Legends about the ships disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle have been around for a long time. Someone believes that aliens intervened, others that the ships are being abducted by the inhabitants of Atlantis, others argue that the whole thing is in giant magnetic funnels. There are also quite scientific hypotheses.
Scientifically, the Bermuda Triangle is not paranormal. There is an explanation for everything.
First, the triangle is credited with many aircraft and ship crashes that occurred outside of it - nearby. Secondly, disappearances of ships in the Bermuda Triangle do not occur more often than in other parts of the oceans, and many cases are attributed to natural causes.
According to legends, more than 100 ships and planes were declared missing in this place, and more than 1000 people were killed or missing. But the American Geographical Names Commission does not at all recognize the Bermuda Triangle as a separate territory and therefore does not store any data associated specifically with this area. The US Coast Guard does not confirm these facts and figures either, and states that no supernatural number of disasters was noticed in the triangle area.
According to Norman Hook, who conducted research for Lloyd's Maritime Information Agency in London, the Bermuda Triangle does not exist at all, and the vast majority of tragedies in this area were associated with weather conditions.
It should be noted that the level of insurance for ships passing in the triangle is not higher than for any other section of the ocean. In addition, with the advent of GPS navigation, ships have almost ceased to go missing.
Promotional video:
Giant Killer Waves
The huge waves, which have been attributed to a number of crashes, are most likely caused by the special bottom topography in the Bermuda Triangle. The underwater topography of the region influences the formation of waves: the continental shelf gradually deepens at first, and then suddenly breaks off at a decent depth. In general, there are many deep depressions in those places, which is probably why many sunken ships were not found - they lie too deep.
Water tornadoes are also not uncommon - in essence, just tornadoes that suck in water and raise its column into the sky. Scientists noted that in the area of the Bermuda Triangle, there is increased seismic activity and it is these minor tremors that can create giant waves.
Abnormal magnetic field
One of the popular triangle myths is the time and magnetic funnel. Allegedly, there is a special magnetic field in the Bermuda Triangle, which knocks down compasses and turns the clock hands. This mystical theory has a completely ordinary physical explanation, however, it has long been out of date.
The fact is that the magnetized needle of any compass points to the constantly moving magnetic North Pole, while the real, geographic North Pole is static and is located about 1200 miles north of the magnetic one. The difference between the two poles is called magnetic declination and can vary up to 20 degrees around the world. The line of zero magnetic declination is the imaginary line where the magnetic and geographic poles converge. Thus, to the west of this line, the compass needle will point east of true north, and vice versa.
But the zero declination line is also shifting, and the rate of this shift differs in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. All this, as you understand, significantly complicates navigation, sailors should always make an amendment when building a course. So once the line of zero magnetic declination passed through the Bermuda Triangle, but now it has moved closer to the Gulf of Mexico, and if the courses go astray at some ships, then the ill-fated triangle has nothing to do with this today. In addition, today the reason for such an error is more likely the human factor, and in the past - ignorance of the features of the Earth's magnetic field.
Abnormal weather
In the area of the Bermuda Triangle, abrupt changes in weather and unpredictable storms do often occur - often very short, and meteorological instruments do not have time to record them. This is also explained quite simply.
Just in the area where the triangle is located, the speed of the Gulf Stream often reaches 5 miles per hour, which makes navigation extremely difficult even for experienced sailors. The Gulf Stream is a fast, pulsating current that frequently and haphazardly changes its speed and direction. Because of this, vortices and funnels often appear in those places, and fogs often occur on the border of the Gulf Stream with other currents, where streams of warm and cold water converge.
A downdraft of cold air, for example, could have caused the death of the ship "Pride of Baltimore" in 1986. According to eyewitnesses, the wind suddenly increased from 32 km / h to 145 km / h. The US National Hurricane Center said at the time that "during erratic weather and in areas of reduced pressure, where strong winds occur, a gust of downdraft of cold air can strike the water like a bomb." A similar thing happened during the collapse of the Canadian barkentine "Concordia" in 2010 off the coast of Brazil.
Ominous bubbles
Another reason for the sinking of ships in the area of the triangle could be the deposition of crystalline methane hydrate. Ships sink instantly if methane hydrate rises from the seabed and forms a bubble, the density of which is minimal - thus, the ship loses its buoyancy. However, in order to flood a vessel, the bubble must be greater than or equal to the length of the vessel - in this case, it will instantly go under water.
Specialists at Cardiff University discovered large deposits of crystalline methane hydrate on the ocean floor in the triangle area - it was formed here mainly due to the long-term decomposition of living organisms. Bill Dillon, a research geologist with the US Geological Survey, states that "on several occasions we have observed oil platforms sinking underwater due to methane emissions."