Shortly after communication with the Titan was lost on Sunday, the US Navy began listening for the submersible. Hours into the sub's trip to the Titanic wreckage, the military's acoustic detection system heard what officials suspect was the craft's fatal implosion, the Wall Street Journal reports. Although the finding wasn't definitive, the Navy said in a statement, the information was used to narrow the search area. The families of the five people on board were told of the Navy's report Thursday, a US official said, after the search-and-rescue team spotted the submersible's debris field on the ocean floor.
The Navy described what it heard as "an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion" in the general area of the Titan's last known location. The decision was made to keep searching—"to make every effort to save the lives on board," the Navy said—because the sound wasn't conclusive. Although sonar detected what sounded like metallic banging on Tuesday and Wednesday, Coast Guard Rear Adm. John Mauger said Thursday, "There doesn't appear to be any connection between the noises (and) the location on the seafloor," per CNN. The top secret system is designed to detect enemy submarines. (More submersibles stories.)