MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK HISTORICAL NEWS -

MUFONET-BBS GROUP - MUTUAL UFO NETWORK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HISTORICAL NEWS - WIRE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄż ł=START= XMT: 12:13 Mon Dec 16 EXP: 12:00 Tue Dec 17 ł ł ł łSUNKEN OBJECT OFF FLORIDA'S EAST COAST MAY BE GERMAN U-BOAT ł ł ł łFORT LAUDERDALE FL (DEC. 16) UPI - A sonar survey detected ł ła slender 200-foot object submerged off the coast where ł łfishermen and divers have long traded tales of a German U- ł łboat that supposedly sank during World War II. ł ł ł łThe object was discovered 2 miles from shore on a sandy ł łpatch under 420 feet of water during a seabed survey ł łcommissioned by the Broward County Office of Natural ł łResources Protection. ł ł ł ł''We're not saying it's a submarine. We don't know what it ł łis,'' Jim Banks, the agency's artificial reef coordinator, ł łsaid Monday. ''It resembles a submarine. I'd like it to be ł łone but right now we don't have that information.'' ł ł ł łHe said the agency and its engineering contractor, ł łOceaneering International, hope to videotape the object withł ła remote-control submersible camera within the next few ł łweeks to determine what it is. ł ł ł łThe sharply defined sonar pictures suggest it is made of ł łsteel, and probably is not a ship. The dimensions are ł łconsistent with those of a submarine. ł ł ł ł''It's much narrower than a ship, it's too narrow and too ł łlong,'' Banks said. ''It's out in the sand, which makes it ł łunlikely to be a natural reef or something like that. It's ał łvery hard object, which also makes it unlikely to be a ł łreef.'' ł ł ł łOcean currents have dug the sand out from under one end, andł ła small shadow is visible on one side on the sonar pictures,ł łBanks said. ł ł ł ł''It could be a dive plane or a fin. It's sticking straight ł łup. It's hard to say what that is,'' Banks said. ł ł ł łFor years, fishermen and scuba divers have swapped beery ł łlegends about a German U-boat off the coast of Fort ł łLauderdale. Some have even claimed to have seen it. ł ł ł ł''The rumors have been around here all my life,'' said Tommył łGore, a Fort Pierce field agent with the state Division of ł łHistorical Research. ''Many, many companies and people have ł łtried to find it through the years and no one has ł łsuccessfully found it. ł ł ł ł''You'll hear of others sinking off Tampa and off the Keys. ł łIt keeps popping up in various areas of the state.'' ł ł ł łGore is inclined to dismiss the sightings as rumor but said,ł ł''It's not at all impossible for it to be a submarine. It's ł łpretty well confirmed that the Germans were in this area. ł ł ł ł''The sightings were so numerous off the coast of Florida. ł łSeveral of the ships off of Fort Pierce were torpedoed by ł łGerman boats.'' ł ł ł łU.S. Navy records indicate none of their ships or submarinesł łsank in the area but Gore said that does not rule out the ł łpossibility it could be a U.S. craft. The historical agencył łhas found pieces of unidentified Navy craft up and down ł łthe coast of Florida for years. ł ł ł ł''We've found pieces that definitely said 'U.S. Navy' right ł łon them but they (the Navy) denied it was theirs so whether ł łthey were unrecorded or unreported, we just don't know,'' ł łGore said. ł ł ł łHitler's feared U-boats sank hundreds of freighters and ł łtankers off the United States during World War II. In ł łSeptember, divers discoverd a 251-foot German submarine off ł łthe New Jersey coast in 230 feet of water. ł ł ł łBut the only confimed ''kill'' of a German submarine in the ł łSoutheast was in the Gulf of Mexico, said Jim Dunbar, an ł łarchivist with the state Division of Historical Research in ł łTallahassee. ł ł ł łGerman U-Boat No. 166 turned up off the Lousiana Coast, in ł łan oil- lease area known as Eugene Island. ł ł ł ł''That's the only one that I know of that was a confirmed ł łfind of something like a German sub, where they directly ł łknew they got it,'' Dunbar said. ł ł ł łBanks said the object was discovered while the county agencył łwas surveying for new artificial reef sites and for sites ł łwhere sand could be removed for a beach renourishment ł łproject in Pompano Beach. ł ł ł łIt was unclear what would happen if the object is a German ł łsubmarine. The county agency does not have the money or ł łmanpower to conduct a salvage operation, Banks said. ł ł ł łThe object is well within the state's 10-mile territorial ł łboundary, and the state has created underwater ł łarchaeological preserves around other historic shipwreck ł łsites. But the interest and ownership rights would be ł łuncertain at this site, Dunbar said. ł ł ł ł''If it is a German or American sub, a lot would depend on ł łwhether it was lost during the war, as an act of war,'' ł łDunbar said. ''We would look at it in terms of historical ł łsignificance.'' ł ł ł ł=END= ł