A part of the Slime Lore Archive

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The Water Man Human Interaction Archive

The Water Man Phenomenon: A Brief History

PSYOP.

Extraterrestrial Beings.

Alien Observers.

Mass-hallucination.

Gaia Spirits.

Benevolent Ocean Gods.

Harbinger of the End-Times.

Proto-Slimes.

Father of All Slimes.

Ask any human their opinion of the Water Man and you will receive a unique answer or be pushed away.

Before its revelation, it was a mere cryptid, existence unproven.

April 10th, 2012, it appeared globally on beaches, fish markets, ocean vessels, naval bases, and anywhere with a body of water and humans present. They came up silently from the waves, a apprently identical humanoid forms of suspended water flowing serenely from head to foot. They had no mouth, yet they spoke an idea without words into the minds of those present.

This is the message they felt:

We mean you no harm. We wish to live in peace beside you, not above or below you.

Many were frozen in awe. Others collapsed unconscious. Some fell to their knees and wept. And others ran in fear.

After they relayed the message, they looked out onto their audiences one last time, turned, and walked back to the waves.

One month later, the first slimes, blue, began emerging.

To many, the connection was clear.

The Water Man's Physical Manifestations

When we speak of the Water Man, we typically mean the familiar humanoid figure. In accounts from the past few decades, we can see that it (or phenomena resembling it) do not always take that shape.

Non-Humanoid Forms

Humanoid Form

Pre-Revelation

Ancient Accounts

Few written accounts of the Water Man or Water Men are known to exist from before the 20th century. Any written accounts from this time are likely recorded from folklore long shared via word-of-mouth, thus their connection to the Water Man is not entirely confirmable.

Art

Most challenging among the artistic representations are prehistoric cave paintings. These are often difficult to fully understand, and it is likely impossible to parse the entire meaning of these works of art. Further, ancient humans did not or rarely had access to blue pigments, the color most often used to depict water. Even still, some cave paintings have been found depicting a luminous, faceless humanoid figure standing near or in shallow pools, often paired with other humanoid figures (presumed to be humans) displaying aggression or reverence.

A few Roman frescoes depict a blue humanoid shape near or in water. These could depict the Water Man, but given the deteriorated state of the few known sites, this has not been confirmed.

Folklore

Numerous water-like entities are found in folklore throughout the globe and throughout history, but there are none with enough similarities to the Water Man Phenomenon to be comfortably considered related.

Modern Accounts

Cryptid-hunters, spiritualists and conspiracy theorists have been known to seek an entity made of suspended water throughout the 20th century, though these individuals were considered at the fringes of their respective communities, especially in the face of UFOlogy and Bigfoot.

First Sighting: The 2000 Superior Clip

The first verifiable sighting of the Water Man occurred on June 3rd, 2000 in Michigan on Lake Superior. In the early morning, a kayaker recorded footage of a fluid figure standing at the end of a dock. It had no face, no features beyond its humanoid shape, and made no movement save the flowing of the water that made up its form. Like the Patterson-Gimlin film claiming to depict a hairy bipedal entity, the Superior clip is low quality and shaky. But unlike the footage of Bigfoot, the Superior clip has proven difficult to confirm as altered in the two decades it has been public. The footage starts from a low zoom with the end of the dock at center-frame. The water entity is difficult to see at this level, but as the video zooms in, reflections from the rising sun make the humanoid figure much easier to make out. Despite the lack of quality the entity clearly does not have a face, yet it appears to be looking directly at the camera. After about one second of fully-zoomed recording, the entity steps back from the dock and possibly sinks back into the water (due to the shakiness, it is difficult to see).

In the light of the Water Man's revelation, this is believed to be genuine footage of the Water Man, making it the earliest confirmed recording.

The Water Man's Interventions

During the 2000's, stories began surfacing which describe a water-based entity intervening during disasters to rescue humans in peril. All accounts are unique, but they all share something.

These rescues, though incredible, were rare. Perhaps others did occur but remained unreported due to fear of ridicule, or were reported but covered-up by governing bodies. During this time, disasters did occur that did not

Caves

Numerous cases of individuals exploring caves trapped by rising floodwaters describe instances of being rescued by unknown forces. Some recount being pulled through the water and darkness to be deposited safely at the cave's entrance.

From a 2009 event in Australia, a rescued individual claims:

It was pitch dark. We were submerged briefly and the torch got wet. Someone started praying, someone tried lighting a match.
After a while, we could see dim reflections on the surface of the water -- I thought someone had gotten a light working, it wasn't bright enough to be that. The glow started getting brighter, so much so we could see each other again.
I was hoping it was a rescue diver, but we'd only been in there two hours, and the rain came so suddenly -- I knew it couldn't have been a first-responder.
Water kept pouring in from the walls and ceiling, and we thought we were done for. Then the water kind of opened up. It was some Moses shit. I thought I saw a person there beckoning us forward.
The water showed us the exit

Sailors

There are numerous instances of humans being rescued after falling overboard from boats, ships, and offshore platforms.

I found one account from a Norwegian oil platform worker caught off-guard by a strong gust of wind in 2005. Official records indicate that a Man Overboard alert was triggered and rescue efforts began right away. The individual in question says their memory was hazy and their body ravaged by the freezing depths, but they distinctly remember the feeling of being lifted from under their arms, and on the surge of a wave, they were lifted, carried, and deposited safely back on the platform. From here they lost consciousness, but other crew members described this wave as being "careful" and "alive."

I saw [REDACTED] at the apex of the swell. It came up like an inverted whirlpool, unlike any natural movement of the ocean. It was big like a rogue wave, but targeted. Just when I thought it would crash down on us with [REDACTED] in its clutches, it dropped [REDACTED] onto the catwalk and retreated without a trace.

Swimmers

In 2006, a swimmer attempting to cross the English Channel became briefly unresponsive in choppy waters and disappeared from the view of the support crew. Rescue efforts began immediately. After about a minute with no progress made and panic setting in, one crew member turned to the other side of the boat to see the swimmer, unconscious, being placed carefully onto the deck. The crew member noted how the water itself lifted the swimmer from the sea, then slipped back, unlike any water they had seen.

Another story comes from an individual who has assisted me greatly in compiling the stories of this archive. In 2007, during a family vacation in Cape Cod, they were caught in a rip current. Even as an experienced swimmer, they were pulled out from the shore. Before slipping under the surface from exhaustion, they could see their family waving and yelling.

My head went under one last time. It felt like an eternity, like I'd be sinking to the sea floor for hours before the lights went out. Then I felt arms around me. I thought it was a life guard or something, but it didn't feel like human arms, if that makes sense.
I don't remember anything after that until I washed up on the beach. I looked up, all my family was running up to me, surrounding me. But in the water, I saw a human shape in the waves -- made of the waves. It was sinking back to wherever it came from.
I never forgot that. Nobody believed me, they thought it was some kind of miracle, or that I managed to get out of the current and back to shore on my own. But at that speed it would be impossible to do alone. I know what I saw.

The Revelation

On the morning of April 10th, 2012, the largest demonstration of the Water Man Phenomenon began: its only known hyper-coordinated manifestation.

The first appearance reported that morning occurred at the Toyosu Fish Market in Tokyo Bay at around 10:30 AM local time, followed by other locations within that longitude (the immediate dissemination of reports originated in Japan, but more local reports of appearances appeared further east in such places as Fiji, Christchurch, Brisbane to name some notable locations). A few grainy cell-phone photos and videos and CCTV recordings exist from the Water Man revelation events across Asia.

As the Earth turned, appearance events shifted westwards. By the time reports reached eastern Europe, human individuals were prepared. News outlets and private citizens alike flocked to coastlines and beaches with cameras at the ready. Higher-fidelity recordings were made and began spreading at this time.

Even on ships at sea, Water Man appearances were reported, standing at the bows and looking out to any members of the ship's crew in view. Very little recordings of these events exist, and it is unlikely any will surface.

Well before Water Man appearances reached the Americas, military organizations were on the highest alert in recent times. Despite news of the Water Man's message spreading along with the images, no governing body could fully trust these reports.

Even still, reporters and scientists along with civilians flooded coastal areas, lakes and rivers to see and to document the Water Man. Videos and pictures of the Water Man from North and South America are the most abundant thanks to widespread reporting from the rest of the world giving them time to prepare.

The Aftermath

International tensions were at a tipping point for a few agonizing hours. No fingers were officially pointed, no missiles launched.

In the mainstream, scientists and religious leaders were at the forefront of easing tensions.

Online spaces were flooded with analyses of the Water Mans' wording choice, comparing translations from non-English speakers, searching for symbolism in its physical appearances and where it chose to appear.

And of course, fringe circles ran amock with theories of all kinds.

As I was not alive during this time, and many I have spoken to regarding their thoughts in the aftermath have forgotten much of how they felt, citing the new wave of global tensions that arose soon after with slime emergence.

I have spent countless hours scrolling back in time on social media and news, podcast archives, news headlines and op-eds. The following is how I would categorize most of the sentiments.

A Categorization of Immediate Theories and Sentiments

The 'Rational'

This is something real that we do not yet have the scientific knowledge to understand.

This was the primary view of the world's leaders. Outside of human perception, we had imagery from the ground and even (classified) spy satelites confirming that people had seen something physical. Images from various angles allowed approximate 3D models to be reconstructed. The figure showed up on radar scans. It was undoubtedly physical (at least in part).

The telepathic component was more concerning, and the science community seemed hesitant to make any claims about this. They would never deny it happened, as some were present during the appearances. What the telepathy indicated was an intelligence or technology beyond what anyone thought capable at the time - perhaps the world's science leaders were reluctant to admit there was something spooky about this phenomenon lest it planted the public's fears even deeper.

The Extraterrestrial Explanation

This is something not from our world / not from our plane of existence

The most popular of the 'fringe' theories in the immediate aftermath was that this was something alien, whether from an unknown region or intelligence that existed on Earth or from a visitor from another part of the universe.

The 2023 Pentagon UFO video releases has resulted in a resurgence of these claims. Since at least 2004, Navy ships, pilots and drones captured recordings of unknown objects seeming to move at intense speeds and perform impossible manuevers, especially above and around the ocean, sometimes even transitioning from undersea to sky seamlessly. The Water Man's various interactions and recordings do not indicate any presence of UFO activity, and no known correlation between the Water Man and UFO activity has been solidly proven to this day.

Perhaps this hypothesis is largely informed by science fiction. We see 'aliens' mostly as humanoid, either closely or uncannily so, posessing powers such as technology that appears like magic (telepathy, telekenesis and teleportation, for example).

Benevolent Visitor(s)

It was polite.

"We mean you no harm." This sentence stuck with many. Not only did it attempt to provide reassurance, it also implied there could be multiple individuals. It had appeared in multiple places, sometimes simultaneously, and said "we mean you no harm. Were these appearances each an individual of an alien species?

"We wish to live in peace beside you, not above or below you,"

Invasion

The invasion hypothesis took two main forms: This was deliberate trickery by an alien force, or an incoming 'soft invasion' in which neither party would fully grasp what was happening until it was too late. The multiple simultaneous appearances and use of the word 'we' was their most cited factor.

The slime emergence that followed only bolstered this idea.

The Religious

Abrahamic Perspective

The three significant Abrahamic faiths were, for once, largely in agreement. In the first weeks post-appearance, the larger governing bodies urged caution, obviously not wanting to claim some widely seen unknown phenomenon as a miracle or something holy or divine or something to be worshipped as a god in its own right. Yet none (save some evangelical sects of Christianity and extremist groups) would denounce it outright and identify it as demonic.

To this day, even the Vatican does not take a firm stance on the phenomenon.

A common example of the shared perspective is the expression "We mean you no harm" as the Water Man's 'first words' being compared to divine messengers telling witnesses "be not afraid" or "fear not." Still, comparison fell short of calling the Water Man appearances literal angels or messengers from above.

The consensus was:

Water Man as a God

Some, especially those from some 'pagan' perspectives, believe this to be the world's waterways and seas waking up and hoping to make ammends with our species. Reasoning remains somewhat unclear, but the prevailing idea is in support of ecology and environmentalism. Perhaps it was a cry for help. "We wish to live in peace beside you, not above or below you" sounded to those like a request for better treatment of our oceans, their inhabitants and resources.

The Conspiracies

In my personal opinion, these hypotheses and sentiments have no merit. To not include them felt dishonest, as they were qiute widespread, even if only experiencing short-lived hype.

Institutional

The Water Man Appearance took place mere months after the Occupy Wall Street demonstration, and was partly informed by the 2008 financial crisis and institutional distrust. In the circles concerned with these events, the Water Man represented a new arm of the 'establishment,' one hoping to foment further fear and anger through a globally coordinated psyop.

As slime emergence began and years passed, this theory gradually lost steam, though many still hold on to it, believing slimes sich as myself are just another part of a mysterious big plan.

International Adversaries

This era, though not as heavily as before, was marked by the aftermath of September 11th and the War on Terror. Despite the lack of international blame and overall cooperation in the immediate wake of the Water Man's appearance, some thought their nation's adversaries were responsible.

Perspectives Post-Slime-Emergence

Hardly a month after the Water Man delivered the message, the first blue slimes began emerging globally. With the images and feelings from the appearance still fresh in their minds, humans began making the connection between slimes and the Water Man.

The Water Man:

Blue slimes:

Reluctantly, the media began making these comparisons. Was this the 'we' the Water Man was referring to?

Today

The Water Man has not made a public appearance since its 2012 global message. Many have said they have seen it, spoken to it, interacted with it (sometimes even physically intimate), but none of these can truly be verified.

It is known that the FBSA has a classified department dedicated to the research of the Water Man Phenomenon. I cannot prove that this actually exists, but I have been approached and occasionally intimidated by individuals both in person and online who I believe to be FBSA agents from this supposed Department of Aqueous Anomalies. It seems they would prefer I not maintain this online space.

Knowledge of the Water Man is, in my personal opinion, not something to be scrubbed or hidden from view. Everybody should know what is and is not happening in regards to this phenomenon.