I've been a search and rescue diver for 20 years, everything changed for me on January 6, 2005

It was a routine call, which made it all the more strange.<br><br>I'm a search and rescue diver for the local coast guard. My crew and I respond to all kinds of water related emergencies, from recoveries to rescues. Over the last 20 years, I've seen it all. Drownings, accidents, murders. Even the odd ghost story. But what I do for a living is pretty straightforward. When someone goes "overboard", we jump in and bring 'em back.<br><br>It was a routine call, which made it all the more strange.<br><br>Back in 2005, I was out on a job with my crew. A local boat had flipped in the harbor, sending three men into the drink. We got there pretty quickly, and began preparing the dive site. Our tender had already made it out to the wreck and was confirming all three men were still strapped in their life jackets and submerged. This was going to be a messy dive, so we were taking our time.<br><br>While setting up the lines and finding a good entry point, I took the opportunity to check the comm after the tender had made its loop and come back. "This is Neptune-7. We read you loud and clear. How's the situation?"<br><br>"Affirm, Neptune-7. Three males, all secured in harnesses. One's out cold, the other 2 seem banged up but okay. I'm losing battery."<br><br>"Roger that, Neptune-7. We're 10 minutes out tops." I looked up from the radio to see my crew giving me the thumbs up. Tendrils of seaweed waved in the current, just above the surface of the water. It was going to be a messy one.<br><br>I gave the OK, and we dove in. <br><br>The harbor was calm and blue that day, with visibility of almost ten feet. I dove straight down, following the lines leading into the water to the sunken boat. My partner dived to the side, to help with the rescue efforts. <br><br>When I hit the bottom, the noise of the water rushing past me disappeared. All I heard was the sound of my heart pounding in my mask. I looked up to the boat, and felt a chill run down my spine. One of the men was already looking down at me. I tried to shake off the weird feeling and got to work.<br><br>The man who was out cold was the first to go. It was obviously the worst condition, so he got the boot. My partner and I managed to free him from the wreckage, and get a line around his waist. With a few strong pulls, we managed to dislodge him from the boat and get him floating again.<br><br>As we were securing him to the line, I heard a voice behind me.<br><br>"Hey, is that him?"<br><br>I turned to see a young man in a red shirt, holding his head in his hands and looking up at me with wide eyes. I nodded, and he slid down into a squat. <br><br>"You okay, buddy?" I asked.<br><br>"Yeah. Thanks. I think I might've broken my nose."<br><br>I nodded. "You're welcome."<br><br>The guy stood up and looked at me for a long moment. His eyes were a weird shade of blue, almost white. It was a little disconcerting, but I didn't have time to think much about it. I had to help the other guy. <br><br>I swam over to where the other man was sitting, holding his head and looking miserable.<br><br>"You hurt bad?" I asked.<br><br>He looked up at me. "I don't know. I feel dizzy. Do you think that's my friend up there?"<br><br>I looked up to see the other diver helping the third man from the wreck. <br><br>"Yep, that is. Just sit tight, okay?"<br><br>He nodded weakly, and I swam off to help my partner.<br><br>We got the last guy secured, and began making our way back up. The line seemed long on the way out, but not so much on the way back. Sometimes it's psychological, but this was just because he was a lot lighter than the other two.<br><br>As we broke the surface, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see the diver next to me. "You okay?" he asked.<br><br>"Yeah. You?"<br><br>He looked at me strangely for a long moment before responding. "Yeah. So, how you know my name?"<br><br>I was confused. "My name?"<br><br>The diver laughed. "Yeah. Neptune-7."<br><br>I smiled. "Oh. You mean me?"<br><br>The diver nodded. "Yeah. Everyone knows your name."<br><br>I swam up to the surface and read the tender's call sign as Neptune-7. Then it clicked. Everyone knows your name was a quote from a movie. The scene in Mission Impossible where the character Hans Zimmer is pretending to be a diver over the radio. The line always made me laugh.<br><br>As I looked at the tender, I saw the letters N-E-P-T-U-N-E written across the side in bold letters. <br><br>Then the guy next to me spoke up.<br><br>"You know, buddy?"<br><br>"Yeah?"<br><br>"How much do you think you can swim?"<br><br>I was getting really confused. "Swim?"<br><br>The diver nodded towards the harbor. "To the dock over there."<br><br>I looked across the water and saw the dock. "Not that far, man."<br><br>He nodded towards the other direction. "Come on. I'll race you."<br><br>I swam towards the dock, looking back over my shoulder. The diver was swimming away from me. "Dude, where are you going?" I called after him. <br><br>When I got to the dock, I looked out towards the water. He was gone. I looked back at the wreck, and there he was, swimming back towards me.<br><br>"Who are you?" I called out towards him.<br><br>He swam closer until his face was just feet from mine. "Everyone knows your name."<br><br>Then he kicked towards the water, and disappeared below the surface.<br><br>I swam after him, but he was gone. When I got back to the tender, my crew were asking me if I was okay. <br><br>"Yeah, man. What just happened?"<br><br>My buddy put a hand on my shoulder. "Dude, you probably got some brain damage from the fall. You've been out for ten minutes."<br><br>I looked at the wreck. The three men were being helped out of the water by my crew. <br><br>"You think I'm crazy, don't you?"<br><br>He smiled at me. "Nah, dude. We all think you're cool."<br><br>I looked at the water, and then back at my crew. I knew what I saw. And I know what I saw wasn't real.<br><br>With all the weirdness I've seen over the last twenty years, sometimes the strangest things aren't the dead man walking or the ghost stories. Sometimes the weirdest things are the things your own mind plays on you.<br><br>* <br>*<br>?<br><br>I don't know what happened down there. I don't know if it was the pressure, or the fall, or if it was my time. What I do know is that the dive site looked exactly the way it did before I dived in. The wreck, the tendril of seaweed, everything. <br><br>So I ask you, friends. Have *you* ever seen something down there that you can't explain?