The Mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle

A few days ago I was doing a little snooping about youtube when I came across the Bermuda Triangle and I decided that I should write about it and the different theories that people have about it.

So the Bermuda Triangle is an area in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is also known as the Devil’s Triangle. The Bermuda triangle is a region where several ships and aircraft have been told to have disappeared due to inexplicable circumstances. This area is around 500,000 square miles of ocean, which adds up to a large region.

When Christopher Columbus has sailed through this area on his way to the Americas/New World, on his first voyage he apparently claimed that, “A great flame of fire crashed into the sea one night and that a stranger light had appeared in the great distance a few weeks later. “ He had apparently also written about aimless compass examinations.

Strange?

I would think so.

To add to the mysteriousness of the region, William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” is claimed to be based on a real-life shipwreck which could have taken place in the Bermuda Triangle. However, what is questionable is if the play is based on a shipwreck in the Triangle, how did Shakespeare find out?

Nevertheless, these unexplained disappearances didn’t capture the attention of the public in the 20th century until the infamous tragedy of ‘The Cyclops’ in March 1918. ‘The Cyclops’ was a “542-foot-long Navy cargo ship with over 300 men and 10,000 tons of manganese ore onboard, sank somewhere between Barbados and the Chesapeake Bay.” Yet, the ship never sent an SOS call despite the fact that they were equipped to do so nor was there any wreckage. “Only God and the sea know what happened to the great ship,” U.S. President Woodrow Wilson later said.” Strangely, ‘The Cyclops’ had 2 sisters which too had similarly vanished without a single trace through the identical course. Now a steady pattern appeared of crafts which crossed the Bermuda Triangle, would either disappear or be found abandoned.

Although all the stories about the Bermuda Triangle sound mysterious and convincing. The one which stood out to me the most was the story of Amelia Earhart. Amelia Earhart was an aviator and had gained a lot of publicity as she was one of the first female aviators. She was known as the first female to fly around and across the Atlantic. The flight was from Newfoundland. Canada to Wales, Great Britain. This bought her a lot of great fame. After a few successful flights in March, Earhart flew a plane to Miami (on June 1st) to attempt at flying around the world. Amelia and her companions made stops in South America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia and they arrived in New Guinea, on June 29. Around 20,000 miles of their journey was completed however, 7000 miles was left over the Pacific Ocean to complete their expedition.

However, Earhart sent radio messages about her position (to Howland) which was around Lockheed, a ship nearby. But, Howland was unable to pinpoint their destination or the Lockheed’s. It could be possible that Amelia tried to land on water, but if she landed Earhart and Noonan (her partner) may have been able to escape the plane with a ‘life raft’. There was no physical evidence of the plane found by the Coast Guard or the U.S Navy. Several other searches failed to find any traces to Earhart and Noonan.

Was it because they were in the Bermuda Triangle that they were unable to contact Howland? Was there another force which took control of the Lockheed and later Amelia Earhart?

There are several theories which could possibly help to better the understanding of the activity in the Bermuda Triangle.

The first is the Methane Gas Theory. Large amounts of gas are known to exist under the ocean floor and be trapped in the form of ‘Methane hydrates’. If a gas like this can find its way out and rises through the water, then it can reduce the density of the water. Hence why ships can sink over time. Methane gas can also create explosions and the gas can cause planes to crash.

The second theory is of the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is actually an area within the Bermuda Triangle. It apparently has no shores but is “bounded by the current of the ocean from all sides”. This could possibly be the trap for the several ships which pass through. This region of the sea is covered with dense seaweed which creates a thick mat on the surface. This seaweed is also known as Sargassum, hence the name. It has been said that “the Sargasso Sea remains calm with its surrounding currents, a subtropical gyre is formed here. As a result, the entire sea area with its mat like weeds slowly rotates clockwise.”

The third Theory is of the Hexagonal clouds which form Air Bombs. Scientist and meteorologists have confirmed that there is a formation of strange hexagonal shaped clouds which have straight edges in the Bermuda Triangle. It has been confirmed that these clouds are like air bombs. These air bombs can send out winds to the sea at speeds of 170mph which is dangerous for aircraft and ships. These bombs’ explosions can also create gigantic waves (45 feet) and create winds around 100mph which can similarly be extremely dangerous.

There are several other theories such as the Electronic one which states that there is an electronic fog which causes electronic instruments to malfunction and later cause ships to disintegrate. Another theory like the Treacherous Underwater reefs which could have possibly sunken the ships. There is always the possibility of Whirlpools and Blue Holes which can cause ships to get sucked into. Strange weather, hurricane and freak waves (as high as 30m) could also possibly be the cause.

The truth is that we will never really know what happens in the Bermuda Triangle, nor will we know what happened to the 50+ ships and 20+ planes which have disappeared in this incredibly dangerous region.

Like many other phenomenon of the universe, this remains unexplained.

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