Is the Bermuda Triangle Real?
The Bermuda Triangle is an area of the south Atlantic off the coast of the United States. It has a long history of being responsible for the disappearance of ships and airplanes through unexplained means. Some point to the natural dangers prevalent in the waters, while others believe something far more sinister in a supernatural explanation.
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Size
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The Bermuda Triangle or Devil's Triangle is located in the south Atlantic and varies in size and shape depending on the research being presented. The usual dimensions run from Puerto Rico to Bermuda and Florida, however some have included the Caribbean islands and even the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the most traveled shipping lanes in the world and a heavily flown area for commercial and private aircraft. With a current of five to six knots, the Gulf Stream makes the area popular for cruise ships, pleasure boats and many other craft.
History
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The Bermuda Triangle has a long history involving the loss of seafaring ships and airplanes. A series of incidents, seemingly unrelated are often presented to show the dangers of this area of the ocean.
A log entry by Christopher Columbus on his maiden voyage to the New World notes seeing flames in the sky and reports problems with his compass. These events make it the first known incidents within the Bermuda Triangle.
After Spain began to colonize the New World, large fleets of ships passed through the Triangle every year. In the autumn of 1750, five Spanish ships under the command of Captain Don Juan Manuel de Bonilla rendezvoused in Havana and headed for home. The stormy seas caught the group off guard and only two ships survived, having to turn around and head for the Carolinas.
Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Vice President Aaron Burr, disappeared without a trace along with the crew of the Patriot on December 20, 1812.
The largest loss of life during peacetime for the U.S. Navy came at the disappearance of the U.S.S. Cyclops. After departing Barbados, contact was lost with the ship on March 4, 1918. 309 people disappeared, leaving no wreckage.
But probably the most famous event was the disappearance of Flight 19 on December 5, 1945. Five TBM Avengers, supervised by Lt. Charles Taylor, flew a routine raining exercise but became lost after compass failure. Contact was erratic and the planes eventually disappeared. During the rescue mission, a PBM Mariner flying boat mysteriously exploded with the loss of all hands.
In all, there are thousands of case studies, some more mysterious than others involving ships and planes lost in the Bermuda Triangle. -
Considerations
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Insurance companies have deemed the Bermuda Triangle is no more dangerous than any other section of the ocean. The volume of crafts traveling through the area results in the same amount of losses and disappearances as any other section of the seas.
Many natural phenomena have been used to explain the disappearances. The area is susceptible to countless hurricanes and tropical storms which damage and destroy ships to this day. Before modern communications and radar equipment, ships would be on their own after leaving port. Rogue waves, random large waves, and methane hydrates, sudden releases of methane underwater, are also factors many scientist point to, however this cannot account for the loss of airplanes.
The Gulf Stream, which acts as a current across the Atlantic, can carry wreckage far from where it originated and spread the evidence to different sections of the ocean, making investigations far more difficult than in other areas.
Human error, piracy, and war also have been speculated to have caused the loss of more than one ship. Since piracy was prevalent in colonial times and submarines and u-boats operated in the waters during the World Wars, deliberate acts of destruction may have caused the disappearance of many vessels.
Misconceptions
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The many books and documentaries have led to profits being made from the exploitation of the loss of these ships and airplanes. Being as the public has a fascination for the supernatural, many scientific examinations have been pushed to the side to make way for the more fantastic in popular culture.
In addition, the writers and filmmakers who work on the subject tend to ignore facts or omit certain situations to extend the strange phenomena. An example of this is the usage of the ore-ship Berlitz being lost three days out of port in the Atlantic, when in fact it was lost in the Pacific, far from the Bermuda Triangle.
Theories/Speculation
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The supernatural phenomena deemed to be the culprit in the Bermuda Triangle has been linked to many theories in the past. Some have pointed to the area as a hotbed of UFO activity, a fact supported by popular films such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Others believe there is a connection to Atlantis. After the discovery of the Bimini Road, a long chain of limestone placed off the coast of the Bahamas, many believed it to be the sight of the lost city and some unexplained technology still present is responsible for the losses of ships and airplanes. Others speculate that there is a phenomena that causes the laws of physics to be altered, making compasses go haywire.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Wikimedia.org
