Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

In the middle of the 19th century, many of those who travel the sea have caught sight of a large, fast-traveling object in the water. Although estimates of its size vary, it is clearly bigger than any sea-faring creature in existence.

Ships begin to encounter the moving object directly in July 1866. They note its incredible speed—one ship sees it in the Pacific Ocean three days after another saw it five miles off the Australian coast. As other ships also see the “monster” (2), witnesses speculate that it is more than 350 feet in size.

The monster becomes “the fashion” (2)—in cafés, newspapers, and the theater. It is caricatured, satirized, sung about, and compared to the mythical creatures of ancient cultures. Debates rage between “incredulous” (3) scientists and those who believe in the supernatural. By early 1867, however, the entity is viewed as an immediate danger—possibly a type of reef or rock to be avoided.

In spring of 1867, two ships strike what seems to be a rock. The impact leaves a large hole in the bottom of the ships. When engineers in Liverpool examine it, they note that the hole is a perfectly defined isosceles triangle.