning, midway through a routine session, several of the trainees were distracted by the arrival of three figures which had unexpectedly materialised in the depths beside them. Using their torches to better illuminate the scene, the navy divers were astonished to see that the newcomers did not appear to possess any form of breathing apparatus. Instead, the bizarre-looking swimmers were dressed in silvery reflective suits, wearing protective helmets which seemed to be fully open, exposing them to the surrounding water.

While bizarre still, although humanoid in appearance, the three strange entities were all staggeringly tall, standing at roughly three metres each. There followed a short standoff, as the trainees and their instructor stared in bewilderment at their pale-skinned visitors, who eventually turned and swam ponderously away. Upon returning to the surface, the group had immediately sought out their commanding officer and reported the matter.

Soon after this, several of the instructors were ordered to select the strongest of the recruits, with the intention of capturing at least one of the mysterious swimmers. A short time later, a troop of seven divers descended into the lake, carrying snares and wires in the hopes of trapping their prey. Returning to the vicinity of the previous sighting, they had waited, shining their torch beams out into the murky depths to attract attention.

Sure enough, three silvery shapes had then risen from the darkness below, moving towards the group, seemingly emboldened after their previous meeting. But when one of the instructors had then moved forward, unspooling the wire noose he was holding, there had been an immediate response. One of the three entities had reached down to its side, producing a small metallic device which it had then pointed towards the divers.

In an instant, the waters around them had suddenly transformed into a swirling maelstrom, which buffeted them from side to side. This violent and powerful torrent had quickly propelled the helpless group back to the lake's surface. Unfortunately, as they had been pulled from the water, they began suffering from the onset of decompression sickness.

Of the seven divers, three would die, the others surviving to tell their tale, which was then relayed back to their headquarters. The source material from which this story is derived does not detail the response to the tragedy by the Soviet authorities. It is unknown if further efforts were made to interact with or capture the mysterious beings which had been encountered.

It is also uncertain whether training at the lake was suspended to avoid any further contact or loss of life. Finally, the report also does not speculate in any way as to the origin of what have now become known as the Lake Baikal Swimmers. This mysterious incident is only one of several to have been documented by those who have travelled to the region.

In 1977, the Soviet Academy of Sciences was able to purchase a pair of Canadian-built submersibles named Pisces 2 and Pisces 7. Not long after they had been acquired, the two vessels were transported to Lake Baikal to carry out a host of geological surveys. During a six-week period, the Soviet scientists logged 42 dives into the lake, at one point descending to a depth of 1400 meters.

During one of these dives, several of the scientists had descended in Pisces 7 and were exploring the lake bed. But as the submersible was floating just above the bottom, with its spotlights angled down towards the sediment, its interior had gradually become bathed in an eerie yellow glow. Turning from their work, the bemused scientists had looked out of their portholes hoping to discover where the light was emanating from, only for it to increase in intensity.

The source of the illumination had slowly passed overhead, from one end of the submersible to the other. It had then moved off towards the centre of the lake, where it faded away into darkness. Upon returning to the surface, the team had enquired if Pisces 2 had followed them into the depths for some unknown reason.

But they were informed that the other submersible had remained on the surface for the duration of their dive, with its crew conducting routine maintenance. Subsequent enquiries revealed that there had been no other military or scientific expeditions known to be operating in the area. Furthermore, there were only a small number of vessels available at the time capable of descending to such depths.

As a result, the identity of the unknown light source remains a complete mystery. It has long been speculated that encounters with mysterious craft in the skies above may not necessarily relate purely to extraterrestrial activity. Many of these sightings have taken place in the vicinity of large bodies of water, with the vessels involved sometimes being observed to emerge from or dive into them.

This is particularly true of several incidents which have been documented by people living in the proximity of Lake Baikal. A dive instructor named Alec Chukulin described to a reporter how he had been out on the lake in his boat one evening with several of his students, when their attention had suddenly been drawn to what appeared to be a blinking red light some way off in the distance. It soon became clear that whatever the light belonged to was approaching their boat at some speed just above the water's surface.

As it had neared them, the witnesses realised that what they were observing presented as a single solid ball of red light which was gently pulsating as it travelled. Several hundred metres before it should have passed above them, the orb suddenly entered the water hurtling past beneath the surface. For a few seconds, all the water below and around their boat was bathed in an eerie red glow before the object resurfaced again and shot away into the night sky.

A similar story would be related to the newspaper by a local resident named Sierge Knieznyr. He had been called out onto the balcony of his lakeside dwelling one evening by his young son who had caught sight of some strange activity over the water. As he had strained his eyes and looked out into the darkness, he saw a blinking orange light hovering just above the surface.

This glowing object then shot vertically into the sky, only to slowly descend in a straight line to the exact point from which it had risen. To the astonishment of Sierge and his son, a second identical light had then appeared right next to the first, as if it had emerged from the water. The two objects then hurtled back and forth over the lake as if they were chasing one another or playing some kind of game.

Several minutes later, both had again shot up into the air before descending at speed and diving straight into the depths, never to be seen again. The activities of the mysterious craft scene moving above and below the waters of Lake Baikal bear an eerie similarity to other high profile sightings from around the world. In 1994, multiple witnesses observed objects acting in an identical manner above Lake Michigan, with weather radar records going on to support their testimony.

Likewise, at Shag Harbor in 1967, a large object was seen to impact the waters off the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Former military officers have also gone public with claims that the US Navy has documented numerous encounters with underwater flying craft whilst conducting maneuvers off the coast of Puerto Rico. There are several theories as to the relationship between these unknown vessels and the waters they are seen traversing.

Some commentators assert that UFOs are not extraterrestrial in nature, but instead may originate from the deepest waters on Earth. There is speculation that their operators have either evolved underwater or may indeed be visitors from another planet who arrived many centuries ago, using the cover of the vast oceans to hide their presence. Others believe that the occupants of the craft somehow use the water to refuel or replenish their vessels before continuing their journey.

As with many stories that emerged from beyond the Iron Curtain during the Soviet era, it is virtually impossible to find any supporting testimony surrounding the incident involving the Lake Baikal swimmers. It has been suggested that the divers involved died through misadventure given the dangers of their profession rather than anything more sinister. The story of a strange underwater species may simply have evolved from a training accident in which the students surfaced far too quickly.

And yet there continues to be sightings of bizarre humanoid figures and highly advanced aerial craft operating in an otherwise remote region, seeming to suggest that the swimmers may well have been very real and are continuing their unknown activities well into the present time stories.