The Bermuda Triangle free essay sample

A discussion surrounding the mystery of the feared Bermuda Triangle. This paper presents a geographical explanation of the Bermuda Triangle. It then examines the history of this mystery and mentions several disasters or unexplained events that have happened in the skies and waters of this area. The paper also discusses the literature available on these mysteries and the form of documentation. The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the Caribbean believed to contain some mystery which causes ships and planes to disappear at a higher rate than in other regions of the globe. The idea of a Bermuda Triangle is of relatively recent origin, though researchers have identified many disappearances from the area dating back centuries. The greatest part of the mystery is the question of whether there is a mystery at all, for many scientists state that the rate of disappearances in the region is no any higher than in other similar areas and that there is no reason for the speculation about everything from satanic influences to extraterrestrials in the area. The Bermuda Triangle is located off the Southeastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean, with its apexes in the vicinities of Bermuda, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. It covers roughly 500,000 square miles. The area may have been named after its Bermuda apex since Bermuda was once known as the Isle of Devils. Treacherous reefs that have ensnared ships sailing too close to its shores surround Bermuda, and there are hundreds of shipwrecks in the waters that surround it. Over the past 100 years, the Bermuda Triangle has seen what some say is a significant and inordinately high number of unexplained disappearances of planes, ships and people. Some reports say that as many as 100 ships and planes have been reported missing in the area and more than 1,000 lives have been lost. The U. S. Coast Guard, however, maintains that the area does not have an unusual number of incidents. The mystery of the Triangle probably took hold with the first well-publicized disappearance in 1945, when five U. S Navy Avengers disappeared in the area. The cause of the disappearance was originally pilot error, but family members of the pilot leading the mission couldnt accept that he had made such a mistake. Eventually they convinced the Navy to change it to causes or reasons unknown. Many reports regarding the Bermuda Triangle include long lists of missing ships and planes. But many of those were nowhere near the Triangle when they disappeared or they turned up later with rational explanations for their disappearances. For example, the Mary Celeste, found floating in 1872 with not a person on board and everything exactly as they had left it, is on nearly every list of losses blamed on the Bermuda Triangle. But in reality, it was many hundreds of miles from the Triangle at the time. Here is a sampling of the some of the most notable incidents. As youll see, some of these have reasonable explanations although theyre still attributed to the strange and unknown powers of the Bermuda Triangle. The U. S. S. Cyclops, 1918 During World War I, the U. S. S. Cyclops served along the eastern coast of the United States until January 9, 1918. At that time, she was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. The Cyclops was scheduled to sail to Brazil to refuel British ships in the south Atlantic. She set out from Rio de Janeiro on February 16, and, after a brief stop in Barbados from March 3 to 4, was never seen or heard from again. All 306 passengers and crew were gone without a trace. A U. S. Navy Grumman TBF Avenger Image courtesy  U. S. Naval Historical Center U. S. Navy Avengers Flight 19, 1945 The most famous Bermuda Triangle story is the mystery surrounding five missing Navy Avengers in 1945. The story of Flight 19 is usually summarized this way: a routine patrol set out on a sunny day with five highly experienced student pilots. Suddenly, the tower began receiving transmissions from the flight leader that they were lost, compasses were not working, and everything looked wrong. They were never seen again, and extensive Navy investigations turned up no clues to explain the disappearance. Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor led the mission, which included several planned course changes. They departed at 1:15 p. m. on December 5, 1945. At 3:00 p. m. , Lieutenant Robert F. Cox was flying over Fort Lauderdale, Florida when he heard a signal that he thought was from a boat or plane in distress. He called Operations at the Naval Air Station to report what he had heard. Cox told Taylor to fly with the sun at his left wing and up the coast until he hit Miami. Taylor then said that they were over a small island with no other land in sight. If he was over the Keys as he had said, however, he should have seen several islands as well as the Florida peninsula. With less than two hours flying time until they ran out of fuel, Taylor described a large island to Operations. Assuming this was Andros Island, the largest in the Bahamas, Operations sent Taylor a heading that would take him to Fort Lauderdale. Apparently this heading was correct, because once Flight 19 assumed the new course, Taylors voice began coming in stronger over the radio. Taylor, however, didnt believe this course was right and after a few minutes said that they didnt go far enough east. Turn around again and go east. We should have a better chance of being picked up closer to shore. With this move, transmissions began to weaken as they flew out of radio range in the wrong direction. For unknown reasons, Taylor ignored the standard flying procedure of flying west if over water and east if over land. Two PBM-5 Mariner seaplanes went out to search the area, but one exploded soon after takeoff. The other never located Flight 19. Aliens and Atlantis As an area with one of the h ighest incidences of UFO sightings, its no wonder that alien abductions have been a popular explanation for disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. But abductions arent the only theory; some also have theorized that the Bermuda Triangle area is a portal to other planets. But why this area? Many believe that the Bermuda Triangle area is home to the lost city of Atlantis and remnants of its advanced technologies. Famous psychic Edgar Cayce said that Atlantis had many modern-day technologies, including a death ray weapon, which he claims ultimately destroyed the city. Some even say that the people who lived there were an alien race from the Pleiades star cluster. Cayce had predicted that researchers would discover the western edge of Atlantis near the coast of Bimini, in the Bahamas, and they did find a road of stones there in 1968. The initial researchers and archeologists who studied the site, known as the Bimini Road, immediately regarded it as naturally occurring. Recent investigations, however, have found evidence that appears to support the idea that the stones were shaped and placed there as a wall. The additional finding of a possible underwater city near Cuba adds fuel to the fire for those supporting the Atlantis idea. According to legend and speculation, the city of Atlantis relied on the power of special energy crystals that were extremely powerful. Cayce supported this idea, and the discovery of a great underwater pyramid and crystal by Dr. Ray Brown in 1970 reinforced it. Brown was scuba diving in the Bahamas when he claims to have found a large pyramid made of mirror-like stone. He entered the pyramid and saw a brassy metallic rod with a multi-faceted red gem hanging from the apex of the room. Directly below this rod was a stand with bronze hands holding a crystal sphere four inches in diameter. Brown removed the crystal and kept it secret until 1975, when he exhibited it at a psychic seminar in Phoenix, Arizona. He reported that when gazing into the crystal form, you can see three pyramidal images, one in front of the other with each decreasing in size. Some people have seen a fourth pyramid in front of the other three after entering into deep meditative states. Brown believes that the fractured lines seen when looking at the crystal sphere from the side may be electrical in nature, similar to a form of microscopic circuitry. The speculation is that these energy crystals are in an altered state of some kind and send out rays of energy that either confuse navigational instruments or disintegrate vehicles all together. Compass Malfunctions In almost every account of the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, youll see reference to the fact that it is one of only two places on Earth (the other being the Devils Sea off the coast of Japan) where a compass points to true north rather than magnetic north. Theorists say that this causes compasses to malfunction and ships and planes to get off-course. A  compass  works because its magnetic needle is attracted by the magnetism of the Earth, which draws it to point to the constantly shifting Magnetic North Pole. The Geographic North Pole, on the other hand, is static and is located about 1200 miles north of the Magnetic Pole. The variation between the two readings is known as  magnetic declination  (or compass variation), which can change by as much as 20 degrees as you move across the globe. The  agonic line  is an imaginary line where true north and magnetic north are in perfect alignment there is no magnetic declination. At points west of the agonic line, a magnetic needle will point east of true north (positive declination). At points east of the agonic line, a magnetic needle will point west of true north (negative declination). Extended lines that mark the constant magnetic declination away from the agonic line are called  isogonic lines. In the early 18th century, Edmund Halley noticed that the agonic line was slowly moving westward. Since then, scientists have noted a westward drift of the agonic line with an average velocity of about 0. 2 degrees per year. The drift is not equal in all places, however. It is stronger in the Atlantic Hemisphere than in the Pacific Hemisphere. Navigators must always compensate for magnetic declination when charting their courses. While the agonic line once passed through the Bermuda Triangle, it now falls within the Gulf of Mexico, rendering claims that it can contribute to disappearances in the Triangle inaccurate. Calculation errors anywhere could cause a plane or ship to go off-course. This theory also assumes that experienced pilots and captains passing through the area were unaware of magnetic declination, which is unlikely. Blue Holes Blue holes are water-filled caves and cavities with blue coloration. These caves may be simply a hole in the ground in the interior of islands (inland blue holes) or holes in shallow waters on the banks (marine or ocean blue holes). British scuba diver Rob Palmer directed a blue holes research center in the Bahamas for a number of years. In July 1997, he failed to surface after a dive in the Red Sea and was presumed dead. Some think that the blue holes may be related to (or even formed by) micro-wormholes believed to exist in the area and might even be transit points for UFOs arriving here from other dimensions. Plausible Theories Most rational explanations for the incidents in the Bermuda Triangle, including the explanations given by the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard, include human error and environmental effects. The area is one of the most highly trafficked for amateur pilots and sailors, so more traffic leads to more accidents and disappearances. Weather Patterns and Topography The area is subject to violent and unexpected storms and weather changes. These short but intense storms can build up quickly, dissipate quickly, and go undetected by satellite surveillance. Waterspouts  that could easily destroy a passing plane or ship are also not uncommon. A waterspout is simply a  tornado  at sea that pulls water from the ocean surface thousands of feet into the sky. Other possible environmental effects include underwater  earthquakes, as scientists have found a great deal of seismic activity in the area. Scientists have also spotted freak waves up to 100 feet high. The underwater topography of the area may also be a factor. It goes from a gently sloping continental shelf to an extremely deep drop-off. In fact, some of the deepest trenches in the world are found in the area of the Bermuda Triangle. Ships or planes that sink into these deep trenches will probably never be found. The Gulf Stream, where the Triangle is located, is extremely swift and turbulent. It can pose extreme navigational challenges, especially for inexperienced sailors. The Gulf Stream has been reported to move faster than 5 mph in some areas more than fast enough to throw sailors hundreds of miles off course if they dont compensate correctly for the current. It can also quickly erase any evidence of a disaster. Methane Gas Hydrates This theory appears to hold promise for at least some of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. Scientists at Cardiff University have discovered the presence of large concentrations of methane gas trapped in the ocean floor. This gas is due to dying and decomposing sea organisms. The sediment contains bacteria that produce methane, which accumulates as super concentrated methane ice, calledgas hydrates. The layer of ice traps the methane gas, and scientists are studying it as a potential energy source. Within seconds of a methane gas pocket rupturing, the gas surges up and erupts on the surface without warning. If a ship is in the area of the blowout, the water beneath it would suddenly become much less dense. The vessel could sink and sediment could quickly cover it as it settles onto the sea floor. Even planes flying overhead could catch  fire  during such a blowout. Although he doesnt agree with the methane hydrate theory as an explanation for the Bermuda Triangle, Bill Dillon, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey said that, On several occasions, oil drilling rigs have sunk as the result of [methane] gas escape. Pirates While historical pirates like Blackbeard or the fictional Captain Jack Sparrow of Pirates of the Caribbean may not be likely candidates for disappearances, modern pirates might be. In the 1970s and 80s, drug runners often pirated boats to smuggle drugs. This theory could also bear some truth during wartime. Check outHow Pirates Work  for more information about piracy and real-life pirates. Although these theories (among others) probably account for disappearances in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, many people still prefer to believe that aliens, electronic fog or another supernatural phenomenon must be the cause. As long as those theories exist, the Bermuda Triangle will remain a source of fascination and mystery.