whats up with the 'Bermuda Triangle'?

Answer 1

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a geographical area in the Atlantic Ocean approximately triangular in shape and is famous for its supposed paranormal activities. The Bermuda Triangle's three corners are roughly defined by Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, giving it an area of nearly half a million square miles (1.2 million km²).

Paranormal Claims:

* "A significant number of ships and aircraft have disappeared under highly unusual circumstances."
* "Paranormal activity where the known laws of physics are violated."
* It has even been suggested that "extraterrestrial beings are responsible for some of the disappearances."

The Triangle marks a corridor of the north Atlantic stretching northward from the West Indies along the North American seaboard as far as the Carolinas. To take advantage of prevailing winds, ships returning to Europe during the Age of Sail would sail north to the Carolinas before turning east to cross the north Atlantic. This pattern continued after the development of steam and internal combustion engines, meaning that much of the north Atlantic shipping traffic crossed (and still crosses) through the Triangle's area.

The Gulf Stream, an area of volatile weather, also passes through the Triangle as it leaves the West Indies. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather made it inevitable that vessels would founder in storms and be lost without trace, especially before the telecommunications, radar and satellite technology of the late twentieth century. The occasional vessel still sinks, but rarely without a trace.[1]

Other areas often purported to possess unusual characteristics are the Devil's Sea, located near Japan, and the Marysburgh Vortex (or "Great Lakes Triangle"), located in eastern Lake Ontario. However, the "Devil's Sea" is not particularly well known in Japan, due to the fact that most of the boats lost were small fishing boats with no radios.

First citations and name

Christopher Columbus made mention of sightings of strange-looking animals near the border of the triangle and recorded near the area and now designated as the Bermuda Triangle. At one point he reports that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon". On another instance they observed what was most likely a falling meteor.[2]. At another point he wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings in the area.

The first documented mention of disappearances in the area was made in 1951 by E.V.W. Jones as a sidebar on the Associated Press wire service regarding recent ship losses. Jones' article noted the "mysterious disappearances" of ships, aircraft and small boats in the region and gave it the name "The Devil's Triangle". It was next mentioned in 1952 in a Fate Magazine article by George X. Sand, who outlined several "strange marine disappearances". In 1964, Vincent Geddis referred to the area as "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" in an Argosy feature, after which the name "Bermuda Triangle" became most common.

Skeptical responses

The marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the "triangle" to be no more dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual rates for passage through the region. Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.

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 aircraft in the far less predictable open ocean.

Kusche's 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 have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it.

Kusche came to several conclusions:

* The ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than any other part of the ocean.
* In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious.
* The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual, if belated, return to port, may not be reported.
* The circumstances of confirmed disappearances were frequently misreported in Berlitz's accounts. The numbers of ships disappearing in supposedly calm weather, for instance, did not tally with weather reports published at the time.
* "The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery... perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism." (Epilogue, p. 277)

In recent years, however, several authors, most notably Gian J. Quasar, have raised several questions as to the veracity of Kusche's findings, including but not limited to: why Kusche so often brought up as evidence for his claims cases that were already well-known before the writing of his work as not being "Triangle incidents"; his misidentification and mislocation of several ship and aircraft incidents that are well-documented, but then using that inability to properly identify the craft as "proof" that they never existed; holding to his claims that 'nothing out of the ordinary' regularly occurred in and around the area, and yet several times admitting certain cases lacked conventional rational explanation (most notably in the Star Tiger and DC-3 cases), and in other examples openly claiming possibilities for foul weather for certain disappearances where it can be verified that none existed.

Methane hydrates

Main article: Methane clathrate

An explanation for some of the disappearances focuses on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates on the continental shelves. A paper 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.[4] 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.

One of the best known, and probably the most famous 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 naval 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".[5]

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. By the time the last radio transmission was received from Flight 19, stormy weather had moved in. Only the Flight Leader, Lt. Charles Carroll Taylor, had combat experience and any significant flying time, but at the same time he had very little flight experience in that particular area, less than the trainees serving under him, and a history of getting lost in flight, having done so twice previously in the Pacific theater and being forced to ditch both planes. Lt. Taylor also has since been depicted as a cool, calm and confident leader. Instead, radio transmissions from Flight 19 revealed Taylor to be disoriented, lacking confidence in his decisions, and completely lost.

Also, exaggerated claims stated that all the planes were having compass problems, however later naval reports and written recordings of the conversations between Lt. Taylor and the other pilots of Flight 19 do not indicate this. As for the Navy's report, it is claimed that the original report blamed the accident on the flight commander's confusion. Lt. Taylor had previously abandoned his aircraft twice in the Pacific after getting lost, returning to his carrier. However the wording was changed in deference to the wishes of his family.[5]

Another factor to consider is that the TBM Avenger Aircraft were never designed for crash-landing into water, contrary to Berlitz's claims. Wartime experience in the Pacific showed that an Avenger aircraft would sink very quickly if landed on the water. Especially with novice pilots at the helm, an Avenger would be very difficult to land on calm water, let alone the perilous rough seas in the Bermuda Triangle.[5]

However, the fact that no wreckage has ever been discovered does lead way to a mystery, and in itself that is unusual. On a recent History Channel special documenting the event, it was noted that a pilot can easily mistake his location if he allows his imagination to get the best of him. The most likely scenario, by that documentary, is that Flight Leader Lt. Charles Taylor became confused and disoriented, and was indecisive in his ultimate analogy of the flights situation, incorrectly believing he was off the far to the south-west Florida Keys, and turned the flight hard to the right believing they would hit land. Instead, they were located exactly where they should have been, off the Bahamas, and turning right in fact took them deep out to sea in the Atlantic. This also could account for why the planes have yet to be found, since very few searches have concentrated on the vast open ocean areas.[5]

Therefore, the most likely consensus among both naval and civilian enthusiasts who have thoroughly researched the incident do indicate that Lt. Charles Taylor became confused and disoriented, ultimately leading his flight out to sea where they ran out of gas and ditched in stormy night time waters. And, although his student-pilots believed he was mistaken as to their location, he was the Flight Leader, and he was in command. By the time he took one of the trainee pilots advice to fly west, they were too far out to ever make landfall. The official US Navy stance on the incident does not reflect any mystery whatsoever as to what happened to Flight 19, residing to the fact that the blame lies completely with Lt. Charles Taylor. The only mystery to the US Navy is where did the planes of Flight 19 ditch.

Another theory in that same documentary stated that the planes may have actually been where Taylor believed they were, and that they crashed in the Georgia swamplands. However that theory has mostly been greeted with skepticism.

A PBM Mariner rescue aircraft also disappeared without a trace during the search for Flight 19, as Berlitz stated in his book. This added to speculation of supernatural involvement and the Bermuda Triangle, and although Berlitz alluded to the incident in his book about the Bermuda Triangle, it is worded in a way that points to it also being mysterious and unknown, when in fact it was not. The SS Gaines Mill reported an over-water explosion shortly after the PBM Mariner took off, in the location where it should have been. An oil slick was spotted at that location, but bad weather prevented any debris recovery, and by the time the stormy weather had passed, all signs of any debris were gone. The most likely scenario is that a fuel leak caused an explosion which disintegrated the aircraft.

Answer 2

The Bermuda Triangle, additionally conventional because of the fact the devil's Triangle, is a region of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean wherein various plane and floor vessels have disappeared. some human beings have claimed that those disappearances fall previous the obstacles of human errors or acts of nature. conventional subculture has attributed a number of those disappearances to the mystical, a suspension of the guidelines of physics, or pastime by using aliens. although a important documentation exists exhibiting diverse incidents to have been inaccurately pronounced or adorned by using later authors, and various actual companies have long gone on record as pointing out the variety and nature of disappearances to be equivalent to the different component to ocean, many have remained unexplained in spite of important learn.

Answer 3

A lot of people travel through the Triangle. The simple fact is that the North Atlantic has very rough weather, strong winds (called the jet stream) and currents (the North Atlantic Current). These conditions alone can explain boats sinking, planes crashing, and strange weather patterns. However, if you believe in aliens, then I suppose that would add to your risk, especially if they were mean.

Answer 4

Christopher Columbus Character

Answer 5

I would have said whats down with it as so much has vanished without trace in that area I have flown and sailed over it many times and I'm still here so its got to be certain things that cause it to flare up weather wise and no one has derived an answer but i feel sure an answer to this will present one day

Answer 6

a traiangle part of the ocean where strange happenings happen such as dissapearances of boats planes etc. this triangle is the complete opposite of the dragons triangle over toward japan.

Answer 7

there is also a welsh triangle and a book by the same name

Answer 8

AKA devils triangle because it kills alot of people from getting lost

Answer 9

I flew through it and made it to the Bahamas. It did have a strange rum smell.

Answer 10

not sure but how does anyone know if it is an exact triangle

Answer 11

it's that place over some ocean and when someone goes into it, they dont seem to be seen ever again.