NOAA Spooky Science

Carving pumpkins isn’t for you? NOAA SciJinks tells you how to paint your own pumpkins! 

These pumpkin carving templates from NOAA Ocean Exploration feature a few of the critters they’ve encountered during deep-ocean dives.

NOAA monitors and observes the ocean using different instruments and technologies. Pick your favorite observation instrument and get to carving!

Wow your neighbors with ocean-inspired jack-o-lantern stencils from NOAA Fisheries. 

Are satellites and space more your thing? NOAA Satellites has you covered with NASA- and NOAA-themed stencils.

Deep dive into depths unknown with a video that will make you ponder unusual ocean habitats and their inhabitants.

A garden of ghouls and ghastly creatures lurk in the deep.

In this six-part video series, discover the creatures of one of the harshest realms in the ocean: the deep sea. 

Does Bigfoot give lessons on avoiding detection? This giant squid might need to enroll!

See what happens when a whale dies and sinks to the seafloor. Hey, the little critters gotta eat, too!

Unique DIY Halloween costume ideas of strange and spectacular animals from across the National Marine Sanctuary System.

What insidious poison can reduce a once verdant woodland to a ghost forest haunted by dead and dying timber?

Mummies at a museum in Chile are turning to black ooze … but, why?

Hypoxic habitats where oxygen is low and decomposition is high … sounds like the perfect place for a zombie meet up, in our opinion.

Deep in outer space, where machines orbit the Earth, they share the sky with the un-dead. Can these historic satellites come back to life?

Count Dracula’s cave hosts a colony of bats that have … ahem, deposited … clues for scientists over the years about Romania's paleoclimatology. The evidence is in the excrement!

If brain-eating zombies give you a scare, then, dear reader, you better prepare! Undead fishing nets that roam the sea — we can’t stand marine debris!

NOAA’s satellites have a unique relationship with the moon — Earth’s natural satellite. Take a look at these breathtaking glimpses of the moon from space.

Two decades ago, the sun played a rather spooky Halloween trick when it unleashed a series of massive solar storms. 

Flying into the eye of a hurricane may seem nightmarish for some, but for others it’s a thrill that helps collect life-saving data about hurricanes and storm patterns.

Red sprites, blue jets, and elves?! These mysterious cousins of lightning can appear high in the atmosphere during large thunderstorms.

In 1991, what was called a “meteorological time bomb” exploded in the northern Atlantic Ocean, creating waves ten stories high and imperiling a New England fleet.

NOAA’s Norman, Oklahoma facility lies within Tornado Alley, one of the world’s most tornado-prone areas. 

In 1997, a mysterious underwater sound was captured by researchers in the southern Pacific ocean. What caused this secret underwater “bloop”?

There’s a sea of memories waiting to be explored at shipwreck sites around the country.

Parts of the ocean seafloor are marked by mysterious formations of grid-like artifacts. But, what are they and where did they come from?

The ocean is a noisy place. From short bursts to loud bangs, do you know what's making the sounds that creep under the waves and go bump in the sea?

A special instrument called a hydrophone recorded spine-chilling sounds in the ocean's deepest location. Any ideas on what noises were caught in the deep, lying in wait? Listen to find out!

From disembodied whispers to shadows and reflections, these weird and scary stories from scientists conducting research do not disappoint!