New age: Details about 'Bermuda Triangle'
|
||||||||
Home
|
The Bermuda Triangle (also known as Devil's Triangle) is a 1.5-million-square-mile area of ocean roughly defined by Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and the southern tip of Florida. Some believe it is a paranormal site in which the laws of physics are either violated, altered, or both. Some claim that within this area a number of ships and airplanes have disappeared under highly unusual circumstances and conditions. The United States Coast Guard and others disagree with the assessment of paranormal activity, citing statistics demonstrating that the number of incidents involving lost ships and airplanes is no larger than that of any other heavily traveled region of the world. Many of the allegedly mysterious cases have, upon closer examination, proved not so unusual, with innacuracies and misinformation about the cases often circulating and recirculating over the decades. Original research by investigators in the last two decades has focused on examples of several of the claims presented by the "Triangle myth," including disappearances while within sight of land, coming in for landings or having just departed, and on occasion between single sweeps of a radarscope (or in periods of less than forty seconds); other disappearances have occurred over shallow waters of depths less than ten feet, yet without trace or silhouette to mark their positions, while others have vanished after transmitting messages discernable as cryptic, at best. Another area that is classified by many as having the same paranormal effects is the Devil's Sea, located near Japan.
History of the Bermuda TriangleFirst citationsThe first mention of any disappearances in the area was made in 1950 by E.V.W. Jones as a sidebar on the Associated Press wire service regarding recent ship losses in the area. Jones' article notes the "mysterious disappearances" of ships, airplanes and small boats in the region and ascribes it the name "The Devil's Triangle". It was mentioned again in 1952 in a Fate magazine article by George X. Sand, who outlined several "strange marine disappearances". The term "Bermuda Triangle" was popularized by Vincent Gaddis in a 1964 Argosy feature. Popularized by BerlitzThe area achieved its fame largely through the efforts of Charles Berlitz in his 1974 book The Bermuda Triangle (right) and its subsequent film adaptation. The book consists of a series of recountings of mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft, in particular the December 1945 loss of five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers known as Flight 19. The book was a bestseller and included the various suggestions that had been made to account for the disappearances. Among these were high accident rates due to high traffic volumes; natural storms; "temporal holes"; the lost empire of Atlantis; transportation by extraterrestrial technology; and other natural or supernatural causes. Scientific explanationsSkeptical responsesThe marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the "triangle" to be no more dangerous than any other piece of the ocean, and does not charge unusual rates of insurance for passage through the area. Coast Guard records confirm this to be true. Skeptics comment that the disappearance of a train between two stops would be more convincing evidence of paranormal activity, and the fact that such things do not occur suggests that paranormal explanations are not needed for the disappearance of ships and airplanes in the far less predictable open ocean. Kusche's researchIntrigued by the number of students coming to him looking for information about the Bermuda Triangle, Lawrence Kusche, a reference librarian with Arizona State University at the time of the Flight 19 incident, began an exhaustive follow-up investigation of the original reports. His findings were eventually published in 1975 as The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence that Crowhurst had fabricated the accounts of his voyage and had probably committed suicide. Another example was the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents attributed to the Bermuda Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Kusche came to several conclusions:
Methane hydrates
An explanation for some of the disappearances focuses on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates on the continental shelves. A was published in 1981 by the United States Geological Survey about the appearance of hydrates in the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast. Periodic methane eruptions may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning. Laboratory experiments have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water. This effect, however, may not scale up to actual size of the ships due to the physics involved. Some writers have suggested that methane hydrate is suddenly released in the form of giant gas bubbles, with diameters comparable to that of the ships purportedly sunk by them (see ), though physical feasibility of this has been challenged, as even if release of large bubbles was possible, they would collapse and break up into smaller ones as they would be rising up towards the surface. However this could still reduce buoyancy to a dangerously low level, possibly sinking the ships. Hypothetically, methane gas might also be involved in airplane crashes, as it is not as dense as air and thus would not generate as much lift required to keep the airplane flying. Furthermore, methane may interfere with functions of an altimeter in an airplane, which determines the altitude by measuring the density of the surrounding air: since methane is less dense, the altimeter would indicate that the airplane is climbing, which may cause the pilot to fly the airplane lower, crashing it. Another possibility is that methane in the engines disrupts the mixture of fuel and air, possibly stopping combustion and stalling the engines. All of these effects of methane have been shown experimentally. Tidal waves
Research has shown that tidal, freak, or rogue waves can reach up to up to 30 m (100 feet) in height and are capable of sinking large ships within moments. Although these are very rare, in some areas ocean currents mean they happen more often than the normal. Such waves have now been hypothesized as a cause for many unexplained shipping losses over the years. Famous incidentsFlight 19
One of the best known Bermuda Triangle incidents concerns the loss of Flight 19, a squadron of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers on a training flight out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on December 5, 1945. According to Berlitz, the flight consisted of expert Marine Corps aviators who, after reporting a number of odd visual effects, simply disappeared, an account which isn't entirely true. Furthermore, Berlitz claims that because the TBM Avenger bombers were built to float for long periods, they should have been found the next day considering what were reported as calm seas and a clear sky. However, not only were they never found, a Navy search and rescue seaplane that went after them was also lost. Adding to the intrigue is that the Navy's report of the accident was ascribed to "causes or reasons unknown". While the basic facts of Berlitz's version of the story are essentially accurate, some important details are missing. The image of a squadron of seasoned combat aviators disappearing on a sunny afternoon is inaccurate. Rather, it was a squadron of lost, inexperienced flight trainees forced to ditch their out-of-fuel airplanes into unknown stormy waters in the dark of night. As for the Navy's report, it is claimed that the original report blamed the accident on the commander's confusion (Lt. Taylor abandoned his airplanes twice in the Pacific after getting lost returning to his carrier), but the wording was changed in deference to the wishes of his family. Star TigerIf the disappearance of Flight 19 had been isolated as an incident, it would remain a great mystery of aviation. However, aircraft disappearances continued to occur and be reported both to and by authorities, some near the same location, and/or with equally extended and confusing radio traffic, indicating that Taylor's flight may have been only one example among many disappearances including that of a four-engined Tudor IV airliner named Star Tiger, in the predawn hours of January 31 1948. Piloted by Captain B. W. McMillan, the airliner, which carried twenty-nine passengers and crew on board, had left hours earlier from Santa Maria, Azores, one of numerous scheduled fuel stopovers from London, England to Havana, Cuba. While approaching Bermuda, McMillan made the expected contact with Kindley Field, the next stopover, requesting a radio bearing to calibrate his navigation and ensure he remained on course. With the response indicating that the plane was slightly off course, its position was corrected after Bermuda relayed a first-class bearing of 72 degrees from the island. At this point, with Star Tiger less than two hours flight away, McMillan gave confirmation of an ETA of 05:00 hours, an hour late due to strong headwinds; no further transmission from the aircraft was ever received. With the plane's last known position report precise, placing the disappearance within a confined flight range of the position northeast, rescue operations were launched after the plane went overdue for arrival; in spite of the aid, no trace was ever found, and the search eventually discontinued with negative results. In the report issued soon thereafter by the Civil Air Ministry, numerous hypotheses as to what might have occurred during the flight's final two hours are given, before each being subsequently rejected:"There would accordingly be no grounds for supposing that Star Tiger fell into the sea in consequence of having been deprived of her radio, having failed to find her destination, and having exhausted her fuel." "There is good reason to suppose that no distress message was transmitted from the aircraft, for there were many radio receiving stations listening on the aircraft's frequencies, and none reported such a message." "..The weather was stable, there were no atmospheric disturbances of a serious kind which might cause structural damage to the aircraft, and there were no electrical storms." The aircraft was ruled unable to have gone off course, as the broadcast bearing from Bermuda, with winds pervailing, would have brought it within thirty miles of the island: "The aircraft could hardly have failed to find the island in a short time, in the conditions of visibility which prevailed." Engine difficulty was ruled out as likely cause, since at such late stage in the flight, without the added weight of extra fuel aboard, the aircraft might have been flown safely on three, or even two, engines instead of the four it had. The probability of the aircraft entirely losing three engines in the course of under two hours was considered absurd. Faced with the accumulation of evidence, or perhaps lack thereof, the board of investigation addressed the loss of the Star Tiger with remarked eloquence:"In closing this report it may truly be said that no more baffling problem has ever been presented for investigation. In the complete absence of any reliable evidence as to either the nature or the cause of the accident of Star Tiger the Court has not been able to do more than suggest possibilities, none of which reaches the level even of probability. Into all activities which involve the co-operation of man and machine two elements enter of a very diverse chaarcter . There is an the incalculable element of the human equation dependent upon imperfectly known factors; and there is the mechanical element subject to quite different laws. A breakdown may occur in either separately or in both in conjunction. Or some external cause may overwhelm both man and machine. What happened in this case will never be known and the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery." Cinematic depicitions
In an episode of Jimmy Neutron, Jimmy and his friends go to the "bahama Quadrangle". Cultural referencesWilliam Shakespeare's The Tempest is placed after a shipwreck near the turbulent Bermoothes. Barry Manilow sang a UK no. 15 hit in 1981 titled "Bermuda Triangle". It tells the story of a fictional holiday to the area where the singer's girlfriend elopes with a local, but he finds a more than adequate replacement, leading to the uplifting final refrain: "Bermuda Triangle, it makes people disappear DC Comics' Paradise Island city-state, controlled by Amazons and the home of Wonder Woman, is located there. The Marvel Comics series Skul the Slayer was set in a world inhabited by people who had been swallowed by the Triangle, which was actually a trap created by aliens. Milton Bradley released a board game named Bermuda Triangle in 1975. Buckethead released an album named Bermuda Triangle in 2002. Starlord, a British comic book, ran a story called "Planet of the Damned", which portrays the triangle as a vortex in space and time leading to a hostile planet where survivors struggle against the alien environment. The story relies on a number of documented disaperances for its background. The story began 13 May 1978. Jaws author Peter Benchley wrote a novel called The Island in which a journalist investigates the Triangle and discovers the disappearances are the work of pirates — specifically the descendants of buccaneers who live isolated from civilisation and raid shipping to survive. In 1980 the book was made into a film directed by Michael Ritchie and starring Michael Caine. The narrator of Chuck Palahniuk's novel Diary often refers to any item which has disappeared as having been "Bermuda triangulated". See alsoFurther reading
Triangle de les Bermudes Bermudatrekanten Bermudadreieck Bermuda kolmnurk Triángulo de las Bermudas Bermuda triangulo Triangle des Bermudes Segitiga Bermuda משולש ברמודה Bermudadriehoek バミューダトライアングル Bermudatriangelet Trójkąt Bermudzki (Atlantyk) Бермудский треугольник Bermudan kolmio Bermudatriangeln Бермудський трикутник 百慕大三角
|
|||||||