On his last day on the job, before handing over control of Sweden's defense forces to Micael Byden, outgoing chief Sverker Göranson said he is sure that there was something suspicious lurking off the coast of Stockholm's inner archipelago in October last year.
Despite finding no concrete evidence, and claims from a Swedish navy admiral that the suspected submarine was merely a workboat, Göranson told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that he has reason to believe the country's borders were being breached by a foreign state.
"I am completely sure that Sweden was violated in October."
"I am even more convinced today than I was then. The final analysis we have now carried out is broader and much deeper," he said.
Sweden launched a massive mobilization and search of its waters in October last year after grainy footage of a vessel lurking off the coast of Sweden surfaced.
While Stockholm was careful not to mention any names, all eyes pointed to Moscow, with Russia denying allegations that the alleged vessel was a Russian submarine.
In November 2014, following the massive search, Swedish officials said they had "unambiguous" evidence that a foreign submarine had entered Swedish waters.
Sweden couldn't determine the nationality of the vessel they had claimed to detect, and subsequently declined to comment any further in the name of national security.
While some believed the vessel was a Russian submarine testing the reaction speeds of NATO countries, others laughed, and suggested that Stockholm would have a better chance finding the Loch Ness Monster than any submarine with Cyrillic writing on it.
However, despite the lack of concrete evidence, outgoing chief Sverker Göranson said that follow-up investigations had found evidence suggesting that a foreign power had been operating on Swedish land as well.
"It's a number of events on the ground. Both our own units and the police have contributed and we have analyzed them together," he said.
"We have also made discoveries both on land and in water. They can't be tied to a foreign power, but it is possible that they are being used by foreign powers. But I won't elaborate on what it is, because if a foreign power has put them there they should not know what or where we have found them."
While many thought the scandal was dead and buried without the release of any concrete evidence, it seems that some stories — just like the moon landing, and the one about whether Nessie exists — will never be put to bed.
