Bermuda Triangle

You’re flying your plane from Florida to the bottom of South America. The quickest way to your destination is through the Bermuda Triangle. You’ve heard stories about the accidents that have occurred there. Supposedly, the laws of physics are altered there. “Nonsense!” you think. “There’s some scientific reason for these accidents.” You dismiss the idea from your mind and decide to call the base to check up. “Florida Air Base, this is Flight 25. Can you hear me?” There’s no answer. “I repeat, this is Flight 25, do you copy?” Still no answer. “No problem,” you think, “just interference.” You check your controls for reassurance. Instead, they make you feel worse. The compass is spinning wildly, and your altitude goes from zero to ten thousand and back. “This is Flight 25!” you scream frantically into the radio. “My controls are on the blink! Mayday! Mayday!” All of a sudden you feel dizzy. As you slump forward onto the controls you pass out.
Sadly, the above story may have been the fate of some of the pilots that have flown through the Bermuda Triangle and disappeared or crashed. The Bermuda Triangle is an imaginary triangle created by the southern tip of Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. It is about 1.5 million square miles of ocean. It is the site of many plane and ship disappearances, and other supernatural phenomenon.
In the 1950’s, word of ship and plane disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle area spread through newspapers and magazines. The first name it was called was The Devil’s Sea. Again in 1952, another magazine described ship disappearances. In 1964 the term Bermuda Triangle was first coined by Argosy magazine. The idea of the Bermuda Triangle was popularized by the book, The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz. It was a best seller and inspired other books, movies, and television shows. Theories to explain the disappearances were included such as natural storms, accidents and crashes, UFO’s, Atlantis, and other supernatural causes.
Many believe that the accidents in the Bermuda Triangle are just like accidents in other forms of transportation. Evidence shows the Bermuda Triangle isn’t more dangerous than any other place in the world. The Coast Guard believes this theory. In the 1975 book, The Bermuda Triangle: Solved, Lawrence Kusche tries to debunk the myths from The Bermuda Triangle. Many times the information in The Bermuda Triangle is incomplete. For example, a case where a ship turned up in the Bermuda Triangle, without captain or crew, is only because it came loose from moorings in Havana. Kusche pointed out that the ship activity in that area made it as accident prone as anywhere else and many storms wrecked ships, proving the Coast Guard theory.
There have been scientifically proven theories, most commonly methane bubbles.
Methane is a gas lighter than air. When the ocean creates methane bubbles, the bubbles, which can be larger that the ship, changes the water density so it cannot support the ship. The ship can sink in a matter of seconds. Methane bubbles can also be hazardous to airplanes. The methane can rise from the sea to the air, displacing the oxygen around the airplane. The altimeter depends on the density of the air outside of the airplane. Since methane is less dense that oxygen, the altitude tells the pilot they are climbing. If the sky is cloudy or it is night, it’s hard to see the ocean outside to determine altitude. The pilot dives, thinking they are going too high, and crashes into the water. Another theory is freak waves. Quite random, 100 feet waves can rise up and sink ships. The storm theory above supports this idea. Another cause may be the South Atlantic Anomaly, an area of strong electromagnetic force. Ships can fly through the area, and the force will disable radios, satellites, and compasses. A pilot with the famous Flight 19 reported his compass spinning wildly, possibly caused by the South Atlantic Anomaly.
One of the most famous flights gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle is Flight 19. The flight was a Navy Avenger practice bombing session. On December 5, 1945, a squadron of five Navy Avengers left Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the flight, the captain reported seeing weird visuals, like flashing lights. The compasses began to spin wildly and many of the pilots became disoriented. While these problems began to occur a storm brewed. Mission Control tried to lead the crew back to Florida, but one disoriented pilot refused to listen, and led the crew away from Fort Lauderdale. Eventually the crew ran out of gas and crashed somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, or even farther out in the Atlantic. Although the planes should have floated to be retrieved, the planes, or crew, were never found. A search party of ships and planes were sent out the next day to try to find the fleet, but they too, went missing. That search party was also never found.
Although many very possible scientific explanations have been found, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle may never be solved. Some still believe in Berlitz’s theories of wormholes, and Atlantis. Maybe there is a supernatural reason for the disappearances. It’s just one of many mysteries and phenomenon.

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