A team of deep-sea researchers is puzzled by the discovery of a mysterious flesh-like gold orb at the bottom of the ocean.
The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration team found the mysterious orb last week about two miles down in "the deep abyssal depths of the Gulf of Alaska."
The orb appeared to be flesh-like with an even more perplexing hole in it.
"Something tried to get in, or to get out," one researcher said during a live video feed of the discovery, per the Miami Herald.
"I just hope when we poke it, something doesn't decide to come out," another researcher commented. "It's like the beginning of a horror movie."
The orb was gently suctioned up so it can be tested in a lab.
"I just received confirmation from the expedition coordinator on the ship that the orb remains a mystery," NOAA's Emily Crum told The Mirror. "Sounds as if they won't learn more until after the expedition is over and they can take the specimen into a full lab setting."
The expedition -- officially known as Seascape Alaska 5: Gulf of Alaska Remotely Operated Vehicle Exploration and Mapping -- is set to end on September 16.
According to NOAA, the as-of-yet unidentified orb is likely an egg casing. Even so, the discovery has scientists perplexed.
"When our collective knowledge can't identify it, it's something weird," one researcher said, per the Miami Herald. "What kind of an animal would make an egg casing like that?"
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