A Hawaiian helicopter pilot spotted what looked like a whale from above but it turned out to be an incredibly rare US submarine sighting
Published on Apr 08, 2026 at 3:16 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Apr 08, 2026 at 3:16 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
This helicopter pilot in Hawaii somehow spotted a US submarine in the middle of the ocean.
The odds of a civilian spotting a submarine are next to none.
So this guy can count himself lucky.
Although we should point out that geography did play a huge part here.
It’s now almost impossible to spot a submarine outside of a museum
A few decades ago, submarines were actually moored right next to normal boats.
That hasn’t been the case for a while, for security reasons, which is why spotting one is rare.
These sea giants almost always set off from secluded bases, and are generally well below the surface when they travel.
Some of us have probably sailed or flown over one without knowing it.
When fully submerged, submarines are virtually impossible to ‘see.’
But this guy got lucky.
Amazingly, he was able to spot one near Hawaii.
How the pilot was able to spot this sub near Hawaii
Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor is one of the most active naval bases in the Western hemisphere, but even so, the pilot was able to spot a submarine mostly due to sheer luck.
The video, which was reposted on Reddit several times, features a helicopter pilot who thought this submersible was a whale.
“Hey, look, a big whale. Oh, wait, it’s not a whale,” the pilot said.
It’s difficult to tell whether the pilot was joking or whether he seriously thought that was a whale.
But that doesn’t really matter, because what matters is that it wasn’t a whale.
Most people won’t have seen a submarine, maybe not even in a museum.
Because the thing is, submarines are absolutely massive.
They’re much, much larger than most yachts.
I saw one once, at a museum.
It was roughly the size of a soccer pitch, around the same size as the world’s biggest yacht, Azzam.
Probably the most impressive human-made vehicle this side of a space rocket.
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After beginning his automotive writing career at DriveTribe, Alessandro has been with Supercar Blondie since the launch of the website in 2022. In fact, he penned the very first article published on supercarblondie.com. He’s covered subjects from cars to aircraft, watches, and luxury yachts - and even crypto. He can largely be found heading up the site’s new-supercar and SBX coverage and being the first to bring our readers the news that they’re hungry for.
