Bermuda Triangle

1

Mysterious Place of the World - Bermuda Triangle

1. Introduction: There are lots of mysterious places in the world. Bermuda Triangle, Area 51 and the

crop circles are the most mysterious places. Many people still try to solve these mysteries and people travel to there to see the mysterious phenomenon. I have done some case studies about those mysterious places and this detailed report is about the Bermuda Triangle.

This triangle is formed by Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. The Bermuda Triangle covers roughly 500,000 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean. Generally there are 3 theories that explain the Bermuda Triangle phenomenon. One of the theories is that there are really huge storms in the Bermuda Triangle which cause people, planes and ships to disappear. The Bermuda Triangle is known for huge storms and also known as the source of many storms. Because of

these huge storms, ocean waves in the Bermuda Triangle are big and dangerous. Those storms and waves might be the reasons of the Bermuda triangle phenomenon. Another theory is the “Electronic Fog”. Most people who have been to the Bermuda triangle said that they travelled through a fog and this fog might be a fog called “Electronic Fog”. They thought they were travelling through this fog but actually they were travelling with the fog. Many ships, planes and people were lost in this fog because they do not where they are going. Also, the compasses do not work when they are in the fog which makes it hard to find the way. The third theory is the gas called “Methane Gas”. This theory is the most accurate theory of all other theories. When landslide happens on the ocean floor, it creates large amount of methane gas. Once this gas is released, it creates the huge bubble. This bubble reduces the density of the ocean water. Then, the ships with higher density than the water sink.

Even though these theories are acceptable there are some survivors who are all telling some different mysterious things about this place. Number of geologists is doing research about this place in recent days. Is it really a mystery or a myth?

In this article, we'll look at the facts surrounding what I do know about the area as well as some of the most commonly-recited stories. I'll also explore the bizarre theories like aliens and space portals as well as the mundane explanations.

2. How It Works:According to some people, the Bermuda Triangle is a very real place where dozen of

ships, planes and people have disappeared with no good explanation. Since a magazine first coined the phrase "Bermuda Triangle" in 1964, the mystery has continued to attract attention. When we dig deeper into most cases, though, they're much less mysterious. Either they were

2

never in the area to begin with, they were actually found, or there's a reasonable explanation for their disappearance.

Does this mean there's nothing to the claims of so many who have had odd experiences in the Bermuda Triangle? Not necessarily. Scientists have documented deviations from the norm in the area and have found some interesting formations on the seafloor within the Bermuda Triangle's boundaries. So, for those who like to believe in it, there is plenty fuel for the fire.

Many think of the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, as an "imaginary" area. The U. S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle and does not maintain an official file on it. However, within this imaginary area, many real vessels and the people aboard them have seemingly disappeared without explanation. The Bermuda Triangle

is located off the South-eastern 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.

3. The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: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.

In 1975, Mary Margaret Fuller, editor of "Fate" magazine, contacted Lloyd's of London for statistics on insurance payoffs for incidents occurring within the Bermuda Triangle's usually accepted boundaries. According to Lloyd's records, 428 vessels were reported missing throughout the world between 1955 and 1975, and there was no greater incidence of events occurring in the Bermuda Triangle than anywhere else in the world.

Gian J. Quasar, author of "Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth behind the World's Greatest Mystery" and curator of Bermuda-triangle.org argues that this report "is completely false." Quasar reasons that because Lloyd's does not insure small crafts like yachts and often doesn't insure small charter boats or private aircraft, its records can't be the definitive source. He also states that the Coast Guard's records, which it publishes annually,

3

do not include "missing vessels." He requested data on "overdue vessels" and received (after 12 years of asking) records of 300 missing/overdue vessels for the previous two years. Whether those vessels ultimately returned is unknown. His Web site has a list of these vessels.

The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) database indicates (according to Gian J. Quasar) that only a handful of aircraft have disappeared off the New England coast over the past 10 years, while over 30 have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle.

The mystery of the Triangle probably took hold with the first well-publicized disappearance in 1945, when five Navy Avengers disappeared in the area. The cause of the disappearance was originally "pilot error," but family members of the pilot leading the mission couldn't accept that he had made such a mistake. Eventually they convinced the Navy to change it to "causes or reasons unknown."

The myth gained momentum after reporter E.V.W. Jones compiled a list of "mysterious disappearances" of ships and planes between the Florida coast and Bermuda. Two years later, George X. Sand wrote an article for "Fate" magazine, titled "Sea Mystery at our Back Door." The article was about a "series of strange marine disappearances, each leaving no trace whatever, that have taken place in the past few years" in a "watery triangle bounded roughly by Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico."

As more incidents occurred, the reputation grew and past events were reanalyzed and added to the legend. In 1964, "Argosy Magazine" gave the triangle its name in an article titled "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" by Vincent Gaddis. Argosy magazine's tagline a "magazine of master fiction," but that did nothing to halt the spread of the myth. More articles, books, and movies have appeared, suggesting theories ranging from alien abductions to a giant octopus.

4. Well-known Disappearances:Many Bermuda Triangle Web sites 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 you'll see, some of these have reasonable explanations although they're still attributed to the strange and unknown powers of the Bermuda Triangle.

4.1 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.

4

4.2 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, Taylor's voice began coming in stronger over the radio. Taylor, however, didn't believe this course was right and after a few minutes said that they "didn't 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.

5

Two PBM-5 Mariner seaplanes went out to search the area, but one exploded soon after takeoff. The other never located Flight 19.

5. More Disappearances:

5.1 DC-3 Flight NC-16002, 1948:On December 28, 1948, Captain Robert Lindquist of flight NC-16002 was piloting

DC-3 commercial flight NC-16002 from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida. He radioed Miami when they were 50 miles away and requested landing instructions. Miami radioed back with the instructions, but got no reply. The plane never arrived and was never heard from again. Although many reports state there was no radio trouble and that the weather was clear, the accident investigation report from the Civil Aeronautics Board says differently.

According to the report, the plane had electrical difficulties from the beginning and its batteries needed a recharge so it could communicate with the tower. But rather than charging the batteries prior to takeoff, Lindquist instructed the ground crew to refill the water in the batteries and replace them in the plane. He originally cancelled his flight plan because of the battery difficulties, and was directed to remain in San Juan until he established radio contact with the tower and reinstated his flight plan. But 11 minutes after takeoff, Lindquist radioed to the tower that they were proceeding to Miami. The tower never received the transmission, but CAA Communications in San Juan did. All attempts to contact the flight were unsuccessful. In the flight's final radio communication, Lindquist stated that they were 50 miles south of Miami.

The Civil Aeronautics Board report analysis includes the assumption that some failure in the electrical system made the aircraft's radio and automatic compass inoperative after the final communication. It also assumes that because Captain Lindquist didn't communicate with the tower, he didn't know about changes in the weather. The wind direction had changed, which would have made his plane drift left of its actual course by as much as 50 miles. Since the captain's location was an estimate based on his flight time, speed, and

6

weather conditions, he could easily have been off-course. The plane had fuel for seven and a half hours of flight.

At the time of his last communication, he had been flying for a little more than six hours. He may have then crashed into the Gulf of Mexico after running out of fuel. No debris was found, but the crash could have occurred in an area where the water is extremely deep and any evidence of the crash would disappear quickly.

5.2 The S.S. Marine Sulphur Queen:

The S.S. Marine Sulphur Queen was a tanker was bound for Norfolk, Virginia from Beaumont, Texas carrying 15,000 tons of molten sulphur in heated tanks. Its last communication took place on February 3, 1963, when its captain radioed a routine position report. The message placed her near Key West in the Florida Straits. She never reached Virginia.

Three days after the position report, Coast Guard searchers found a single life jacket floating 40 miles southwest of the tanker's last known position. It's likely that leaking sulphur may have caused an explosion. Escaping sulphur gas could have poisoned the crew and prevented them from sending a distress call. Officers on a Honduran banana boat reported to the Coast Guard that their freighter ran into a strong, acrid odor 15 miles off Cape San Antonia, the western tip of Cuba, just before dawn on February 3.

The area was known for being infested with sharks and barracuda, so it wasn't surprising that no bodies were ever found. The U.S. Coast Guard History Archive lists the following items eventually found from the Sulphur Queen: two pieces of board bearing the name of the ship, eight life jackets (some with rips believed caused by shark’s teeth), five life rings, one shirt, one piece of oar, one oil can, one gasoline can, one cone buoy and one fog horn.

7

5.3 Milwaukee's 440th Airlift Wing, Plane 680, 1965:

On a clear night in 1965, a seasoned flying crew from the Air Force Reserve Command's 440th Airlift Wing flew from Milwaukee on the heavily travelled Yankee Route, on their way to Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas. They landed as scheduled at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida at 5:04 p.m. and spent two hours and 43 minutes on the ground. Then they took off at 7:47 p.m. and headed south to the Bahamas, but never reached their destination.

There was no indication of trouble and all radio communication was routine. When they didn't land, radio traffic controllers started calling Plane 680 but didn't receive a response. Only a few scraps of debris were found, and those could have been tossed out of the cargo plane. Among those on board was an expert maintenance crew, so if there was a mechanical problem on the flight, there were plenty of people to take care of it. There was no explanation for the disappearance of Plane 680.

6. Recent Cases:In this day of GPS navigation, it's hard to imagine a ship or plane could actually

disappear. However, there have been some recent disappearances attributed to the Bermuda Triangle:

DC-3 N407D, lost on September 21, 1978

Fighting Tiger 524, lost on February 22, 1978

Beechcraft N9027Q, lost on February 11, 1980

Ercoupe N3808H, lost on June 28, 1980

Beech Bonanza, lost on January 6, 1981

Piper Cherokee N3527E, lost on March 26, 1986

Grumman Cougar Jet, lost on October 31, 1991

Jamanic K motor vessel, lost en route from Cape Haitian to Miami on March 20, 1995

8

Genesis motor vessel, disappeared en route from Port of Spain, Trinidad to St. Vincent on April 21, 1999

Cessna 210, drops off radar from Freeport to Nassau on June 14, 1999

7. Farfetched Theories:

7.1 Aliens and Atlantis:

As an area with one of the highest incidences of UFO sightings, it's no wonder that alien abductions have been a popular explanation for disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. But abductions aren't 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 archaeologists 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.

9

7.2 Magnetic Abnormalities:The Fog: A Never before Published Theory of the Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon,"

by Rob MacGregor and Bruce Gernon include reports of an "electronic fog" that both men experienced while flying in the Bermuda Triangle. On December 4, 1970, Gernon and his father were flying to Bimini in clear skies when they saw a strange cloud with almost perfectly round edges hovering over the Miami shore. As they flew over it, the cloud began spreading out, matching or exceeding their speed. At 11,500 feet, they thought that they had escaped the "cloud," only to discover that it had formed a tunnel. It appeared the only way they could escape the cloud was to go through the tunnel. Once inside, they saw lines on the walls that spun in a counter clockwise direction. Gernon's navigational instruments went haywire and the compass spun counter clockwise.

Gernon reported that he "realized that something very bizarre had happened. Instead of the clear blue sky that we expected at the end of the tunnel, everything appeared a dull, grayish white. Visibility appeared to be about two miles, but there was absolutely nothing to see - no ocean, no horizon, no sky, only a gray haze."

When Gernon contacted Miami Air Traffic Control to get radar identification, the controller said that there were no planes on radar between Miami, Bimini and Andros. After several minutes, Gernon heard the air traffic controller report that a plane had been spotted directly over Miami. Gernon didn't think he could possibly be over Miami Beach, because it usually took 75 minutes to get to Miami and only 47 minutes had passed. At this same time, the cloud tunnel began to peel away in what he described as ribbons of fog. The instruments began operating normally and Miami Beach was directly below them. This loss of time, confirmed by their watches and the plane's clock, made Gernon believe that the electronic fog had time travel qualities.

Gernon experienced the fog one more time in flight with his wife. Many other pilots have had similar experiences in the area. Gernon believes that powerful electromagnetic storms from within the Earth break through the surface and come into the atmosphere where they soon disappear, leaving electronic fog. According to Gernon, a Swedish scientist has found that magnetism is weaker in the triangle than anywhere else on Earth, which may be why the fog happens more there than anywhere else.

When Don Pelz of Indiana heard of Gernon's experience, he contacted him about his own. He had also seen the doughnut shaped clouds 10 years ago and was able to retrieve radar images of what Gernon calls a "time storm."

7.3 Compass Malfunctions:In almost every account of the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, you'll see

reference to the fact that it is one of only two places on Earth (the other being the Devil's 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

10

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 isogonics 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.

7.4 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 centre 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.

11

8. 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.

8.1 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 don't compensate correctly for the current. It can also quickly erase any evidence of a disaster.

8.2 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, called gas 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 erupt 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 doesn't 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."

12

Deep beneath the surface of the Bermuda Triangle lie pockets of trapped methane gas, just waiting to be unlocked by seismic activity or underwater landslides. If unleashed, the theory goes; this methane gas could bubble to the surface, reducing the density of the water. Any ship in that patch of water would lose its buoyancy and sink perilously. It gets worse: In theory, if enough of the flammable gas bubbled up to the surface and got high, high, high up into the air, it could potentially stall an airplane engine or even be ignited by an engine's spark. It's important to note that the Bermuda Triangle is far from the only place on the planet where methane hydrates exist - it's not even the area with the highest concentration - but it is possible that these hydrates could pose a threat.

8.3 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 out How 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.

8.4 U.S. Government Testing:Forget Area 51; they call this base AUTEC (for Atlantic Undersea Test and

Evaluation Centre). It's located on the Bahamas' Andros Island, right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, and it's where the Navy tests out subs, weapons and sonar. A handful of theorists insist that U.S. Government has been working with extraterrestrials and that AUTEC is actually a testing ground for reverse-engineered alien technology. Might this advanced alien technology be powerful enough to down planes?

13

9. Recent research:A top researcher in the Bermuda Triangle mystery is claiming he has solved the

riddle and knows exactly what happened to ships and planes that were lost in this area.

Has the Bermuda Triangle Mystery been finally solved?  According to Mike Walters, a top researcher in the mystery who has been exploring the area of the triangle for more than 20 years, the answer is yes.  Walters is claiming he knows exactly what has caused numerous ships and planes to be lost in the area and can prove his theory to anyone who asks. 

Walter’s theory begins on a dive he took around 20 miles southwest from the coast of Bermuda where he claims he found a large crystal that was mostly buried in the sand underneath approximately 100 feet of water.  The crystal was very large and Walters claims he thinks it is the biggest one piece crystal ever found.  Upon seeing the crystal for the first time, Walter’s claims that he could only see about 10 feet of the crystal but could make out the entire shape from the sand covering it.  Walters estimates that the entire piece is over 50 feet in length and about 4 feet in width.  The crystal was a vibrant yellow in colour and seemed to give off a glow in the water immediately around it.

After finding the crystal for the first time, Walters made repeated dives at the site and did numerous tests on the crystal.  He had a feeling that the crystal might have strange properties and according to some tests he is said to have done, the piece does seem to display abnormal characteristics.  One of the most bizarre features is the fact that anything metal that gets within 50 feet of the crystal is drawn straight towards it. Anything electronic malfunctions anywhere near the crystal too. 

14

So, how does this crystal explain all of the disappearances of planes and ships in the Triangle?  According to Walter’s theory, he claims that the crystal was completely uncovered many years ago and was able to give off huge magnetic forces towards anything metal which would completely sink many ships and even bring down planes.  Walter claims that right around the crystal are numerous large mounds underneath the water that he believes are the remnants of several of these large ships and planes.   He plans on exploring these mounds over the next several years to confirm his theories.  

Most researchers are quick to dismiss Walter’s theory and claim that a crystal could first off never be that large and would not give off those strange properties either.  Walter has gone on the record numerous times that he is willing to show anyone the crystal.  However, it should be noted that the last time several researchers went on a dive with Mr. Walters, all they could make out was a large mound where he claimed the crystal was completely covered up with sand.  So far, no one besides Mr Walter’s and two of his colleagues have actually seen the crystal so the theory is nowhere close to being proven.  Walter’s does point out that he is glad that the crystal is actually buried underneath the sand, in that it seems that the forces that the piece gives off is weakened considerably and that is why there have not been many disappearances lately in the Triangle.  He fears that if the crystal does become uncovered by either a storm or by humans, then we could restart the strange disappearances once again and no one wants that. 

This is a summary of the supposed discovery of a strange round crystal like object nicknamed the Atlantean Orb. Discovered in 1970 in the area of the Bahamas inside of an underwater pyramid, the orb is supposed to contain strange properties.

The Atlantean Orb?  Did Atlantis even exist?  And if so, are there any artifacts still remaining to be found that would prove the existence of this ancient civilization?  According to a discovery made in 1970, the answer would seem to be yes.  This is the year that the supposed Atlantean Orb was first discovered. 

The story starts in 1970 when Ray Brown was on a scuba diving expedition with some friends near the Bahamas.  The team had dived in the area of the Bahamas numerous times in search of treasure from sunken Spanish ships and was looking for this same thing in a new location. The team made their way out to sea near Andros Island and was heading out to an area of the ocean called the “tongue of the ocean”.  This is an area of the ocean where the bottom drops down to considerable depths and is about 100 miles from Bimini Island.  According to Mr. Brown, the team arrived at their planned dive site which was about 20 miles from the “tongue”.  They were all excited about diving at this location as a recent storm had gone through the area so any treasures buried under the sand could now be possibly exposed for them to retrieve. 

As soon as the team made the dive, they encountered murky waters from the storm but upon reaching the sea floor, the team was able to make out several buildings and stone structures that according to Mr. Brown appeared Egyptian in style.  The area was in total ruins but very ancient in style and appeared to be a sunken city.  The area was pretty large in size and Brown ended up getting separated from his fellow divers.  This is where Brown claims he came upon a sunken pyramid that the only thing he could make out was the top of the

15

capstone.  Brown decided to swim down to explore the pyramid further and came upon an entrance actually into the pyramid itself.  After passing through a narrow hallway, Brown claims he came upon a small room with a pyramid style roof.  Amazingly, the room contained no animal life, no algae and no coral anywhere on its walls or its waters. 

This is where the story takes an ever weirder turn.  Even though he was inside a pyramid and was underwater at least more than 100 feet, Brown claims that he was able to see (he had no flashlight or other light source so it should have been pitch black) clearly but was not sure exactly how he was able to do it.  What Brown seen inside was the most amazing thing though?  In the centre of the room was a carved stone pedestal that two burnt looking bronze hands were holding a 3 and a half inch crystal sphere.  Directly on top of this was a brass looking rod which had a red gem at the end of it.  This rod and gem were approximately 4 feet in distance from where the hands were holding the crystal sphere.  Brown tried at first to dislodge the rod and gem but neither would budge.  The only item he was able to grab was the small crystal sphere (the Atlantean Orb) that he said was easily pulled from the the two bronze hands.  He immediately returned to the surface, rejoining his team and showed them his find.  Not one of the other divers witnessed the pyramid and to this date, no one has been able to find the sunken city or the pyramid again even though Brown knows and has told the exact coordinates to others. 

10. Bermuda Triangle plane mystery “solved”:

Two of the so-called Bermuda Triangle's most mysterious disappearances in the late 1940s may have been solved.

Scores of ships and planes are said to have vanished without trace over the decades in a vast triangular area of ocean with imaginary points in Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico. But journalist Tom Mangold's new examination for the BBC provides plausible explanations for the disappearance of two British commercial planes in the area, with the loss of 51 passengers and crew.

16

One plane probably suffered from catastrophic technical failure as a result of poor design, while the other is likely to have run out of fuel. Sixty years ago, commercial flights from London to Bermuda were new and perilous. It would require a refuelling stop on the Azores before the 2,000-mile flight to Bermuda, which at that time was the longest non-stop commercial overseas flight in the world. The planes would have been operating at the limit of their range. Today planes arriving at the tiny Atlantic island have sufficient reserve fuel to divert to the US East Coast 700 miles away, in case of emergency. And the planes of the post-war era were far less reliable than today's airliners.

British South American Airways (BSAA), which operated the route, had a grim safety record. In three years it had had 11 serious accidents and lost five planes with 73 passengers and 22 crew members killed.

10.1 Unsolved mystery:On 30 January 1948, a BSAA Avro Tudor IV plane disappeared without trace.

Twenty-five passengers and a crew of six were on board The Star Tiger. No bodies or wreckage were found. The official investigation into the disappearance concluded: "It may truly be said that no more baffling problem has ever been presented.

"What happened in this case will never be known and the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery."

But there are a number of clues in the official accident report that reveal the Star Tiger had encountered problems before it reached the Azores. The aircraft's heater was notoriously unreliable and had failed en route, and one of the compasses was found to be faulty. Probably to keep the plane warmer, the pilot had decided to fly the whole transatlantic route very low, at 2,000 feet, burning fuel at a faster rate. On approaching Bermuda, Star Tiger was a little off course and had been flying an hour later than planned.

In addition, the official Ministry of Civil Aviation report considered that the headwinds faced by Star Tiger may have been much stronger than those forecast. This would have caused the fuel to burn more quickly. "Flying at 2,000 feet they would have used up much more fuel," said Eric Newton, one of the Ministry of Civil Aviation's most senior air accident investigators, who reviewed the scenario for the BBC. "At 2,000 feet you'd be leaving very little altitude for manoeuvre. In any serious in-flight emergency they could have lost their height in seconds and gone into the sea."

Whatever happened to the plane, it was sudden and catastrophic - there was no time to send an emergency signal. The Avro Tudor IV was a converted warplane that was eventually taken out of passenger service because of its poor safety record. Only BSAA continued to fly the aircraft.

Gordon Store was chief pilot and manager of operations at BSAA. In an interview with his local newspaper last November, he said he had no confidence in the Tudor's engines.

At 2,000 feet you'd be leaving very little altitude for manoeuvre - in any serious in-flight emergency the plane could have lost its height in seconds and gone into the sea

Eric Newton

Air accident investigator

17

"Its systems were hopeless… all the hydraulics, the air-conditioning equipment and the recycling fans were crammed together underneath the floor without any thought. There were fuel-burning heaters that would never work," he said.

10.2 Second accident:Almost a year to the day after the disappearance of the Star Tiger, another Avro

Tudor IV belonging to BSAA vanished between Bermuda and Jamaica. Exactly one hour after departure from Bermuda on 17 January 1949, the pilot of the Star Ariel sent a routine communication of his position. But then the plane vanished without trace at 18,000 feet.

According to experts, this would have required a sudden catastrophe. Again, no wreckage, debris or bodies were ever found. Fuel starvation at that height was not plausible, the weather report had been good, and pilot error was ruled out. The plane's poor design may well have been to blame, according to Don Mackintosh, a former BSAA Tudor IV pilot. The cabin heater mounted underneath the floor where the co-pilot sat is his prime suspect.

At the time, aircraft heater technology was still in its infancy. "The heater bled aviation fuel on to a hot tube - and was also fairly close to the hydraulic pipes," he says. A pressure switch should have allowed the heater to operate when it was in the air but it was unreliable and was often deliberately short-circuited by staff, allowing the pilot manual control. He switch prevented inflammable fuel from flowing, but if the heater was switched on manually, gas that may have collected could have ignited. Captain Peter Duffey, a former BSAA pilot who went on to become a captain of British Airways Concorde, also believes that the proximity of the heater and the hydraulic pipes was significant. "My theory is that hydraulic vapour escaped from a leak, which got on to a hot heater and caused an explosion," he says.

Mr Newton's report came to a similar conclusion: "If the heater had caught fire down below the floorboards then it could have developed to a catastrophic state before the crew knew anything about it."There was no automatic fire extinguisher to put it out like there is nowadays. There was no alarm where the heater was stored… so no-one would know, possibly until it was too late."

The official accident investigation discovered that because of a communications error, search and rescue teams were not despatched until seven and a half hours later. By then what was left of the plane and the bodies would have sunk. The report on the disappearance of the first plane, the Star Tiger, said something which, because it could be easily misinterpreted, helped the accident achieve notoriety.

In a moment of philosophical conjecture, the investigators mused that maybe "some external cause may (have) overwhelm(ed) both man and machine".

My theory is that hydraulic vapour escaped from a leak, which got on to a hot heater and caused an explosion

Captain Peter Duffey

18

Those comments from sober-suited British civil servants opened the floodgates for conspiracy theorists, hack journalists and mischief makers, adding to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.

10.3 Two scientists allege to have solved “The Bermuda Triangle” mystery: According to two research scientists the mystery of vanished ships and airplanes in

the region dubbed “The Bermuda Triangle” has been solved. No need to appeal to outer space aliens, time anomalies, submerged giant Atlantis pyramids and bizarre meteorological phenomena ... the “Triangle” simply suffers from an acute case of gas.

Natural gas—the kind that heats ovens and boils water—specifically methane, is the culprit behind the mysterious disappearances and loss of water and air craft. The evidence for this astounding new insight into a mystery that's be-devilled the world is laid out in a research paper published in the American Journal of Physics. Professor Joseph Monaghan researched the hypothesis with honour student David May at the Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The two hypothesized that large methane bubbles rising from the ocean floor might account for many, if not all, of the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft at specific locales around the world.

Researcher Ivan T. Sanderson identified these mystery areas during the 1960s. Sanderson described the actual shape of these regions as more like a lozenge rather than a triangle. Some of the more famous spots include an area in the Sea of Japan, the North Sea, and of course the infamous `Bermuda (or Devil's) Triangle.´

Oceanographic surveyors of the sea floor in the area of the Bermuda Triangle and the North Sea region between continental Europe and Great Britain have discovered significant quantities of methane hydrates and older eruption sites. Because of the correlations and existing data, the two envisioned what would happen when gigantic methane bubbles explode from natural fissures on the seafloor.

The methane—normally frozen at great pressure as gas hydrates embedded within subterranean rock—can become dislodged and transform into gaseous bubbles expanding geometrically as they explode upwards. When these bubbles reach the surface of the water they soar into the air, still expanding upwards and outwards. Any ships caught within the methane mega-bubble immediately lose all buoyancy and sink to the bottom of the ocean. If the bubbles are big enough and possess a high enough density they can also knock aircraft out of the sky with little or no warning. Aircraft falling victim to these methane bubbles will lose their engines-perhaps igniting the methane surrounding them-and immediately lose their lift as well, ending their flights by diving into the ocean and swiftly plummeting.

11. No more mystery in the Bermuda Triangle:The science has yet to face a mystery. Instead, scientists feel even more excited and

motivated in the face of a good mystery. No fear, no desire to withdraw, there is only respect for the mystery (phenomenon) studied and obedience (which is never blind) to the scientific method. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. This is the source of all true art and science. (Albert Einstein)

19

The region became famous as the scene of several disappearances of planes, ships and pleasure boats, for which became popular explanations extra physical and / or supernatural. Many explanations for the disappearance (like the famous Flight 16) were proposed during the last decades. Some of these were anomalies in the electromagnetic field of the planet, the remains of crystals from Atlantis (The Lost City), conspiracy theory concocted to develop responses to the world of the Cold War, aliens, sea monsters, giant whirlpools.

There were between 200 and less than 1000 cases between the discoveries of the Americas today. The absurd thing comes to an investigator, Howard Rosenberg, said that in 1973 the U.S. Coast Guard responded to more than 8,000 requests for assistance in the area and more than 50 ships and 20 aircraft were lost in the area during the last century. However, the reality was not in all this. According to the article “Solved the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle” site DN Science: And the answer is not in magnetism, time tunnels, aliens or any other metaphysical phenomenon. In fact, the strange phenomena reported in the famous region of Puerto Rico, Florida and Bermuda boil down to a problem gas specifically, methane gas.

The completion of the work of Professor Joseph Monaghan and his pupil David May, of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, published in the American Journal of Physics. Yeah. The image above is a joke, of course, but the gas is almost the same: methane. With some differences in composition and generation, but the difference for a “bang” is minimal. What happens is that there are huge bubbles of methane gas given off from the ocean floor and are capable of sinking ships and aircraft to overturn. Plus, this phenomenon could explain even disappearances elsewhere in the world.

During the 60 years a researcher, Ivan T. Sanderson, identified regions of the world where there are large concentrations of gas. Beyond the Bermuda Triangle, the gas is also present in this form of bubbles in the Japan Sea and North Sea. These bubbles of methane are formed after volcanic activity underwater, and are usually contained within rock, ocean under high pressure. But he can come off naturally, in the slightest tremor of the seafloor.

When this happens, they form a giant bubble that grows exponentially as it rises to the surface. After entering the atmosphere, the gas continues to rise and expand laterally. According to the scientists’ computer simulations of a ship caught in this bubble immediately loses buoyancy (due to the fact that water becomes less dense) and simply sinks. If the bubble is thick enough, it can even bring down airplanes (especially if flying at low altitude). Methane makes the device lose lift and cause engine damage (and may even make it explode). In these circumstances, the aircraft falls into the ocean and disappears quickly.

20

12. Conclusion: fact or a fiction?Ships and airplanes disappear into the ocean every year. This is normal and may

simply occur because of people’s mistakes or nature’s accidents. These incidents could happen anywhere. But there is one place that they are said to happen much more often than anywhere else—so often that it has become legendary as a mysterious place of disappearances. That place is called the Bermuda Triangle.

It is said that this triangle holds a great mystery. Not only do ships and planes disappear, but odd magnetic forces seem to be at work in this particular location. Christopher Columbus is said to be the first man to have noticed odd things happening in the Bermuda Triangle. He said he saw “dancing lights.” He also said that his compass did not work properly when he was in this region. Once, five American Navy boats disappeared there all at once. People have made predictions about what could have caused these strange occurrences. However, no one knows for sure.

There are dozens of theories that try to explain the things that take place in the Bermuda Triangle. Many of these theories are quite eccentric. For example, some people believe that ships have disappeared because of creatures from another planet. Others say that the triangle is a door to other planets. Some people believe that ships and planes are transported into a different place in time. Still others blame the advanced society of the “lost city” of Atlantis. Because of the unusual things that have happened in the Bermuda Triangle, this part of the ocean has been nicknamed the “Devil’s Triangle.”

Today, scientists say that there is nothing really unusual about the Bermuda Triangle. Many say that natural disasters may cause ships and aircraft to disappear. There are waves and hurricanes that can sink ships in this area. The Gulf Stream, a big current in the ocean, can carry ships away. Some think that there is an underwater volcano in the triangle, which may be the cause of disappearing boats. Others blame underwater earthquakes. Still others have found bubbles of gas that may come to the water’s surface and cause boats to sink. It is also possible that there are reasonable explanations beyond nature for these disappearances. Planes crash in the Bermuda Triangle just as they would in any other place, but the ocean bottom underneath the triangle is full of very deep trenches that may prevent people from finding lost planes and boats. Some even say that there are modern-day pirates in this region who are to blame for the many disappearances there. There are many other rational reasons that have been used to explain lost vehicles in the Bermuda Triangle. Of course, there are many who say that the stories we hear about the Bermuda Triangle are just made up or imaginary. They blame many disappearances on human mistakes, just like disappearances in other parts of the world. Because some people are superstitious, they might report things they see as strange and blame the mysterious triangle for something that could have been explained otherwise.

21

Many people do not want to believe the Bermuda Triangle can be so easily explained. They like the idea of a mystery. There have been books and movies about things that are not easily explained. This makes the Bermuda Triangle a perfect subject for these kinds of stories. Maybe it is for this reason that so many people still believe that there is such a thing as the “Devil’s Triangle.”