Fisherman Finds Strange Device, 10 Minutes Later Navy Show Up
What The Powers Keep From Us
Most of us aspire to lead a simple, uncomplicated life. The last thing the average person wants is governments, big powers, or even the US Navy being concerned about their personal doings. But sometimes it happens.
The protagonist of this story, Darko Bigava, is the living proof. All he wanted was to go fishing, then sell what he caught and not have to worry about big politics or military affairs. But one day something happened that would turn his world upside down.
The Story Of Darko Bigava
Telegraf.rs
Darko Bigava was a humble fisherman from the Elaphiti Islands, in the southern coast of Croatia. He had been fishing since he was a kid. His father was also a fisherman before him, and so was his grandfather.
It was hard for him to imagine that at some point in his life, the greatest political and military powers of the world would step into his life.
All His Days Were The Same
Vecernji List
Bigava couldn’t imagine himself doing anything other than fishing. He led a fairly simple life, and he was happy with it. Every day he would get up and get his nets and boat ready. After that, he would venture among the waters surrounding the Elaphiti Islands and come back with some fish to sell..
Every time he woke up, he expected the day to be similar and almost the same as the day before. He had been doing the same thing for years; he never contemplated the possibility of anything unusual happening.
He Didn’t Plan On Getting In Contact With The US Navy
El Mundo
All he had to do during the day was wait for his nets to get loaded enough, collect some fish and take the product with him. After that, he only had to deal with a few regular customers he had known for years.
Some of them were restaurant owners, some had shops. If anyone had told Bigava that one day we would also have to deal with the heads of the US Navy, he would have thought it was a joke. But life is often surprising.
He was Struggling Financially
National Geographic
By the time the incident took place, Bigava wasn’t in a good financial situation. The pandemic had put a stop to the steady flow of tourists and visitors in the Elaphiti Islands; as a consequence, restaurants had a reduced clientele, and bought less often from Bigava.
Now he couldn’t just keep selling to his regulars. He had to get new customers, and he still had to keep selling as much fish as before. Had he sold any less, he wouldn’t be able to make ends meet at the end of the month.
The Day It Happened
Ludyesfera
So on the morning of the incident, he got in his boat with thoughts in his head about numbers, customers, prices and bills.
For the whole day, he kept making calculations; as he waited for his net to get loaded, he kept trying to think of ways to get through another difficult month.
A Sudden Shake!
Fundacion CRAM
While he was absorbed in his meditations, he felt everything around him shaking suddenly. He had to grab onto the sides of his boat to avoid falling into the water.
Nothing like that had happened to him in a very long time, but he knew that it could only mean one thing.
What Could That Be?
AZTI
It could only mean that something extremely big and heavy had been caught in his nets. This was an unusual occurrence: for the most part, the fish he caught were fairly small, and so his net would get full and heavy gradually throughout the day.
But this time it was different.
Maybe A Big Tuna?
HardCore Game Fishing
As he quickly tried to keep control of the situation and get a steady grip on his net to pull it out of the water, he nervously wondered what could have caused such a violent shake.
Perhaps a big tuna fish? It wasn’t the season, but you never know. Those were very valued, and he knew a few fishmongers and restaurant owners who would pay him very good money for it. But when he finally managed to lift the net, what he saw left him bewildered.
What In The World Was That Thing?
YouTube
It was a very large and heavy object that looked like nothing he had seen before. It seemed like a big orange box with some sort of sensor attached to it. Other than that, he was absolutely clueless about what it was or what its function could be.
He also saw with dismay that his nets had been torn apart by the weight of the object. It would cost him a fortune to get them repaired. The day had been long and he couldn’t fish with those nets, so he went back home to think what to do with that strange object.
Who Owned It?
YouTube
The first thing he did about it was post an ad online and contacting one of the local newspapers. He didn’t know what to do with the object or who it belonged to, so the only thing he could do was hope for its owner to try to get it back and pay for the damage it had caused to his nets.
After a few days, someone got in contact with him. And it was someone he would have never expected to.
The US Navy Steps In
YouTube
On another day of fishing, someone contacted Bigava on his boat’s radio. It was a man who claimed to speak on behalf of the US Navy.
In a broken Croatian, the man claimed that the object he had found belonged to the navy and demanded that Bigava gave it back. Bigava didn’t know if it was a joke and at this point he didn’t care. All he wanted was to get rid of the thing and get his nets repaired. Which is why he gave a shocking response to whoever was speaking to him on the radio.
Bigava’s Reply
Morski HR
“Look, pal,” he said, “I don’t care if this big orange box belongs to the US Navy or to Admiral Nelson. All I know is it has torn up my nexts and it’s gonna cost me three grand to fix them, so no one is getting this thing until I get the money to repair my nets.”
He then received a call on his cell phone. He picked it up, without knowing what to expect.
They Weren’t Giving Up
YouTube
Again, it was the US Navy representative speaking broken Croatian. He repeated the same thing he had told Bigava over the radio, and the fisherman had to repeat his point once again. Then, the US Navy man hung up.
Would that be the end of it?
They Got To An Agreement
Interesting Engineering
Luckily for all involved, it wasn’t. Eventually, the Croatian Coast Guard agreed to pay for the damages, on the condition that the US Navy would recoup them. And Bigava dropped the mysterious object in front of a US Navy ship.
However, it was never released to the public what that enigmatic orange box was. Bigava resumed his simple and comfortable life and decided not to worry about the matter any further, perhaps for his own good.
