Case file · Unidentified submerged object
HMS Vulture's luminous wheel
On 15 May 1879 officers of HMS Vulture in the Persian Gulf saw waves of light like the spokes of a vast revolving wheel turning on or under the sea.
1879 CE · 26.45, 53.20 · status: account
The account
Commander Pringle's account was printed in Nature in 1879. It became the classic example of the 'phosphorescent wheels' reported in the Indian Ocean, the Gulf and the South China Sea.
The sceptical view
Proposed explanations include bioluminescent plankton set off by pressure waves from undersea earthquakes or the ship's engines, and interference patterns of wave trains. No explanation is accepted by all.