Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Who Travel On Boats Frequently Share The Strangest Things They've Seen At Sea

People Who Travel On Boats Frequently Share The Strangest Things They've Seen At Sea
Make us preferred on Google

Few things in nature are as intimidating as the sea.


Despite its destructive capabilities, the sea is one of the most beautiful marvels of the world. But all of the endless water stretching into the horizon can be intimidating to face.


Redditor u/YerBuhdFinn wanted to know what it was like to travel the vast seas by boat, and so asked people who regularly travel by ship... "What is something strange or haunting that you have witnessed while out at sea?"

10. Amazing sea critters

Giphy

"Whales got too close for comfort a few times.

I had auditory hallucinations several times due to sleep deprivation (downside to sailing solo), that was always a bit scary.
Weirdest was sailing between BVI and St Martin, moonless night, pitch black, total flat calm (flat seas are rare in that area). the ocean lit up with what I could only assume were some sort of glowing jellyfish. These globes in the water would flash bright green for a second, then vanish, hundreds of them."

CatHerder75

9. A very fishy diver...

"Growing up, my family had a cottage on a small island in the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Sweden. This happened in the late 70s, during the Cold War when Russian subs were often observed in Swedish territorial waters. Our island did have a military installation on it and was off limits to foreigners.

My dad and I were fishing from grandpa's old wooden rowboat, just drifting along a couple of hundred yards off shore when all of a sudden the head of a diver slowly rose to the surface a couple of yards off the side of the boat. He slowly turned around, spotted us and disappeared beneath the water again. We saw divers on several occasions but never that close and once we also saw the conning tower of a submarine."

lovelyb1ch66

8. A mysterious fire ball

Giphy

"On Deployment, observed a fireball in the Indian Ocean. 100% convinced it was a larger meteor, but it remained solid until it disappeared and it abruptly angled like it it something, albeit at a very shallow angle.

When I say fireball, I mean, fireball, not a shooting star like you can see on a typical dark night not in the city."

WillitsThrockmorton

7. A most superior wave

"I was in a 40-some foot boat in my teens. I know next to nothing about ships, but I commuted by boat almost every day so I've been on them a fair amount.

This was in Lake Superior, where I never knew the waves to be very big and they would usually cancel the ride if that were the case.

One day, we had a single, massive wave come out of nowhere and nearly flip us over. It was taller than our boat and drenched everyone. But I had been looking in the direction where it hit and there was nothing. Just a momentary 15 foot wall of water which hit us and the lake was calm agian."

irrelevant_usernam3

6. I wouldn't stare into those lights

"We would sometimes see lights out in the distance at night. I had a few people tell me that some of these lights were so bright that it felt like it was like the sun had come up. I haven't seen a light like that but I have seen what looked like a plane flying at night. It would change directions and fly the other way. This happened 5 times in the span of about two minutes. This is something I cannot explain logically. How can something change directions that fast, at that speed, in that kind of movement. Oddest thing I have ever seen."

Katsu_Farmer87

5. Sounds gross, glad it swam away

"My dad caught this huge arthopod during our time out at sea when we went to go and catch crabs close to a Florida coast. It broke free from the net and swam away. No clue what it was."

SergeiBoryenko

4. Dolphins are amazing

"was a watchman on a dinner cruise vessel. Watched as dolphins encircled a school of bait fish, drawing the circle tighter and tighter until they ploughed straight through the ball and nailed the fish. Did not understand how sophisticated and murderous dolphins were, or how well they planned their attack."

frapawhack

3. I hope they reported this

"I was in the middle of the ocean on a sailboat several years ago. It was the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to sit up for a little while. After a couple minutes staring idly at the ocean, I see something a couple hundred feet away. It's drifting closer and closer. When it's finally close enough for me to see what it is, i see it is a life preserver with a tennis shoe stuck to it. I know there was probably an explanation but it still creeped me to see in the middle of the ocean"

emeraldgreen10

2. A ghostly shipmate

"When I was in the Navy I was stationed on a cruiser and that ship was certainly haunted. More than once I shared a smoke late at night with someone vaguely familiar, but no one knew who I was talking about and the description didn't match anyone. We never really talked other than mention the quality of the seas at the time ('It's a nice night' or 'Looks like a storm is coming') and just watch the horizon or the night sky, a couple times commenting on the constellations that were out.

Never anything malevolent, but a little unnerving when I could never find that dude and people thought I was too sleep deprived."

Teegster

1. Who knows what's really hiding down there?

"The only strange thing that ever happened was on Lake Texoma (Texas/Arkansas) with my dad and a friend of his. We were fishing and didn't catch anything, so we went to another part of the lake to swim. We ended up seeing this huge shadow under the water about six feet long perhaps. My dad noticed it first and caught me before I jumped off the boat into the water right next to it. Ever since then I've been scared of the water. Not so bad I can't swim, just that it makes my skin crawl to think of what might be under me."

Niki4Fun

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of JD Vance at rally in North Carolina
C-SPAN

Vance Dragged After 'Accidentally' Coming Up With Juvenile Nickname For The Far Left In Cringey Speech

Vice President JD Vance was widely mocked online after he misspoke while criticizing the "far left" at a campaign rally for MAGA North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley.

Vance was in the city of Greensboro to encourage voters to vote for one of the MAGA candidates that has been endorsed by the White House. Whatley was previously the chair of the Republican National Committee from 2024 to 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less

AI 'Actor' Has Hilariously Bizarre Malfunction During Interview With Piers Morgan In Viral Clip

Somebody reboot Hollywood's newest leading lady.

AI "actor" Tilly Norwood was supposed to be promoting her upcoming film, Misaligned, during an interview with Piers Morgan. Instead, she delivered the kind of viral performance that no amount of programming could have prepared her publicists for.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christina Applegate
Emma McIntyre/SiriusXM/Getty Images

Fans Rally Around Christina Applegate After She Shares New Video Following Months-Long Hospitalization

Friends and Bad Moms actress Christina Applegate has been very open about her multiple sclerosis since she was diagnosed in 2021, making her a leading celebrity advocate for the chronic autoimmune disease.

Applegate has since retired from acting while living with her symptoms, though she has remained in the public eye, including receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Donald Trump
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

MTG Rips Trump And His 'MAGA Cult' Over Record High Diesel Prices In Blistering Post

Former Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump over record high diesel prices, also taking aim at his "hypocritical MAGA cult" for marching in lockstep behind him.

The national average price of diesel now hovers around $6.50 a gallon, Greene noted in a tweet on X, pointing out that diesel prices were never this high under former President Joe Biden, whom Greene has criticized plenty in the past.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot from TikToker @birdiecda's video; United Airlines Plane
@birdiecda/TikTok; Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Disabled United Passenger Speaks Out After She Was Left Stranded And Locked In Jet Bridge After Landing In Canada

Whether we're traveling through a building or around the world, many of us have fears about something malfunctioning and either leaving us trapped or stranded, potentially with no one knowing that we're missing.

Fears of auto or plane accidents, or even having a phobia about an elevator getting stuck between floors, are pretty common, but TikToker Birdie, @birdiecda, may have unlocked a new fear in some of us: getting trapped on an airport jet bridge.

Keep ReadingShow less