Bermuda Triangle: Here’s what the science says about the mystery

Movies, TV shows and all sorts of conspiracy theories. The Bermuda Triangle is one of the most mysterious places on the planet, causing the greatest curiosity. But how true are the stories about the disappearance of planes and ships? This science talks about the Bermuda Triangle.

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The Bermuda Triangle is an area of ​​the Atlantic Ocean with an area of ​​about 500,000 square kilometers, located between Florida (USA), Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The place owes its name to the fact that if these three places are connected on the map, a triangle is formed.

Up to 1,000 people are missing in the Bermuda Triangle. For decades, sailors and airmen have long said that this is an area that has supernatural powers. But science has other explanations as well.

the origin of the mystery

The place began to acquire its sad glory on December 5, 1945, when 5 bombers with 14 American pilots disappeared without a trace in this area. To add to the mystery, the plane looking for the victims also disappeared along with 13 crew members.

The area was named the Bermuda Triangle by journalist Edward van Winkle, who wrote an article for the agency in the 1950s. Associated Press about mysterious disappearances. However, the topic took off in 1974.

Charles Berlitz, American paranormal writer, published a book Bermuda Triangle, It has sold about 20 million copies. Berlitz offered rational explanations for the disappearances, such as official US Coast Guard reports, but added paranormal phenomena such as UFOs, military experiments, or remnants of ancient civilizations.

However, most of these cases were dismissed by aviator and essayist Larry Kusche in his books. Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle solved (1975) and Flight 19 Disappearance (1980), where he claims that all incidents were caused by storms, human error, were recorded outside the Triangle, or did not even exist.

what science says

The Bermuda Triangle area is one of the busiest in the world. Over 10 million ships are estimated to have passed through the area in the last century, but only about 100 ships and 50 aircraft are reported missing. That is, the rate is 0.002 percent.

The number of incidents involving aircraft and ships is the same as in other equally busy areas, given that not only large ships, but also small boats circulate, and this is an area of ​​\u200b\u200bhigh storms and hurricanes.

Although the area is still of scientific interest, there is also no single comprehensive response to all incidents. And the fact is that if experts agree on something, it is that there are many explanations behind the incidents.

killer waves

Another theory was proposed in 2018 by British oceanographers from the University of Southampton. After studying the site for decades, they came to the conclusion that some of the inexplicably missing ships were swept in by killer waves over 30 meters high.

The phenomenon, detected by satellite for the first time in South Africa in 1997, is due to the union of storms from the north and south, but lasts a few minutes, according to a team of researchers led by Simon Boxall. Researchers have concluded that these giant waves were at least responsible for the sinking of the USS Cyclops in 1918.

methane gas hydrates

Another theory, although less popular, is that of geochemist Richard McIver, an Exxon Mobile researcher who in 1981 linked methane explosions to the myth of the Bermuda Triangle.

Large landslides occurring on the North American continental shelf rupture methane gas hydrates — a crystalline solid made up of methane gas and water — releasing giant bubbles of methane gas that can affect ships’ lift. In fact, if it had formed around the ship, it would have sunk without warning.

Geologist Bill Dillon of the US Geological Survey warned that there is no evidence of a methane release in the last 15,000 years. Although this phenomenon is possible, the ship must pass to the right place at the right time. Something incredible.

Human factor

The human factor seems to be one of the most likely explanations, such as poor decisions by aircraft pilots or ship captains in unforeseen situations. So says Shane Satterley, a doctoral student at Griffith University (Australia), who examined the records of incidents.

Sutterley concluded that it is the human factor that explains the largest number of accidents. “Take the disappearance of Charles Taylor and the five planes that the US Navy was investigating. (…) When it got dark and the weather changed, Taylor took the planes to the wrong place,” he explained in an article for Talk.

Magnetism?

Although many media outlets erroneously collected this information in early 2021 and even attributed it to a NASA report, the South Atlantic Anomaly (AAS) is not among the theories to explain the incidents.

Called the “cosmic Bermuda Triangle” – which explains the confusion – this is an area over South America and the South Atlantic Ocean where the intensity of solar radiation is higher than in other regions, due to a decrease in the Earth’s magnetic field. .

Although this phenomenon is important for satellites and other spacecraft orbiting hundreds of kilometers and is of interest to space agencies, NASA has not established any connection between the AAS and the Bermuda Triangle.

The latest theory of an Australian scientist:

A scientist at the University of Sydney in Australia may have a logical explanation for the Bermuda Triangle. Despite being a hotspot for disappearances over the years, Karl Kruzelnitsky says the percentage of missing planes and ships in the triangle is the same as anywhere else in the world, especially when you look at how much traffic passes through the area.

Based on this discovery, Kruzelnitsky says the Bermuda Triangle is actually not all that mysterious. Instead, he seems to believe that many of the disappearances are due to bad weather, or even bad decisions made by the people on the trips who went missing.