Is the Bermuda Triangle Real? - Deep Sea Mysteries

The mysteries connected with the sea are as vast as the oceans themselves, and this should not be surprising given that more than 70% of the surface of the Earth is covered with water. We have already learned about the mysteries of the Loch Ness monster, ghost ships and the rogue waves. While rogue waves are the scientifically proven fact now, the same cannot be said about the Loch Ness monster. Yet another mystery which surrounds the oceans is that of the Bermuda Triangle, and in this article will learn about the Bermuda Triangle mystery.

First of all let me explain what is meant by the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle is an imaginary area of the ocean, which, as the name suggests, is triangular in shape. The three points of the triangle lie in Bermuda, Miami and San Juan; along the south-eastern Atlantic coast of the US. Please note that the name Bermuda triangle is not officially recognised by the US Board of Geographic Names, but still it is in popular use. Another popular name for this triangle is the devil's triangle.

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So you might think what is the fuss about all this triangle business? Actually this area has become popular, rather infamous due to some mysterious occurrences in the region which do not have a scientifically proven reason. Most of these occurrences are related to the disappearance of marine vessels and aeroplanes in and around the region without a supposedly logical explanation.

The incidents connected with the Bermuda Triangle are quite large number and cannot be fully outlined in this article but I will tell briefly about a few popular ones. The incident which stands out prominently on is that related to the disappearance of the US Navy warship USS Cyclops. In the year 1918 this warship suddenly vanished from the region around the Bermuda triangle and its disappearance remains a mystery till date. Even the wreckage of the vessel was not recovered, neither was there any trace of more than 300 soldiers on board. The official version of the US Navy on this incident is that the ship sank due to unknown reasons.

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Another incident occurred nearly 2 decades after this in the 1945 when a group of five US air force bombers simply disappeared off the coast of Florida, again without a plausible reason which is associated by many to the Bermuda mystery. There are dozens of other incidents related to the disappearance of ships, yachts and aeroplanes.

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The government authorities and the scientific community do not formally accept the existence of any area known as the Bermuda Triangle. The researchers obviously stress the need to find out the exact causes of these disappearances although no concrete evidence has been found either way till date. Many theories have been forwarded to explain the mysterious disappearance of objects in the region. None of these theories have been successful in explaining all the aspects of these incidents; given below are some of these theories.

The Methane Hydrate effect - some scientists claim that there are vast reserves of methane hydrate gas beneath the region of the Bermuda Triangle. It may so happen that large quantities of this gas gets released into the water, and this results in substantial reduction in the buoyancy of water. Since a ship floats on water due to the buoyancy effect, the reduction in buoyancy leads to the weight of the ship not being supported by water. The only drawbacks in this theory are that it does not explain the disappearance of aeroplanes and that there are even bigger reserves of methane hydrate in other regions of the world.

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Rogue waves - we have already learned about rogue waves in our previous articles, and it is quite possible that these waves would have been responsible for several of the incidents that occurred in that area.

There are N-number of theories relating to this mystery such as the presence of extraordinary magnetic fields in the region to the presence of extraterrestrial beings and even supernatural powers in the region.

The only truth about this mystery is that we do not know the full truth yet. Obviously this leaves room for speculation and hence the appearance of new theories every other day. Yet scientifically speaking there must be a logical explanation of all the incidents and only time will cover this mystery in its own time.

Most people consider this as a fabricated mystery which is being promoted by fiction writers for personal gains. Some point to the fact that though the disappearance of vessels and aeroplanes is unfortunate, still the number of disappeared objects is not an proportionate to similar incidents in other parts of the oceans. Even classification societies such as the Lloyd's register do not charge an extra premium for ensuring the ships passing through the hypothetical Bermuda Triangle.

Each day a large number of ships and aeroplanes also pass unharmed through that area. In the absence of any conclusive evidence on either side, I leave it to the readers to take their own decisions regarding these phenomena.

Naval History & Heritage Command - A US Navy Website