The Glomar Explorer UFO Connection

The Glomar Explorer, built under the guise of Howard Hughes’ marine research and deep-sea mining venture, was actually a CIA front for one of the most ambitious and secretive Cold War operations—Project Azorian. Officially presented as a ship designed to mine rare metals from the ocean floor, the vessel’s true mission was to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, the K-129, which had sunk 16,500 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean in 1968.

The operation involved constructing a massive mechanical claw, nicknamed “Clementine,” designed to grab and lift the submarine from the ocean floor. The mission, approved by President Nixon, aimed to retrieve cryptographic materials and nuclear missiles from the submarine to gain intelligence on Soviet capabilities. The cover story about mining manganese nodules provided a plausible reason for such a technologically advanced ship to be operating in deep waters.

The Soviet submarine K-129 was a Golf II-class vessel equipped with three SS-N-4 nuclear ballistic missiles, was set off from its home base in Petropavlovsk, located on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Its mission was to assume its regular patrol duties in the Pacific Ocean, just northeast of Hawaii. Not long after departing, however, the submarine vanished along with its entire crew. Despite extensive efforts by the Soviets to locate the missing sub, they eventually gave up. It was the U.S. that finally discovered K-129 resting roughly 1,800 miles northwest of Hawaii.

The U.S. government, recognizing the potential to acquire vital intelligence about Soviet military capabilities, saw the strategic value in recovering the wreck. The CIA, with backing from the Department of Defense, stepped in to take charge of this covert operation. The challenge was enormous: engineers had to figure out how to lift a 1,750-ton, 132-foot-long section of the submarine from an ocean depth exceeding three miles, all while maintaining total secrecy.

In 1970, after thorough analysis, CIA engineers concluded that the best way to recover the sunken Soviet submarine was to use a massive mechanical claw attached to a hydraulic system on a surface vessel. The Hughes Glomar Explorer, presented as a deep-sea mining ship owned by billionaire Howard Hughes, served as the cover for this mission.

Over four years, the Hughes Glomar Explorer was equipped with an oil rig-like derrick, a pipe-transfer crane, docking legs, and a claw-like capture vehicle. It also featured a central “moon pool” large enough to hold the recovered submarine section, with doors that could seal the floor. To maintain secrecy, the claw was assembled under a roof and loaded into the ship from a submerged barge, enabling the entire operation to be conducted underwater, hidden from view.

Project Azorian was carried out at a reported cost of $800 million, which equates to approximately $4.7 billion today. The project remained classified until the 1990s, when it was finally declassified. Given the extraordinary investment in constructing the Glomar Explorer for such a complex mission, it’s unlikely that the ship was built for a single use – there must have been another objective.

The actual recovery mission for the Soviet submarine K-129 as part of Project Azorian began when the Glomar Explorer arrived at the recovery site on July 4, 1974. Recovery operations started shortly after that and continued throughout the month. On August 1, 1974, the submarine was lifted off the ocean floor. The operation concluded on August 8, 1974, when the recovered section of the submarine was secured in the ship’s hold. The mission lasted over a month, during which the crew faced complications, including Soviet naval surveillance​.

The recovery operation also encountered setbacks when the submarine broke apart during the lift, with only part of it being successfully retrieved. Some of the submarine’s contents were recovered, including the bodies of several Soviet sailors, who were given a military burial at sea. Despite its partial success, the true scope of what the CIA recovered remains unclear, leading to ongoing speculation about the mission’s full outcome.

After Project Azorian concluded, officially, the Glomar Explorer entered a dormant phase. In 1976, the U.S. Navy acquired the vessel and integrated it into its auxiliary operations. In 1978, it was leased to the Ocean Minerals Company, a consortium including major corporations like Standard Oil, Shell, and Lockheed, for deep-sea mining experiments.

The Glomar Explorer may have been part of a secretive program beyond its well-known Soviet submarine recovery mission in 1974. After this, the ship appears to have been used for nearly two decades by Lockheed Martin, possibly for classified deep-sea projects. Later, the connection between Howard Hughes and aliens is linked through Dr. Malcolm Currie, a former CEO of Hughes Aircraft. Before his death, Currie admitted to the existence of aliens in a conversation captured by someone claiming to have worked with him.

The National Underwater Reconnaissance Office (NURO) is a highly secretive organization believed to have been established jointly by the CIA and the U.S. Navy, with its origins linked to the sinking of the Soviet submarine K-129 in 1968. NURO is often described as a counterpart to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) but focuses on underwater intelligence gathering. Initially dominated by the CIA, NURO operated covertly using specialized submarines and midget subs to conduct deep-sea reconnaissance, often penetrating into hostile and even friendly waters to gather intelligence. By the mid-1970s, day-to-day control of NURO shifted to the U.S. Navy, and it became more involved in joint operations with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and other military branches. The operations of NURO were classified, with some involving highly sophisticated underwater technologies​

By the 1990s, the ship was converted for deep-sea oil drilling under Global Marine Drilling, later becoming part of Transocean’s fleet. Renamed the GSF Explorer, the ship continues to be used for that purpose​. Ultimately, Transocean, which had acquired the ship, announced its scrapping, and by June 2015, the GSF Explorer was dismantled at a shipyard in Zhoushan, China.

Apparently, exploration of underwater UFO retrievals didn’t stop. According to an article titled “Paradigm-Changing UFO Transparency Legislation Fails In Congress For Second Consecutive Year,” written by Christopher Sharp and published by Liberation Times on 20 September 2024, discusses the failure of transparency legislation regarding UFO crash retrievals. According to the article, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution assists in UFO retrieval missions by providing deep submergence vehicles. Once recovered, these crafts are transferred to the Office of Naval Research, which then hands them over to defense contractors for further analysis. The legislation aimed at increasing transparency in such UFO recovery operations that has been blocked for two years.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has long supported deep-sea exploration efforts through the use of its advanced submergence vehicles. One of its most notable contributions is the Alvin submersible, a human-occupied vehicle capable of diving to depths of up to 6,500 meters. Alvin has been instrumental in numerous deep-sea retrieval missions, including locating a lost hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean in 1966 and aiding in the exploration of the RMS Titanic wreck in 1986. Additionally, it has participated in significant scientific missions, such as the discovery of hydrothermal vents​.

WHOI operates Alvin as part of the U.S. National Deep Submergence Facility, and it has remained state-of-the-art thanks to numerous upgrades. The institution also manages other critical deep-sea vehicles, like the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason, which can operate at depths of 6,500 meters for real-time seafloor exploration​. These technologies have supported both scientific missions and classified retrieval efforts, advancing our understanding of the deep ocean.

The Glomar Explorer epitomizes Cold War secrecy and ongoing speculation about covert retrieval operations, including potential UFO recoveries. Initially built for Project Azorian, it later became tied to other classified missions. Whistleblowers claim that UFO crash recoveries involve deep-sea submersibles, with crafts handed over to defense contractors for analysis.

The Glomar response was created during the CIA’s operation with the Glomar Explorer. When journalists investigated the mission, the CIA issued a reply that “neither confirmed nor denied” the existence of relevant information. This phrase has since been widely used to protect classified national security matters, symbolizing the secrecy surrounding military operations.