CNN:

For years, the incredible discovery of the Titanic’s wreckage at the bottom of the ocean in 1985 was thought to have been a purely scientific effort.

But that was a ruse.

Speaking to CNN on Thursday about now-declassified events, Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic, said that the expedition was part of a secret US military mission to recover two sunken nuclear submarines on the bottom of the ocean.

“They did not want the world to know that, so I had to have a cover story,” Ballard said.

The true story of what happened now serves as a museum exhibit at The National Geographic Museum in Washington, which is open through the end of the year.

This story had been rumoured for years. Best part of the story is Ballard saying, “I cannot talk about my other Navy missions, no,” he said. “They have yet to be declassified.”