Anomalous Creature X-1968

 (Unique Entity)

I know what I saw. No threat to stay silent from the alphabet agencies can change that. We found the crew of the Ever Grace after they’d been in the water for about three days. We’d radioed our location and were about to start lifting them into the helicopter. Then the water turned green under them. Then pink. Then blue. Faster and faster. Brighter and brighter. And they started going under. They didn’t even have time to scream. Just there, then gone. Then something came out of the water. A tentacle but not like an octopus or squid. No suckers or anything like that. Smooth, oily, the changing colors following across its surface. It swiped at the helicopter again and again. Our pilot is a bad ass. He’d been in Iraq during the worst days to be in Iraq. We were lucky to get out of there. 

Anomalous Organism J-1968 was first discovered by the United States Navy in December 1967 during the search for missing Miami hotel owner Dan Burack and his cabin cruiser Witchcraft. At first, it was mistaken to be an oil slick sitting on the ocean floor. Further investigation in January 1968 determined it to be a living creature (hence the J-1968 designation). Two USN submersibles were lost to the entity during the investigation. The Navy has covered up the existence of Anomalous Organism J-1968 but continues attempting to study it. 

When the being is dormant, which it is the majority of the time, J-1968 does indeed resemble an oil slick stretching over several hundred yards. Contrary to what the US Navy initially believed, the organism does not rest on the ocean floor, but hovers a few inches above. During dormancy, it is not hostile unless provoked, allowing for close study. 

When active, which accounts for a total of less than a week a year, Anomalous Organism J-1968 is a panoply of bioluminescent colors. In one report on the being, Navy researchers speculated that it was responsible for strangle glow Columbus described witnessing in the ocean just before sighting Guanahani. During its active period, the organism is extremely aggressive, appearing to eat anything it can grasp it is tendrils. This includes animals as large as whales and even ships. Another Navy report determined it has the capacity to destroy ships as large as aircraft carriers and super tankers. 

During its active periods, J-1968 migrates great distances across the North Atlantic. It moves at an unbelievable speed, too fast to be tracked on radar, yet seems to cause no disturbance in the surrounding water despite its speed. It has been tracked to the Azores, to the coast of Maine, but it seems to prefer the waters around Bimini Island. It rarely surfaces and only does so during severe storms. 

In 1972, SSN Orca was tasked with destroying J-1968. All hands were lost. Later investigation found the boat’s torpedoes did minimum damage to the animal. 

Observation of the creature during its dormant periods has found the remains of numerous seacraft within its viscous surface. The Navy has determined Anomalous Organism J-1968 to have been responsible for the disappearance of the USS Thresher and Cyclops. Additional information has led Navy researchers to believe it killed two lighthouse keepers at the Great Isaac Lighthouse on Bimini in 1969. 

The Cthaat Aquadingen may have a reference to J-1968, though this is debated within the US Navy. In 1991, US and Spanish authorities broke up a cult gathering on Tenerife. The cult had planned on performing a human sacrifice through the sinking of an ocean liner. Navy researchers have thus far been unable to predict the movements of J-1968. How the cult was able to determine its movements died with them. 

Anomalous Organism J-1968, titanic blob

Hit Points: 300

Damage Bonus: +42D6

Build: 0

Magic Points: 20

Move: 6 swimming / incalculable while migrating

ATTACKS

Attacks per round: 1D6 per round (tendrils and crush)

J-1968 covers several hundred yards square. It attacks by growing multiple tendrils each round to squeeze and smash opponents. It may spend one attack each round to roll over nearby opponents in one direction, crushing them to death. 

Crush: May crush opponents within 100 yards in one direction. Death is automatic unless the victim makes an Extreme Dodge roll. 

Skills

None

Armor: Due the weird structure of J-1968, all non-magical attacks do 1 point of damage. 

Spells: None Sanity Loss: 1D6/2D6 sanity to encounter J-1968.  

Bruce Priddy

Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast