More than 70 massive, unexplained pockmarks, some as wide as 400 feet, have been discovered on the floor of Seneca Lake. Could these deep craters be connected to the legendary Seneca Drums, the mysterious booms reported around the lake for generations?
Scientists are researching methane, seismic events, and other geological forces to possibly explain the phenomenon. Despite online claims, the mystery has not yet been solved. In this video, we look at the research so far and explore how AI sound profiling and seismic instruments are being employed to solve one of the Finger Lakes’ oldest unsolved mysteries, while recent research from California may add to the enigma of the Seneca Drums.
For more on this story, check out episode 13 of the podcast:
On a bluff between the branches of Keuka Lake once stood a mysterious seven-acre stone complex unlike anything found in North America. Twenty miles away, a waterfall near Seneca Lake may hold a clue linking this vanished civilization to an even deeper mystery.
For more on this story, check out episode 13 of the podcast:
Could the old legends of underwater tunnels at the bottom of Seneca Lake be true? Recent deepwater drone footage showing numerous holes near the lake floor might hold the key to unlocking this enduring mystery.
For more on the legendary underwater tunnels, Seneca Drums, and the Seneca Lake Monster, check out these episodes of the podcast:
So far, the investigation into the cause of the legendary Seneca Drums has only deepened the mystery.
Seneca Lake, the deepest and widest of the Finger Lakes in Upstate NY, is home to one of the oldest mysteries in America – the Seneca Drums: loud, booming sounds, like distant artillery or beating drums, emanating from the lake and heard by residents for hundreds of years.
Since 1934, the most widely-cited explanation of the Seneca Drums phenomenon is methane gas bubbles leaking through the lake floor, expanding dramatically in size as they rise in the water before exploding on the surface, causing a booming noise heard for miles. However, this gas-bubble-causing-loud-booms action has not been observed or recorded anywhere in the world (except maybe an underwater volcano).
Then in March of 2025, a report from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sparked the most extensive scientific search ever conducted to find the cause of the legendary Seneca Drums. The search is still ongoing, and to date, has only deepened the mystery.
In 2021, the Seneca Lake Archaeological and Bathymetric Survey Project was launched. Using state of the art underwater equipment, the project aimed to capture images and video of shipwrecks and boats, and to create a detailed topographic map of the lake’s bottom.
In March 2025, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation released the Seneca Lake Bathymetry Data, the most comprehensive survey of Seneca Lake’s depths ever undertaken. The results confirmed 44 wrecks, but they also found something both unexpected and extraordinary: a field of nearly 70 indentations or “pockmarks,” each roughly 30ft deep and 400ft wide, on the bottom of Seneca Lake.
The researchers suggested that the pockmarks were caused by methane gas or other chemicals seeping through the lake bottom, and plans were announced in summer 2025 to further investigate the field.
Scientists from Cornell and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse used underwater equipment to collect samples from in and around the pockmarks to see if methane or other chemicals were present, which would support the methane bubble theory of the Seneca Drums. They also placed chloride and conductivity sensors on the lake bed in September 2025, with plans to retrieve those sensors in May 2026.
In November 2025, before the results of the study were announced, Vice.com published a widely-shared article for their millions of followers with the headline “Scientists Finally Solved the Weird Mystery of the Booming New York Lake.” Not only was the headline completely false, the article incorrectly stated that researchers “found traces of methane and other gases” in the pockmarks. To date, Vice has not issued a retraction, and the piece remains on their website.
The actual results of the study were announced in December 2025. No evidence of methane, or for the gas bubble theory of the Seneca Drums, was found. The same levels of methane had been detected both inside and outside the pockmarks. Data further indicated that the methane came from mix of biological and fossil sources.
Researchers have continued to investigate other possible explanations for the Seneca Drums, along with the methane gas hypothesis.
On March 12 2026, it was reported that research was underway to investigate a possible seismic cause for the Seneca Drums. Eight seismic monitoring instruments would be buried about two feet underground around the southern end of Seneca Lake by team of Cornell geoscientists in early 2026. Readings from the seismic sensors and conductivity sensors on the lake bottom will be compared in an attempt to locate the source of the sounds.
On April 3 2026, WENY-TV interviewed researchers from Cornell and SUNY ESF as they gathered deep water samples from Seneca Lake near the pockmark field to be tested for elevated levels of chloride and methane.
The aim of this latest effort, published on April 7, is to figure out if the pockmarks are an active source of chloride (which could explain the lake’s rising chloride levels) or methane (which could explain the Seneca Drums.)
Could the mystery craters of Seneca Lake have been created by something other than methane or chloride leaks?
Back in 2024, while the Seneca Lake Archaeological and Bathymetric Survey Project was nearing its conclusion, the results of a study about a similar but much larger pockmark field off the coast of California were released.
2024 USGS image
The Sur Pockmark Field consists of about 5,200 round circular indentations measuring around 656 feet wide and 16 feet deep. Scientists had long believed the depressions to be caused by methane leaks from the ocean floor.
Utilizing advanced underwater robots, researchers from the The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute studied the field and found no methane, but after examining sediment samples, they proposed a different explanation: sediment gravity flows. This action is “similar to an avalanche of mud, sand, and water moving along the seafloor—that have occurred in this region intermittently for hundreds of thousands of years maintain these seafloor formations.”
The time has come for the podcast to end, but I’m not done bringing you stories of the unusual, strange and unexplained on New York’s largest Finger Lake.
In this episode, I’ll talk about why I’ve decided to end the podcast and what the future holds for Seneca Lake Mysteries.
Plus, I have a very special musical recommendation.
I recently visited Willard Cemetery, a 30-acre parcel where the remains of 5,776 residents of the former Willard State Hospital (aka ‘Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane’) are laid to rest.
For more on Willard Cemetery, check out these episodes of the podcast:
In this episode, I’ll share the story of a UFO encounter from 1980 that was submitted by a listener. The sighting lines up with the incredible, multi-witness sighting that occurred in Ovid that same year (a story covered in Episode 13).
Then, we’ll hear a tale from the late 19th century about the search for buried treasure in Lodi, NY, and whether that treasure was ever found.
Finally, Rick from Alpine is back for part two of our investigation into ancient stone piles on Connecticut Hill, aka the Alpine Portal, a site known for decades as a hotspot of paranormal and anomalous phenomena. Rick and I discuss our latest visit to Connecticut Hill, and just like last time, we ended up finding much more than we could have imagined.
In this episode, we’ll look at the story of some enterprising young men who back in 1939 built an underwater helmet breathing contraption and brought it to Rock Stream to explore below the waves of Seneca Lake.
Next, we’ll go back to 1947 for the tale of an albino trout that was pulled from Seneca Lake by some local fishermen, two years before the iconic Seneca White Deer were first reported on the grounds of the Seneca Army Depot, and how this anomalous fish was put on display for hundreds of curiosity seekers.
Finally, it’s the legend of Locomotive 13, also known as “Sam Patch,” a 50-ton behemoth with a wild and strange history that began in 1873 with an astounding aerial display in Watkins Glen and ended years later in a Dresden cemetery, Some people believed the train either had a mind of its own or was trying to find religion…or maybe both.
In this episode, we revisit the mysterious round craters that were recently discovered at the bottom of Seneca Lake believed to be caused by methane gas seeping through the lakebed. Then, we’ll examine other cases of craters found at the bottom of the ocean, including one that has some striking and distinct similarities with those found at Seneca Lake…although scientists have concluded that site has nothing to do with methane leaks.
Next, we’ll dive into the possibility that an ancient civilization once roamed the Finger Lakes area. We’ll start with one of the most enigmatic prehistoric stoneworks in North America, the Bluff Point Stoneworks on Keuka Lake, and how that site just may be connected to another mysterious spot near Seneca Lake.
Finally, I’ll take you through a bizarre UFO sighting from Ovid, NY back in 1980, which was seen by numerous people and even some strange physical effects on at least one witness.
And yes, believe it or not, I’ll also share an old vampire legend from the west side of Seneca Lake!
In this episode, we’ll into two UFO reports from the last week of July around the southern tip of Seneca Lake. Video footage was shot of an orb over Burdett on the 25th, and on the 29th, the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Department dispatched deputy to investigate anomalous light(s) moving from Watkins Glen and towards Reading.
Next up are a couple of stories of people who faked their own deaths on the eastern shore of Seneca Lake back in the mid-20th century. I’ll get into how they did it, why they did it, and how their scams were eventually discovered. We’ll examine the aftermath, and the unanswered questions, of these staged deaths.
Finally, we’ll look at a pair of classic tales from the Seneca Lake Monster legend. One story is fairly well-known in lake serpent lore, when two young men fired .38 caliber shots at a large, serpentine creature in the lake. The other story shines a light on the connection between the Seneca Lake Monster and one of the most influential and accomplished figures in the American medical field from the mid-nineteenth century.
