The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is a region of the Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico where several planes have unexplainably disappeared over the last fifty years. A plethora of theories ranging from aliens, and warp-holes in time, to a link to the mythical lost continent of Atlantis have been used to explain the deaths and disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.

Theoretical Physicist Stephen Hawking once facetiously commented that the “Giant Turtle Theory” was to blame for the mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. This theory suggested that the Earth is a flat plain on the backs of gigantic turtles, and people who disappear in the triangle may actually have fallen off the edge of the earth. Scientists have yet to agree upon the three points that form the triangle, which fuels skeptic’s argument that it is nearly impossible to compare the number of accidents within the triangle to other areas of the ocean.

Perhaps the most infamous tragedy of the Bermuda Triangle was “Flight 19.” On December 5th, 1945 five Navy Avenger bombers and crewmen left the Fort Lauderdale Naval Station for a routine training exercise. The weather wasn’t perfect with light rain and a few clouds but was deemed safe enough for a simulated bombing run. Around 4pm that afternoon the instructor radioed headquarters panicked saying he had lost track of the Florida coast, and his compasses weren’t working. Soon, other pilots reported malfunctioning compasses, and a feeling of disorientation as well. Although the pilots did radio for help, contact was lost after some time, and the pilots of Flight 19 were never heard from again. To this day, the remains of the avengers have not been discovered.

Scientists now believe they have an explanation for the mysterious phenomena caused within the Bermuda Triangle. In 1981 geochemist, Richard McIver, announced that he had discovered a possible link between methane gas blowouts in the ocean and the Bermuda Triangle incidents. McIver believed that massive landslides in the ocean near Bermuda bring down huge boulders that rupture the layer of gas beneath the sea floor. When a methane gas pocket ruptures an immense reservoir of gas surges from the seabed, suddenly erupting onto the surface. The theory is that this explosion of methane gas makes the air lighter than normal in turn causing planes that fly overhead to lose engine function, explode, or descend into the ocean.

For now some skeptics have been quieted by the methane gas theory, but still others search for a more exciting, and intriguing explanation. In the end, it seems the truths behind the Bermuda Triangle mysteries are subjective, and will never convince all the skeptics keeping the mystery alive for years to come.