The Bermuda Triangle takes pride of place in the pantheon of planet Earth's greatest mysteries. Even in our high-tech age, scientists have not been able to solve the main mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, namely, what did become the main reason for the disappearance of many ships and aircraft without a trace? Let's look for the answer together.
Hype
The Bermuda Triangle refers to the area of the Atlantic Ocean located east of the Florida coast. The water area of the triangle is partly owned by the Bahamas. The triangle itself is located between Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. The triangle is quite large, covering 140,000 square miles.
The world really learned about him in the second half of the 20th century. In the minds of people, the phrase "Bermuda Triangle" took root at the suggestion of American journalists. In the 1970s, a myriad of publications were published on the mysterious disappearances of aircraft and ships in this part of the world. The sensational flywheel was running, and the public was hungry for more details about the mysterious anomaly. Very soon the Bermuda Triangle turned into a real Klondike for fans of all sorts of speculations. Only regardless of whether we are dealing with a natural phenomenon, or we are talking about an anomaly unknown to science, one thing is clear - this place poses a considerable danger.
The phrase "Bermuda Triangle" was introduced in 1964 by publicist Vincent Gaddis. An article with the telling title "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" was published in a publication dedicated to unexplained phenomena.
The first victims
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In support of this, we will cite a mysterious episode that occurred back in 1840, long before the first publications on this topic. Then the ship "Rosalia" was discovered near the Bahamas. The ship still had supplies of drinking water and provisions, the ship's cargo remained intact, the boats were in place. Only the crew of the Rosalia mysteriously disappeared. Of the living creatures on board the ship, only the canary remained. In general, in the 19th century, many ships found their destruction in the waters of the Bermuda Triangle.
However, if you think about it, there is nothing unusual about the disappearance of sailing ships and their crew members. Even for trained sailors, the ocean has always been fraught with dangers. High waves, strong winds and treacherous underwater rocks have always posed a great threat to flimsy boats. But what about the disappearance of large ships without a trace in the 20th century?
One of the most mysterious episodes associated with the Bermuda Triangle is the disappearance of the USS Cyclops cargo ship in 1918. The Cyclops' way lay from South America to the USA. The ship belonged to the Proteus class of ships and was quite large, its length was 165 m. Nevertheless, the ship itself and 306 passengers and crew on board seemed to have disappeared into the sea abyss. The search for the ship yielded no results. There is another very characteristic feature in this story - before their disappearance, the ship's crew did not send a distress signal. Whatever the cause of the tragedy, one thing is clear - it caught the ship by surprise, not giving its crew a minute to save. A similar pattern has been observed in many of the disappearances of ships in the Bermuda Triangle.
Later, dozens of new names will be added to the list of ships missing in this area. Very often it was still possible to establish the cause of the death of ships. For example, one of the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle is sometimes called the sinking of the cargo ship Anita, which sank in 1973. The only thing left of this ship is a lifebuoy with the name of the ship. True, on the eve of the ship's exit to the open sea, a strong storm broke out, the victim of which was not only "Anita".
U. S. Navy freighter USS Cyclops
© Alamy
Missing planes
Most likely, the triangle would not have attracted so much attention if only ships were its victims. Indeed, this part of the Atlantic has always been a very dangerous place for sailors. But the whole difficulty of the situation lies in the fact that not only ships, but also planes disappeared without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle.
One of the first pilots to encounter an unexplained anomaly was the famous American test pilot Charles Lindbergh. On February 13, 1928, Lindbergh, flying over the Bermuda Triangle, witnessed a strange natural phenomenon. The plane was enveloped in a very dense cloud, like a thick fog, and Lindbergh, no matter how hard he tried, could not get out of it. The compass arrows seemed to have gone crazy and began to rotate randomly. Only a lot of experience helped Lindbergh to escape, and when the cloud dissipated, the pilot was able to get to the airfield, orienting himself by the sun and the coastline.
But the most famous episode of the disappearance of aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle is considered to be the incident that occurred in 1945. Then, during a training flight, five Grumman TBF Avenger carrier-based torpedo bombers disappeared without a trace. The Avengers were led by an experienced pilot, Marine Corps Lieutenant Taylor. It is noteworthy that the Martin PBM Mariner seaplane sent in search of the missing bombers also disappeared.
Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers
© Wikimedia Commons
The flight took off on its last mission on December 5, 1945, the flight took place in clear weather. Searches for aircraft and their crews did not produce anything, no debris was found, or even oil traces on the water. The only evidence of the disaster was the decrypted radio communications of the Avenger crews. According to the radio communications, at some stage the pilots were completely disoriented, they simply stopped understanding where they were. In one of the messages, the leader reported that both compasses failed (each Avenger was equipped with two compasses - magnetic and gyroscopic). Most likely, the torpedo bombers were in the air until they ran out of fuel and fell into the ocean.
Unconfirmed cases of instantaneous movements in the air have occurred outside the Bermuda Triangle. There is a description of one episode that allegedly took place during the Second World War. Then the Soviet pilots landed the plane in the Urals, being fully confident that they were somewhere near Moscow. It is noteworthy that almost always in such cases dense fog and problems with navigation equipment appeared.
But what could have caused the disaster? Do not forget that the missing pilots were quite experienced. Even in the face of a sudden failure of navigation equipment, they could get on the desired course, guided by the map. Or, perhaps, the reason for the disappearance of fourteen pilots was not only technical malfunctions of their aircraft?
The answer to this question can be a case that happened a quarter of a century later - in 1970. Pilot Bruce Gernon piloted a light single-engine aircraft in the skies over the Bermuda Triangle. There were two more people on board with him. Gernon was heading from the Bahamas to Florida, to Palm Beach International Airport. When he was about 160 km from Miami, the weather turned badly, and Bruce Gernon decided to fly around the storm clouds. According to the testimony of the pilot himself, a moment later he saw in front of him something like a tunnel. Spiral rings formed around the plane, and the people on board experienced a feeling similar to the feeling of weightlessness. Of course, all this can be attributed to the usual invention of hoaxers, if not for one "but". At the moment of passing through this very tunnel,Gernon's plane simply disappeared from the radar. In addition, according to Bruce, all navigation instruments on board had failed, and the plane was enveloped in a dense gray haze. Immediately after taking off from the mysterious fog, the car was over Miami, and Gernon received a radio message from the dispatcher. Coming to his senses, Bruce Hernon realized only one thing: something was wrong here - a single-engine propeller-driven aircraft in an incomprehensible way flew 160 km in three minutes. For this, the flight had to pass at 3000 km / h, and after all, the cruising speed of the Beechcraft Bonanza 36 aircraft, which was controlled by Bruce, does not exceed 320 km / h. Bruce Hernon realized only one thing: something was wrong here - a single-engine propeller-driven aircraft in an incomprehensible way flew 160 km in three minutes. For this, the flight had to pass at 3000 km / h, and after all, the cruising speed of the Beechcraft Bonanza 36 aircraft, which was controlled by Bruce, does not exceed 320 km / h. Bruce Hernon realized only one thing: something was wrong here - a single-engine propeller-driven aircraft in an incomprehensible way flew 160 km in three minutes. For this, the flight had to pass at 3000 km / h, and after all, the cruising speed of the Beechcraft Bonanza 36 aircraft, which was controlled by Bruce, does not exceed 320 km / h.
The disappearance of five torpedo bombers has become fertile ground for science fiction writers and mystifiers. Legend has it that during the flight of the Avengers, some US residents were able to hear the flight commander's radio communications. Allegedly, in his last words, Lieutenant Taylor mentioned some "white waters" and UFOs.
Killer waves and spatial cataclysm
The bottom of the Bermuda Triangle has one of the most challenging landforms in the Atlantic Ocean. The triangle is crossed by a huge depression, the depth of which reaches 8 km. By itself, this does not explain the death of ships, but makes it almost impossible to detect sunken ships or aircraft crashed into the ocean.
The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle may have another explanation. The warm sea current of the Gulf Stream runs along the eastern coast of the United States, very close to the place of the mysterious disappearances of ships. The Gulf Stream may be the reason that many sunken ships were never found, their debris could be carried hundreds of kilometers from the place of the alleged death by the underwater current.
But what about the root cause of the crashes? One of the most plausible theories is that numerous ships missing in the Bermuda Triangle may have been victims of a wandering wave. This phenomenon has long been considered fiction. But, as studies have shown, wandering waves are quite real and pose a considerable danger to sailors even in our time. The height of one such wave can reach 30 m. Unlike tsunamis, wandering waves are formed not as a result of natural disasters, but literally from nowhere. Such killer waves can appear even under relatively favorable weather conditions. For example, a giant wave can be formed when several waves converge in the ocean. This version is all the more deserving of attention, given that the natural conditions of the Bermuda Triangle favor the appearance of such waves.
Bering Sea, 1979. Killer wave 30-35 m high
© NOAA
But the named versions have almost no effect when it comes to missing aircraft. It is believed that the Bermuda Triangle is influenced by forces from space. It is possible that this place is exposed to charged particles that form as a result of solar storms. If so, these particles can cause damage to electronic equipment in aircraft and ships. On the other hand, the Bermuda Triangle is located near the equator and should not be strongly influenced by such storms. Indeed, as you know, the influence of solar storms is most felt at high latitudes (in the polar regions).
A more plausible hypothesis is that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle lies at the bottom of the ocean. Seismic activity at the bottom of the triangle can cause magnetic disturbances, which, in turn, affect the operation of navigation instruments. Some scientists consider the release of methane as a possible cause of the death of ships and aircraft. According to this theory, huge methane bubbles form at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle, the density of which is so low that ships cannot float and sink immediately. Rising into the air, methane also reduces its density, which makes flights extremely dangerous.
Scientists note that improper operation of devices can be caused by air ionization. Many mysterious phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle occurred during a thunderstorm, and it is this that leads to the ionization of the air.
No matter how plausible these versions are, they all have one drawback - none of them has found its practical confirmation. In addition, magnetic storms, methane emissions or thunderstorms cannot explain movement in space.
It will be appropriate here to talk about the most incredible hypothesis. Some researchers seriously believe that in this case we are dealing with the curvature of space. It is believed that the curvature of space allows you to move faster than the speed of light. In other words, the pilot Bruce Gernon could get into some kind of interdimensional cataclysm, which suddenly moved him 160 km. This can also explain the disappearance of dozens of other aircraft and ships in the Bermuda Triangle without a trace. And yet, let's leave this theory at the mercy of the creators of science fiction and try to understand it seriously.
The Bermuda Triangle theme is widely represented in popular culture. The triangle appears in a huge number of literary works; many TV series and feature films have been shot about it. Moreover, this topic is often intertwined with other mysterious phenomena, for example, with the theme of aliens from outer space.
The truth is somewhere near
We deliberately did not consider the absurd versions about the abductions of the disappeared ships by aliens or, for example, about the "UFO base" found at the bottom of the Bermuda Triangle. If we talk about the most plausible theories, then only one thing can be said for sure - they all have a right to exist.
A significant part of the tragic incidents can be explained without resorting to pseudo-scientific versions and fantastic assumptions, but what about the rest of the cases of the disappearance of ships and aircraft?
Boris Ostrovsky, a Russian scientist and researcher of the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon, tried to answer this question: “I am trying to explain this phenomenon from the point of view of classical science. The main reason for the disappearance of ships and aircraft may be at the bottom of the ocean and have a tectonic nature. Geological faults and algae rotting lead to methane and hydrogen sulfide emissions. Typically, these gases dissolve in seawater, but when atmospheric pressure drops, they can reach the ocean surface. Rising, methane and hydrogen sulfide lead to a decrease in the density of the water, and when this happens, the ship quickly sinks to the bottom (the density of the water becomes less than the density of the ship). By itself, this theory does not explain the disappearance of aircraft, but here, too, tectonic processes can be the first link in the chain of further events. Frequent underwater earthquakes lead not only to methane emissions, but also to the formation of infrasound, which in turn refracts radio waves. This can explain the malfunctioning of electronic equipment and the disorientation of the pilots. By the way, from this position, one can approach the incident with the South Korean Boeing 747, which took place over Sakhalin in 1983. For a completely unclear reason, the plane plunged 500 km into the territory of the USSR, and was shot down by a Soviet fighter. The answer to this mystery may have a geological basis, because the flight of the airliner ran parallel to tectonic faults on the ocean floor. Infrasound is fraught with another threat: it can have a destructive effect on the human psyche. In other words, being under the influence of infrasound, pilots and sailors could lose their minds and commit rash acts. This can explain the ships found in the Bermuda Triangle, abandoned by their crews."
Finding sunken ships or aircraft crashed into the ocean is nearly impossible
© Flickr
Well, Boris Ostrovsky's version sounds pretty believable. True, today it is impossible to either confirm or refute such an interpretation. In 2004, the famous American science fiction writer Arthur Clarke said that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle would be solved by 2040. Given that the words of science fiction writers about the future of mankind often turn out to be true, perhaps we will still hear confirmation of one of the versions.
Ilya Vedmedenko