The Why Files: Operation Podcast
584: Cryptids Vol. 3: The Antarctic Cover-up | Predators Beneath the Ice
Mon, 24 Feb 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?
Chapter 1: What mysterious events occurred at Lake Vostok?
The Russian team at Lake Vostok in Antarctica drilled through two miles of ice. They were inches away from hitting water that hadn't seen sunlight in 20 million years. 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.
Chapter 2: Are there dangerous creatures beneath Antarctica's ice?
Yeah, 4chan 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 Ant 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.
Chapter 3: What did Anton discover about the Antarctic no-go zones?
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.
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Chapter 4: What is the legend of the Ninyon in Antarctic waters?
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, Ninyon, the Japanese word for human. The crews who encountered the Ninyon never felt threatened. It just watched them floating silently in the darkness.
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Chapter 5: What secrets lie in the abandoned research facilities?
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 ships 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 Ninian.
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 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 looked under the mangled front end. At that moment, the no-go zones, the secrecy, the injuries, everything made sense. If you've got cats, you know they run the house. And having three Maine Coons like me makes you more than a cat owner. You're staffed.
This time of year, every cat is an indoor cat. And when it's freezing outside, I'm an indoor human. But you know what really stinks about being stuck inside? The litter box. Three big cats? That's three times the, well, you know. That's why I switched to Pretty Litter. Pretty Litter's non-clumping formula traps odor and moisture instead of letting it sit and stink up the place.
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Chapter 6: What is Organism 46B and why is it significant?
That's prettylitter.com slash the Y-Files to save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy. prettylitter.com slash the Y-Files. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details. 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.
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