The search for the "Titanic" in 1985 was a cover for a top-secret US Navy mission

The search for the "Titanic" in 1985 was a cover for a top-secret operation of the United States Navy.

As reported by BAKU.WS, oceanographer Robert Ballard, who discovered the liner, told CNN about this.

"At that time, many people didn't know that the search for the Titanic was a cover for a top-secret military operation that I was conducting as a U.S. naval intelligence officer... We didn't want the Soviet Union to know where our submarine was," Ballard said.

Robert Ballard, on the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the Titanic, revealed details of this secret operation. Its main goal was to locate the American nuclear submarines Thresher and Scorpion that had sunk in the Atlantic. For this purpose, an innovative technology developed by Ballard and called "Argo" was used. It allowed video transmission from the ocean floor via a remotely operated research vehicle to the ship.

Ballard convinced the U.S. Navy leadership to allocate time and resources within the expedition to search for the "Titanic." Despite years of careful planning for the operation, Ballard had no particular illusions about the possibility of finding the sunken liner.

The main reason was the limited time allocated for the search, as well as the use by a competing French team, led by engineer Jean-Louis Michel, of the newest and most sophisticated ship-based sonar system. This advanced technology was supposed to help determine the exact location of the legendary ship's sinking more quickly. However, even it did not guarantee success within the strict time constraints.

The scientist also revealed that studying the remains of the Scorpion helped him discover the site of the Titanic's demise. He noticed that a large vessel after sinking left behind a long chain of debris, although it was previously thought that they would be grouped in one place. "Heavier objects immediately sank to the bottom, but lighter ones descended more slowly," the specialist explained.