This sounds like something out of a Marvel movie, doesn’t it?

Or maybe it’s the start of one of those horrifyingly claustrophobic horror movies where people get stuck far under the surface with only a certain amount of time to get out.

Maybe it’ll be both – wouldn’t Hollywood just eat that up with a spoon.

In reality, no one knows exactly what billionaire is behind the underwater habitat project, but the stated goal is for humans to be able to leave beneath the surface indefinitely.

Currently, hundreds of millions of dollars are going toward a training facility in an English limestone quarry known as “Deep.” It will include a training school, housing, and submersibles to ferry folks to the underwater settlement so they can learn to live underwater for long periods of time.

The plan is to fully launch the project by 2027, and appears to be well on their way.

Chief Operating Officer Mike Shackleford said in an interview with The Guardian that the housing units, called “Sentinels,” will be able to house people for a month at a time – for now.

“The goal is to live in the ocean, forever. To have permanent human settlements in all oceans across the world.”

Everyone involved with the project refuses to divulge the identity of their benefactor, or how much all of this is going to cost in the end. They have said that he’s invested around $125 million in the training campus alone, however.

What Shackleford will confirm is that the person wishes to restart a race to the finish with those intent on exploring space as the final frontier.

The project leaders are intent on making safety a priority, which is surely on people’s minds since the demise of the submersible Titan in 2023. Deep diving lead Phil Short says the company is working with Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian risk assessment agency, to head off concerns as best they can.

“DNV are approaching every potential design, manufacture, and testing capability of our systems from day one. So, when we finally get this built and we’re about to drop it in the water, it will be fully certified in class.”

I mean, okay.

But we’ve all seen the movies, and this kind of thing never turns out well.

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