Disappearing ships and planes, unexplained fatal incidents. Have scientists finally managed to explain the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon?
In this story, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Hence the divergent interpretations of events, and even data on the number of puzzling incidents or the size of the Bermuda Triangle. Some researchers place it between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. Others believe that the area where ships and planes disappear without a trace stretches as far as Ireland. Even in a more "truncated" version, this death trap in the Atlantic would be as much as 1.2 million square kilometers.
Can the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon be explained? Well, what is sometimes considered esoteric, in such a large body of water may simply be the result of a coincidence, especially when you realize that not so long ago - in the first half of the 20th century - the communication of either floating objects or airplanes with bases was much more limited. So are the possibilities of searching for and targeting units. In any case, the Bermuda Triangle to this day provokes not only supernatural theories but also serious scientists . The effects of their work, as well as examples of the most famous disappearances and the latest theories about their possible causes, will be presented in the latest documentary program "The Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle" broadcast by Polsat Viasat History. Premiere on Monday, January 10 at 21.
Mysterious flight 19
Ships were supposed to die in the waters of the Atlantic in the 1920s (and even earlier - fascinators of paranormal phenomena refer to examples of disappearances as far back as the 18th century!). However, the incident that laid the foundation for the dark legend of the Bermuda Triangle is considered to be 1945 when five military planes were lost without a trace.
On December 5, 1945, a squadron of American bombers flew over the waters of the Bermuda Triangle. She never made it to her destination. Grumman Avenger machines were to perform a training flight. The squadron commander was a veteran of the fighting with the Japanese, Lieutenant Charles Carroll Taylor. In total, there were 14 people on board. The machines took off at 2:10 PM from Fort Lauderdal base camp. 50 minutes later, the planes did the job and thus dropped their bombs on targets on the Hen and Chicken reef.
Left:the squadron's route is shown in red, the yellow circle shows the area where the planes have gone missing. Right:an artistic vision of flight 19
Then, however, the radio operators at Fort Lauderdal base overheard a conversation between the pilots that the pilots had lost their orientation in the field. They had no idea which way to go. Navigation devices have stopped working properly and attempts to connect the base with the planes have failed. The pilots once estimated that they were still in the South Florida area, another time that they were already in the Gulf of Mexico. Communication with the squadron was definitely lost after 6 p.m., when the commander ordered the pilots to launch the machines to try to assess where they are while on the water - and thus survive.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that a rescue operation was undertaken very quickly and other planes and ships were notified, the bombers could not be found. In total, 300 units were searched for by water and on land. Flight 19 is a mystery to this day.
Birth of a legend
The lost machines captured the imagination of a certain Vincent Gaddis so much that based on this story he wrote a text entitled "The Bermuda Triangle of Death" . He published it in a publishing house that prints science fiction stories. Thus, he initiated a whole series of publications. Initially fictional, but later began to evolve into the mysterious disappearances theory . All incidents in these waters were drawn up under them. Meanwhile, it is possible that the truth about the unlucky flight was discovered at the very beginning.
All the unexplained accidents that happened in this area began to be brought under the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle
In the 500-page report on Flight 19 it was concluded that the cause of the disappearance was human error - namely Lieutenant Taylor. He was supposed to lose his orientation in space , but also not respond to information from other pilots whose compasses were working properly. It was suggested that the confused commander led his men deep to the Atlantic, from where they had no chance to return.
The Bermuda Triangle is not that dangerous
Is the truth about the unlucky flight 19 so banal? It is not at all impossible, as with other unexplained disappearances in these waters. Interestingly, statistics were published in 2017, which showed that although there were indeed many disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, however, there have been more such incidents in many places around the world. Moreover, the once dangerous Bermuda Triangle stopped mysteriously "eating" ships and planes in recent years. In 2017, the insurance company Allianz published an infographic on the disappearances of ships in the last 10 years. The Bermuda Triangle is not included there at all. The waters of the South China Sea turned out to be the most dangerous where nearly 250 such events took place.
Examples of the most famous disappearances and the latest theories about their possible causes will be presented in the latest documentary program "The Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle" broadcast by Polsat Viasat History. Premiere on Monday, January 10 at 21.
It is also possible that the fact that there are less and less disappearances is ... technological progress. Modern GPS systems facilitate the location of units. We also know more about natural phenomena that may favor "mysterious" disappearances. A popular theory about the Bermuda Triangle speaks of underwater methane eruptions, whose deposits are indeed located in this part of the Atlantic. The gas causes the density and thus the buoyancy of the water to decrease, which can result in the vessels literally collapsing. Is this the truth about the Bermuda Triangle? We will surely see more than one explanation of its phenomenon.
Bibliography:
- Charles Berlitz, Bermuda Triangle and other mysteries , Pandora Publishing House 1993.
- Lawrence David Kusche, Bermuda Triangle mystery solved , State Publishing House "Iskry", Warsaw 1983.