The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 584: Cryptids Vol. 3: The Antarctic Cover-up | Predators Beneath the Ice

Episode Date: February 24, 2025

In Antarctica's restricted zones, something dangerous lurks beneath the ice. When a Russian team drilled into Lake Vostok, they discovered more than just ancient water. Two scientists died under mysterious circumstances, and the official reports don't match witness statements. Military operations, classified facilities, and blurred satellite images hint at darker secrets. From massive spider-like creatures to shape-shifting predators, Antarctica's mysteries run deeper than anyone imagined. What are they trying to hide at the bottom of the world?

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Then communications went dark. Five days later, two scientists were dead. The official report said hypothermia. A witness statement tells a different story. No country owns Antarctica, but you need permission to visit. You're restricted to designated areas, and you must have a government-approved escort. They say these rules are to protect the environment, but people who've been there know better. These rules are there to protect something else, something dangerous. At the bottom of the world, there are monsters, and we created them. A single image appeared on 4chan's paranormal board in February 2021.

A user was scanning the Antarctic wasteland on Google Maps when they found something strange. Yeah, fortune always brings the good stuff. A massive spider-like creature clearly visible against the ice and snow. Nothing could survive there, not for millions of years. But something does.

I told you, the good stuff. Then, son of Aunt Anon logged on. Everyone called him Anton. His father, Joe, was a Navy lieutenant and a doctor. He served at McMurdo Station in the 1990s, and Joe knew exactly what that creature was. People were skeptical until Anton posted photos. His father's patches from Antarctic Development Squadron 6.

Military commendations on an Antarctica-shaped plaque. Everything checked out. Joe was the type who asked questions. At McMurdo, they showed him the no-go zones. Most of Antarctica is restricted by international treaties, but there is one zone about 30 miles east of the base that even military expeditions avoided. When Joe asked about it, they said it was classified.

Anton posted the coordinates. When you check them on Google Earth today, the entire area is blurred. Another user found something else in the area, a gray monolith. Soon that image was censored. On Joe's first night at McMurdo, there was an incident. Seven soldiers burst through the infirmary's door. They wore snow camo, but no insignia, no unit patches. SFODA, he figured. There were lots of special forces at McMurdo. The soldier they carried in was a mess. His white Gore-Tex parka was shredded.

Steam rose from cuts too precise for any animal. Razor thin lines that went straight to the bone. The bleeding wouldn't stop. The injured soldier was screaming. We let them loose. They were frozen and we let them loose. Joe needed to know what caused these injuries. He scanned each soldier's face looking for the leader.

He asked, what did you let loose? He heard a familiar click behind him. He turned around. A gun was in his face. In the early 2000s, a Japanese vessel patrolling Antarctic waters spotted something unusual. At first, they thought it was an iceberg, a featureless white mass floating on the surface. Then it moved. As the ship approached, they realized it was alive. It was 60 feet long with smooth white skin.

Some crew members saw limbs, arms, hands, even fingers. Others reported a tail like a mermaid. Yeah, a tail like a mermaid and smooth white skin, huh? I think I dated her in Atlantic City. Uh, you didn't. Because of that broad, I'm still not allowed at the Harris. Can I get back to work here? Who hits on 18 against a 6? Was it a soft 18? Don't you dare. All reports agreed on one detail. Its eyes were large, round, and black, and they looked almost human. They weren't the first to see it, or the last.

They have a name for it, ninyan, the Japanese word for human. The crews who encountered the ninian never felt threatened. It just watched them floating silently in the darkness. These veteran sailors knew every whale, seal, and fish species in the area. This was something new. The pattern was always the same. First, a disturbance in the water. Then a pale form rises to the surface, almost invisible against the ice. The creature observes the ship for a few minutes, then disappears silently underwater.

In 2007, a Japanese magazine brought the Ninyon to the mainstream. It published a blurry satellite image showing something enormous moving in Antarctic waters. People began searching Google Earth for evidence. They found coordinates showing shadowy white figures beneath the surface near the Antarctic coast. The shapes were too large to be whales, too defined to be icebergs. A few days later, the images vanished.

Cryptozoologists believe the ninian represents evidence of intelligent life in Earth's oceans, a species that evolved alongside us, but remained hidden in the deep cold water. Others have a more disturbing theory. Its humanoid features are proof of genetic experimentation. Secret research facilities in Antarctica spliced whale DNA with humans, and created the ninja. Luckily, whales are peaceful. But what would happen if scientists altered the DNA of something more dangerous? The injured soldier wouldn't stop screaming, so the others gagged him.

Joe stared down the barrel of a.45 caliber M1911. The man holding it said, treat him, no questions. Joe got to work. The kid was losing blood fast. The soldier kept the gun trained on him for a few seconds, making a point. Joe grabbed a trauma kit and asked, Army? The guy nodded.

Captain Jones, 10th SFG. Joe knew the 10th Special Forces Group. Green Berets trained for cold-weather combat. Jones holstered his weapon. Joe glanced at it and said, No Beretta? Jones shook his weapon. Joe glanced at it and said, No Beretta? Jones shook his head.

Not enough stopping power. Joe wanted to ask, but anger flashed across Jones' face. Joe just said, I'll take care of your boy, Captain. Jones relaxed, then nodded toward the door. His men filed out.

Jones said, Thanks, Doc. You'll be seeing a lot of me. And he was right. Day after day, bodies arrived with devastating injuries. These weren't tears or gashes. They were incisions, perfectly straight lines that went bone deep. Joe had seen bear attacks, shark bites, industrial accidents.

But this was different. This was butchery. In every case, the base commander ordered the same cause of death, hypothermia, even when the body was still warm. But Joe's most disturbing experience happened during a storm. He was driving with another officer when they hit something big and heavy. Joe hopped out to check the damage, but his partner started screaming for him to get back in the truck. Joe ignored him and to check the damage, but his partner started screaming for him to get back in the truck. Joe ignored him and looked under the mangled front end. At that moment, the no-go zones,

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wherever you go, you can get it from our TreadExperts. Until May 30th, purchase four new Michelin passenger or light truck tires and receive up to $70 by prepaid MasterCard. Conditions apply. Details at Michelin.ca. Find a Michelin Tread Experts dealer near you at TreadExperts.ca slash locations. From tires to auto repair, we're always there at TreadExperts.ca. You searched for your informant who disappeared without a trace.

You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. The leg under the truck was bone white and spindly. Not quite flesh, but not quite exoskeleton. He couldn't see the whole creature, but it had to be enormous. The leg alone stretched seven or eight feet and was strong enough to crush the steel of

the truck. It twitched once, then disappeared into the storm. A few days later, he learned what was filling his infirmary with bodies. Joe found a journal hidden in one victim's coat. It had descriptions of large white predators that could cross Antarctica's terrain in massive 50 to 60-foot leaps. The researchers called them striders.

Joe became obsessed and started breaking into offices at night. He found classified files about winter operations at a facility in the no-go zone east of the base. An expense report listed research equipment. But it was really a requisition for ammunition. Thousands of rounds of tungsten core penetrators. Not exactly standard issue. Whenever a soldier showed up with an injury, Joe would ask what happened, but nobody would talk.

It was always a training accident. The base commander realized Joe was a security risk. He was notified he'd be shipping out within the week. Three days before leaving McMurdo, in the middle of the night, Joe was shaken awake. It was Captain Jones. He said, Doc, we need to talk. Joe started to tell him to sleep it off. Then he felt something heavy land on his chest.

It was a piece of a strider's leg. Joe immediately started to panic. Jones put his hand over Joe's mouth. As Joe's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw Jones was covered in blood. He couldn't tell whose. Jones said he'd just returned from a mission. He needed to tell him about it.

After months of trying to find the truth, Joe wasn't sure he wanted to know anymore. But Captain Jones was going to tell him anyway. Lake Vostok lies two miles beneath Antarctic ice. It hasn't seen sunlight in 20 million years. The Russians spent decades drilling toward it. In 2012, they broke through. Then, everything went dark. Hello, darkness, my old friend. Not now. Sorry. For five days, nothing. No radio contact, no signals, just silence.

When communications returned, two scientists were dead. The official cause? Hypothermia. But Dr. Anton Padalka's classified report tells a different story. The team found something in Lake Vostok that evolved in complete isolation for millions of years. They called it Organism 46b. The creature stretched over 30 feet long and looked like a giant octopus. No, did it have testicles? Tentacles.

What'd I say? Yes, it had tentacles. But instead of eight, it had fourteen. Oh, so a tetradecopus. You see what I did there? Its skin was almost transparent. Perfect camouflage in the darkness. But its most terrifying feature wasn't its size.

It was its intelligence. The first diver was ten feet from the creature when it released a toxin into the water. He was instantly paralyzed. He tread water wearing blissful smile as organism approached him. We watched helplessly as it used its arms to tear off its head, then popped its remains in mouth. It's like it had hypnotized him telepathically. The second death was worse.

The creature could shapeshift. It shaped itself into form of human diver. We thought it was one of colleagues swimming towards us in scuba gear. By the time the closest scientist realized what it was, it had grabbed him and torn him to bits. The research team captured it temporarily, but like everything else connected to Lake Vostok, organism 46B vanished.

Russia's official statement mentioned only bacteria. Then they restricted all access to the lake. The original drilling site was abandoned. Armed guards now patrol the area. In 2017, genetic researchers analyzed water samples from Lake Vostok. They found DNA sequences suggesting intelligence far beyond any known cephalopod. Then everything disappeared. The samples, the data, the reports.

According to official records, the research never happened. What made Organism 46B so important that it had to be kept secret? Dr. Padalka's final report gives a clue. During its brief captivity, Organism 46B figured out how to disable security systems. It understood cameras and lights this wasn't just ancient predator this was something else something that had evolved in complete isolation developing abilities we can't comprehend the shape-shifting, the toxins, the intelligence. These weren't just survival adaptations. They were weapons.

The lake remains under constant surveillance. Military vessels patrol its perimeter. Satellite images are scrubbed. For a lake with nothing but bacteria, there's a lot of effort being made to keep people out. Or keep something in. You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island

scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace.

You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth. While curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. Jones' team was ordered to secure a facility deep in the no-go zone. They loaded up for war.

Heavy weapons, body armor, an M134 minigun that could fire 4,000 rounds per minute. They weren't taking any chances. The entrance looked normal, just another research building in the middle of nowhere. That was the point. What was underneath wasn't normal at all. The first body they found was face down in a hallway. These weren't slash marks. These were surgical cuts, clean and deliberate.

Then they heard skittering. Something moved in the shadows. Before anyone could react, it lunged. A strider the size of a large dog. The soldiers opened fire, but it was already on Henderson. The thing didn't just attack, it dissected with perfect cuts. Henderson was still conscious and screaming when the strider peeled his face off. Eleven men became ten. Large striders were dangerous, but at least you can see them coming.

The small ones were the problem. Not much bigger than house cats, they moved in packs through the vents. They could climb, they could jump. The team learned to watch the ceiling after finding Mitchell. He'd been dragged out a hallway and into an office. His legs were still twitching while the striders went to work. Ten men became nine. It took 18 hours to clear the facility.

In the basement, they found a lab the size of an airplane hangar. There were cages of all sizes. Most were broken open and empty. Bodies were everywhere. Blood trails led to the vents. The largest cage held a Strider nearly 40 feet tall. Then they realized this was a breeding facility and something went very, very wrong. But what they found in the next room is what broke them. Two medium-sized striders in a cage

feeding on something. Joan's team moved closer. The air smelled sweet and tasted metallic. This cage wasn't broken. It was fully intact, with a chute for dropping in food. The striders were loud and violent as they tore through their meal. Then they saw small shoes,

a tiny backpack. One of the men vomited. The striders were eating children. Documents scattered across the facility told a dark story. This was a joint operation between America, Chile, and China. They were breeding striders, trying to control them. They spliced genes to make the creatures more aggressive. They were also trying to make them more obedient.

Eh, sounds like they got it half right. These were apex predators millions of years ago, frozen in the ice until scientists woke them up. But it gets worse. It always gets worse. Behind the testing labs, a bullet train terminal. Tunnels stretched beneath the ocean floor to cities all over the world. Hong Kong, New York, Melbourne, London. The trains used magnetic levitation technology decades ahead of its time.

Lab notes mentioned delivery schedules, regular shipments from major cities. The Striders were being conditioned to hunt specific targets. The shipments were people, mostly children. This was the largest human trafficking operation in the world. After his father died, Anton found his old computer, an Apple IIe from McMurdo.

The hard drives contained everything. DNA sequences, facility layouts, shipping manifests. All the evidence was there, but he needed help recovering the data. Users warned him to leave the drives alone. Some gave advice on not how to recover the drives, on how to destroy them. Others just said, run. Anton never posted again. The Google Earth image that started it all has been scrubbed. The coordinates show only ice and snow.

But beneath the surface, the network still operates. What was once confined to Antarctica now has access to every continent on Earth. Antarctica is Earth's true last frontier. No country owns it. That's what the lizard people want you to think. They own everything below sea level. In 1947, Admiral Richard E. Byrd led Operation High Jump, one of the largest Antarctic expeditions in history.

They loaded up with enough firepower to start a war. Operation High Jump, link down and you lose papoose. The expedition ended early. Very early. During World War II, the Nazis launched Operation Neuschwabenland. Rumors spread about discoveries beneath the ice, underground caverns, ancient ruins, evidence of something that predates humanity.

We know high-ranking German officials fled to South America after the war. Link to Operation Eagle flight down in your keksdose. Keksdose? Double. Most Nazis fled to Argentina. Others, according to theories, escaped to a hidden base beneath Antarctica. The US government took this theory seriously. In 1959, they locked down the entire continent. The Antarctic Treaty banned military presence, private exploration, unauthorized access.

And it's true that some coordinates are censored. That's what allowed the Strider legend to start. Google does scrub images. I had to clean up Anton's posts to make them coherent. I tried not to add too much, but Anton typed like a typical 4chan user. All lowercase, no punctuation. Random slurs for some reason.

Anton's military patches and documents seem compelling, but those are easy to fake. But the underground bullet train network stretching across continents? That's impossible. Subs can't go that deep. No hollow tunnel could survive that pressure. I couldn't help but notice

a lot of his story mirrors the thing. A very underrated movie. Kurt Russell in the 80s is gold. I agree. I can't say for sure that Anton's story is fake, but he was probably riffing on the thing. He got some things right, though. McMurdo Station has restricted areas.

Military personnel conduct classified operations there. The no-go zones are real. The Ninian is another fun story. A massive humanoid creature with pale skin and human features lurking in Antarctic waters. But like most cryptid stories, the evidence doesn't hold up. The photos show exactly what you'd expect. Blurry white shapes in dark water, and most are icebergs. Some are photoshopped. Others are beluga whales, which have smooth white skin and round humanoid faces. But the ninyan is supposed to be 60 feet long.

Beluga whales aren't that big. But sperm whales are. Yes, babe. Stop it. They sometimes hunt vertically, floating upright. Maybe that's what they saw. There's no mention of the ninyan before the early 2000s, but there is Japanese folklore about creatures called nino, which means human fish. Again, I can't prove it's fake, but it's probably fake. Now, organism 46B, the psychic,

shapeshifting cephalopod. Tetrithegapus. That one is pure fiction. The story comes from a post on a tabloid site in 2013. Dr. Anton Padalka doesn't exist. In 2012, Russian scientists did drill into Lake Vostok. And it's true that an actual freshwater lake two miles under the ice that hasn't been exposed for about 20 million years is there. That's fertile ground for an urban legend to be born. So one was. These three stories don't hold up,

but Antarctica's mysteries, those are real. UFO sightings, strange lights in the sky, unexplained crashes. Satellite images showed massive structures with entrances under the ice. Once the coordinates got out, the images were blurred. And if you want to see this for yourself, go watch Mysteries Beneath the Ice,

an episode so nice I linked it twice. Antarctica is bigger than Europe and Australia. It's much bigger than the United States, yet only a tiny fraction is open to the public. You can visit if you're from a signatory country and can get a permit. Good luck with that. Most of the continent is specially protected or specially managed.

You need another permit for those areas. You won't get one. Antarctica is one of Earth's most restricted places. Maybe that's for a reason. We're told the rules are there to protect the environment. But until we can see for ourselves, we'll always wonder if they're protecting something else. I don't believe in these cryptids, but doing this show has made me believe other things.

Crop circles are real, the moon is weird, and there's something under the ice at the bottom of the world. I don't know why, but I have a very strong feeling that whatever it is, we should probably leave it alone. Thank you so much for hanging out today. My name is AJ. There's Hecklefish. Stay frosty, humans!

This has been the Y-Files. If you had fun or learned anything, do him a favor. Comment, like, Hecklefish. Stay frosty, humans. This has been the Y-Files. If you had fun or learned anything, do him a favor, comment, like, subscribe, share. It's a small thing to ask, but it helps us out so much. Now, like most topics we cover here, today's was recommended by you. So if there's a story you'd like to see or learn more about, go to the Y-Files.com slash tips.

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Try not to spread that around. 10% that's a lot of bread. Fine. Those are the plugs and that's going to do it. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated. I played Polybius in Area 51 A secret code inside the Bible said I was I loved my UFOs and paranormal fun

As well as music So I'm singing like I should But then another conspiracy theory Becomes the truth, my friends And it never ends No, it never ends I fear the crab cat and I got stuck inside Mel's home With MKUltra being only two away Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone

On a film set Were the shadow people there The Roswell aliens Just fought the smiling man I'm told And his name was cold And I can't believe I'm dancing with the fishes Heck, no fish on Thursday night

Wednesday, J2 And the wildfires have their feet all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild birds have their feet all through the night The Mothman sightings and the solar storm still come To have got the secret city underground Mysterious number stations Planet Serpo 2 Project Stargate

And what the Dark Watchers found In a simulation Don't you worry though The Black Knight said a lot He told me so I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish Heckle fish on Thursday nights with AJ too And the wild boars on the beat all through the night

All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the wild boars on the beat all through the night Hens will fish on Thursday nights when they chase you And one more summer beat all through the night All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So one more summer beat all through the night Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance

Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance on the dance floor because she is a camel Camels love to dance floor Because she is a camel And camels love to dance When the feeling is right On wasting time

Gertie loves to dance Gertie loves to dance