Mysterious “UFO Base” off Malibu Vanishes from Google Earth

Originally posted on SURFER | By Dashel Pierson | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 4:59 PM ET

Malibu is home to Hollywood elite, surf dogs, and one of California’s premier, most historically significant pointbreaks. The place is steeped in surf history, dating back to the salad days of the ‘50s and ‘60s, yet still living up to its iconic reputation anytime a large south swell swings through town.

Off the coast, however, there’s something that’s been stirring up the tinfoil hat community. Sycamore Knoll, an underwater feature 6.6 miles from the shore, has been speculated to be a “UFO base” by conspiracy theorists. And now, according to the armchair alien experts, it’s disappeared.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by ◉⃤ ◉⃤ (@theoriesnow)

According to one UFO sighting Instagram account, Sycamore Knoll has been “known to scientists for years, it has recently gained attention, particularly with speculation that it might be a hidden alien or government base, or the site of frequent UFO activity. Others suggest it’s simply due to incomplete data or Google Earth updates.”

The coordinates of the oceanic feature are 34° 1'23.31″N 118° 59'45.64″W – go check it out yourself.

“However, as of April 2025, it has been mysteriously blurred out from Google Earth,” continued the conspiracy theorist IG, “sparking questions as to why they felt the need to hide its location.”

Per an account reported to the National UFO Reporting Center regarding a sighting at Sycamore Knoll: “It looked like a massive, cathedral-shaped structure — multiple pointed edges all glowing brilliantly white, heading straight into the ocean. 'There was no splash, no sound... just a flash, and it was gone. It happened so fast — like a giant ship or object vanishing beneath the surface in an instant.”

Experts have studied Sycamore Knoll in a more scientific manner, citing that it is anomalous. According to a study from 2018: “At the boundary between the Western Transverse Ranges province and Inner Continental Borderland of Southern California, strain is partitioned across the sinistral-oblique Anacapa-Dume Fault system. Sycamore Knoll, a pop-up structure 20 km west of Point Dume in the hanging wall of the north-dipping Anacapa-Dume Fault, stands out as an anomalous bathymetric high along the Southern California coast.”

Over on the highly credibleReddit thread dedicated to this phenomenon, one user wrote:

“Time to get a group of UFO hunting divers together.”

Any takers?

This article first appeared on SURFER and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: