Bermuda Triangle

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Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle , also known as the Devil's Triangle , is a sea area in the Atlantic . It is located north of the Caribbean roughly between southern Florida , Puerto Rico and Bermuda .

As a result of several ship and aircraft disasters that actually or supposedly occurred there, this area got the mysterious reputation, there were frequent accidents there, and ships and airplanes even “disappeared” there. Some of the incidents in which ships, aircraft or their crews are said to have disappeared without a trace could not be fully resolved. They inspired various authors to sometimes quite bizarre attempts at explanations, which became the basis for a large number of literary works, films and websites. In fact, the number of disasters that have happened in the Bermuda Triangle is not particularly high. In addition, many of the supposedly mysteriously disappeared ships are believed to have simply sunk in a storm.

Reception history

The term Bermuda Triangle was coined in 1952 in an article by George Sand in the US magazine Fate and Associate Press and soon became a myth . Interest in the supposedly supernatural phenomena peaked in 1974 after Charles Berlitz and J. Manson Valentine landed a bestseller with their book The Bermuda Triangle (published in Germany in 1977), which sold millions worldwide. As an indication of the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle, a list of ships and airplanes that have disappeared without a trace is mentioned there - as with other authors before. However, the size of the area under consideration does not always correspond to the “classic” definition of the Bermuda Triangle, as some also add the Azores and the West Indies , thus increasing the area from around 600,000 square kilometers to around three times.

The stories from the Bermuda Triangle are strikingly similar: either ships or aircraft disappear in the best weather conditions, calm seas and without a trace despite experienced pilots and crew, or an abandoned but otherwise completely intact ghost ship is found floating in the sea while the crew remains lost. In some cases, unclear and strange radio messages also play a role. The potential causes of these events include abductions by aliens or dangerous "force fields" emanating from the sunken continent of Atlantis . The most famous example is the story of Flight 19 . It is also noticeable that many of the mysterious stories from publication to publication (the corresponding authors usually refer to their own kind) become even more mysterious and often more and more detailed and fantastic (even if they were long ago).

One year after Berlitz and Valentine's bestseller, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved! by Lawrence Kusche (German: The riddles of the Bermuda Triangle are solved!, published by rororo, 1980). This work, which is still considered a classic of skeptical research today, cleared up a whole series of assumptions, half-truths and fictitious facts on the subject. Kusche showed that nothing is unusual about this part of the Atlantic . The number of ships and planes that have disappeared is no higher than in other areas on the world's oceans that are comparable in terms of traffic volume, and the vast majority of cases completely lose their mysterious appearance when looking at the original sources provided in the book. In the meantime, the subject has become noticeably quieter. In 1980 Berlitz presented a number of new inexplicable accidents, which, however, turned out to be not at all inexplicable and - with three exceptions - could not be assigned to the Bermuda Triangle at all. Although ship and aircraft accidents continue to occur in the Atlantic, they are rarely associated with the Bermuda Triangle.

Geographical location

Geographical location of Bermuda

The orientation and position of the Bermuda Triangle in the western Atlantic is only roughly indicated. In general, the following positions apply to the Bermuda Triangle:

  • In the north, the Bermuda Islands limit the triangle at about 32 ° north latitude .
  • In the west, the Florida city ​​of Miami borders this area.
  • To the south it is the city of San Juan on the island of Puerto Rico .

Depending on the author's definition, the Bermuda Triangle covers an area of ​​1.3 to 3.9 million km², which means it is between Angola and India .

In the relevant literature on the subject, however, supposedly mysterious processes are assigned to the Bermuda Triangle, which can be shown to have occurred outside of the sea area described above.

For example, of the losses in aviation attributed to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, only two remain that occurred within the area. For an area that covers up to 90% of the area of ​​all EU countries, this is an exceptionally low accident rate.

Incidents (selection)

Flight 19

This incident is the best-documented and most mentioned in the history of the Bermuda Triangle, in which on December 5, 1945 five American bombers and a search aircraft were missing and never found again. The five bombers with their instructor Lieutenant Taylor, who flew in this area for the first time, had lost their way on a training flight east of Florida according to their own (radio) reports and, according to radio bearings, were in the north of the Bahamas when they ran out of fuel got to. At that time there were heavy seas and high wind speeds in the area in question, which made emergency watering dangerous; no trace of the five aircraft was found. The search aircraft that took off later was also lost, but more than 200 kilometers north-northwest of the borders of the Bermuda Triangle, so very far outside of it. A large puddle of oil was found at sea at the point where it presumably crashed, but no survivors.

Coal ship USS Cyclops

The USS Cyclops (AC-4) of the United States Navy disappeared on March 4, 1918 after leaving Barbados under previously unexplained circumstances in the area of ​​the Bermuda Triangle. It is assumed that the coal ship was improperly loaded, had an engine failure and sank in a sudden storm, but there is still no trace of the ship and the 306 people on board; a wreck was never found.

Star Tiger passenger aircraft

On January 30, 1948, a 31-person passenger plane of the type Avro 688 Tudor Mark IV of British South American Airways (BSAA) disappeared on a night flight from Santa Maria Airport in the Azores to Kindley Field in Bermuda. The position of the machine could still be transmitted to the flight captain via radio direction finding, shortly afterwards radio contact was broken off. The machine flew on the transatlantic flight at an exceptionally low altitude of only 2000 feet (approx. 610 meters). The crew had not reported any problems with the machine before the disappearance.

The sighting of a low-flying aircraft by a merchant ship on the night of the crash suggested that the machine was deviated from its course and flown towards the east coast of the United States . In addition, as part of a large-scale search, flotsam was sighted in the sea two days after the disappearance, but it could not be clearly assigned to the machine. According to a more recent theory, a lack of fuel may have contributed to the machine's disappearance.

Due to their flight destination Bermuda and the already great myth about the Bermuda Triangle at that time, the disappearance of the Star Tigers is described by proponents of the mystery hypothesis as an associated puzzle, even if the machine was lost north of Bermuda and thus far outside the Bermuda Triangle.

Douglas DC-3 passenger aircraft

The DC-3 was on December 28, 1948 with 32 people on the way from Puerto Rico to Miami . In his last radio message, the pilot reportedly told Bob Linquist that the plane was 50 miles south of Miami and that he could see the lights of the city. Shortly afterwards, he disappeared without a trace with his plane and the passengers.

Critics point out that even before take-off from Puerto Rico, the pilot noticed that his radio was out of order. It is possible that he did not receive the message about a change in wind direction during the flight and was therefore around 50 miles south of the planned course at the time of the last radio message, i.e. around 100 miles from Miami. In addition, the words that Linquist could already see the lights of the city were only put into his mouth afterwards.

Star Ariel passenger aircraft

On January 17, 1949 again disappeared a passenger aircraft type Avro 688 Tudor Mark IV of the British South American Airways (BSAA). The plane with its 20 occupants took off on a morning flight from Kindley Field in Bermuda to Kingston Airport in Jamaica . At the time of the disappearance, the weather was excellent, which is why the flight captain decided to fly at an altitude of 18,000 feet (approx. 5500 meters) and thus at a flight level much higher than usual on this route. After the captain announced to air traffic control an hour after take-off that he would change the radio frequency, contact was lost. The crew had not reported any problems with the machine before the disappearance. While the weather on the day in question was excellent, generally poor radio reception was reported in the area of ​​the Star Ariel's disappearance .

The Marine Sulfur Queen

In 1963 the tanker Marine Sulfur Queen disappeared with a crew of 39. Findings and the latest radio communications indicate that the ship sank west of Key West and thus outside the area known as the Bermuda Triangle. The tanker, which is over 20 years old, was loaded with 15,000 tons of liquid sulfur and, according to the US Coast Guard, had already been badly damaged in several weather events in the months before. A detailed examination and repair of the ship and its tanks for damage was not planned until March 1963. There had also been a large number of mostly smaller fires on board, which, according to information from the US Coast Guard, increased in number from October 1962 and, according to witness statements, occurred almost constantly from December of that year.

The tanker cast off from Beaumont on February 2, 1963 ; the last radio contact was on February 4 at around 1:30 a.m. At this point the ship had covered about two thirds of the way between Beaumont and Florida's southern tip, so it was still a long way from the Bermuda Triangle. At 11:23 a.m. on February 4, an attempt to establish radio contact with the ship failed. At that point it should have been near the Dry Tortugas , a group of islands in the Gulf of Mexico .

When the ship did not arrive in Norfolk (Virginia) as planned on February 7th, a major search began the next day, over the course of six days almost 350,000 square nautical miles were searched and which would have found the tanker with a calculated probability of 95% if he had still been on the surface of the water.

On February 21, a US Navy boat 12 nautical miles southwest of Key West found a smoke horn and a Navy Sulfur Queen life jacket . In the following years, other life jackets, lifebuoys and other small parts were recovered from various ships in the Gulf of Mexico.

1978 published science fiction - radio play The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle of HG Francis with René Genesis and Horst Stark in the lead roles, is described in a way that on the Marine Sulfur Queen could have happened.

Japanese freighter Raifuku Maru

The freighter Raifuku Maru ( Japanese 來 福 丸 ) is said to have disappeared west of the Bahamas in 1924 or 1928 . His last radio message is said to have been in broken English “ now very danger come quick ” or in the context of the myth also “ Danger like a dagger now! Come quick! ”(German:“ Danger like a dagger! Come quickly! ”).

In fact, on April 21, 1925, on the way from Boston to Hamburg, the ship sank in a heavy storm far north of the Bermuda Triangle off Nova Scotia at position 41 ° 43 ′  N , 61 ° 39 ′  W , like the one hurrying to the rescue and the RMS Homeric , watching the sinking, made a radio transmission.

National Airlines Boeing 727

Ivan T. Sanderson reported in his 1970 book Invisible Residents , which deals with aliens living on the ocean floor, that an incident occurred on a National Airlines flight in a Boeing 727 just before landing . During the approach, the Boeing allegedly disappeared from the radar screen for ten minutes , but then suddenly reappeared and landed normally at Miami International Airport.

Sanderson wrote that the clocks of the two pilots as well as those of the passengers are said to have gone down by ten minutes. The same time difference was also observed on the on- board chronometer .

However, Sanderson could not name the source or date for this alleged event. Flight numbers and information about witnesses were also missing. So to this day there is no indication that this event actually took place. It is therefore widely considered to be one of the many invented accounts of Sanderson.

Attempts to explain

Blowout

Methane hydrate block

Some geoscientists from Japan, Germany and the USA have found huge deposits of methane gas in the area of ​​the Bermuda Triangle, which could be responsible for the disappearance of ships without a trace.

In water depths of 300 to 2000 meters, methane can form methane hydrate on the sea floor at certain temperatures . The methane can escape from the hydrate lumps as a result of pressure and temperature changes. If the changes occur suddenly, a large amount of methane can form within a very short period of time and a methane outbreak occurs ( blowout ). This eruption can be caused by a seaquake (in coastal regions also earthquakes ) or tectonic shifts.

The gaseous methane rises to the surface of the water in many tiny bubbles. This process is comparable to the rise of CO 2 bubbles when opening a mineral water bottle. The density of the resulting gas-water mixture is much lower than that of the actual lake water. If a ship is now at sea directly or partially above such a gas-water mixture, it sinks quickly below the actual sea surface due to the lower density and can no longer make an emergency call. The buoyancy of the vessel shall at this density is no longer sufficient to keep the ship on the surface. Once the deck of the ship is below the surface, water can seep in and the ship sinks. This is particularly to be feared if the methane only rises at the bow or stern. See also Hexenloch (lake area) .

After the disappearance of Flight 19, several witnesses said they saw an explosion in the sky. In the spirit of this attempted explanation, methane gas that has risen ignited the aircraft's engines, which led to a large deflagration , to which the machines ultimately fell victim. However, there is so far no indication that methane gas from the sea can cause deflagrations at flight altitude .

White water

This phenomenon is said to be seen frequently in the Bahama Bank area. Ocean explorer J. Manson Valentine and pilot Jim Richardson are said to have landed in a seaplane in the middle of this white water to take samples.

During the analysis, the reports found that there were particular chemical properties that indicated that some substances were being released through crevices on the seabed and that there was volcanic activity. Among other things, unusually high concentrations of sulfur were found, but they also contained traces of strontium and lithium . Again, these may also have emerged through the disappeared objects. However, there is no reliable source for these claims. The suspicions of the authors could not yet be scientifically confirmed (see also).

Magnet anomalies

In connection with the Bermuda Triangle, anomalies of the earth's magnetic field are often spoken of. Either the compass should fail completely or it should turn and thus make a position determination impossible. This phenomenon is said to occur in both ships and aircraft. It is also claimed that official aerial maps that are valid today warn of sudden disturbances of the magnetic field in this area. However, the US Navy's Magnet Project , which studied the Earth's magnetic field for over 20 years, refuted this assumption.

Giant waves

In certain regions of the oceans, the probability of the occurrence of overlapping waves is increased. The amplitudes of these waves add up, so that extremely high waves ( caventsmen or freak waves ) can occur. It is conceivable that such superimpositions in the Bermuda Triangle occur with increased probability for geological reasons. Such an increased probability has not been proven for this sea area. In addition, such waves would hardly explain the disappearance of airplanes.

Meteorological conditions

Storms often prevail in this area , which could also be responsible for some of the objects that have disappeared. There is evidence of this as well, such as the story of the schooner Glorisko . The sails were torn and the hold was full of water. The rudder and steering wheel were smashed. Newspaper reports from 1940 showed that severe storms were raging in the area at the time in question.

Also called downbursts by the American United States Navy , surprising storms, thunderstorms ( white gusts ), which break in with incredible force and can last less than five minutes, can be blamed as the cause of the disappearance of numerous objects.

Infrasound

Other attempts to explain it assume that infrasound is caused by storms in high waves. This triggers fear reactions in humans and animals without the cause being recognized. That explains panic and unreasonable reactions from ship's crews. Infrasound also spreads unhindered over great distances, so that accidents in regions with good weather can also be explained. Neither the generation of infrasound in any significant strength nor its effect in the manner described can be proven, and there is no unhindered propagation over great distances.

Misinterpretations

With some mysterious occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle, one can also assume that radio messages or statements have been misinterpreted. For this, one can certainly also name the incident Flight 19, since the radio messages can also be interpreted differently. If you put the radio messages in a different order, the result is a different picture of the incident.

Someone from the squadron asked Captain Edward Powers, the second most experienced pilot on Flight 19, what his compass was reading. Powers replied:

"I don't know where we are, we must have strayed after the last swing."

Lieutenant Cox got on the radio and asked:

"What's going on with you?"

Lieutenant Taylor's answer:

“My compasses are both broken. I'm trying to find Fort Lauderdale. I'm sure I'm over the Keys, but I don't know what altitude. "

In this order, the radio messages would mean that Flight 19 had made a wrong turn and was thus off course. The planes would then be over Great Sale Cay in the Bahamas. Since Lieutenant Taylor had never flown there, however, the resemblance of the area there to the Florida Keys deceived him and he was misled by it. As a result, he did not know for certain whether he was west (Gulf of Mexico) or east (Atlantic) of Florida. The compasses were defective, or at least believed so, which made accurate positioning difficult. The falling darkness did the rest.

Missing wreckage

Due to the fast current of the Gulf Stream , it is quite possible that parts of the wreckage are carried away far within a very short time. Later, they may have sunk to the seabed and covered with quicksand .

Difficult navigation over the open sea

In wartime, pilots were nowhere near as well trained as they are today. They were young men who were not familiar with theoretical principles such as compass rotation errors and others. The instructors were not particularly experienced either - they were 25, at most 30 years old and more or less quickly made flight instructors.

In the case of strong cumulus clouds , their shadows are also sharply depicted on the surface of the water, so that it is difficult to distinguish between cloud shadows and islands, especially at the altitude of 3,000 meters that was common at the time. Visual navigation - difficult enough over water - is becoming even more complex.

literature

  • David Group: Evidence: The Bermuda Triangle. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Knaur, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-426-03784-X .
  • The Bermuda Triangle and other enigmatic places and events. Little Brown and Co. Moewig, Rastatt 1994, ISBN 3-8118-4153-X .
  • Lawrence Kusche : The riddles of the Bermuda Triangle are solved , Greven (Pölking) 1978. ISBN 3-921427-66-5 , new edition of the original The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved. Galahad Books, 2006, ISBN 1-57866-156-0 . Original edition New York a. a. (Harper & Row) 1975. ISBN 0-06-012475-X
  • Nadja Podbregar, Dieter Lohmann: In focus: Marine worlds: Journey into the unknown depths of the oceans . Springer-Verlag, 2013

Web links

Commons : Bermuda Triangle  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. Has the 'Mystery' of the Bermuda Triangle Finally Been Solved? , October 1952 (English), accessed February 14, 2020.
  2. George X. Sand: Sea Mystery at Our Back Door , in Fate .
  3. US Navy: Bermuda Triangle Fact Sheet, FAQ , accessed February 14, 2020.
  4. a b c d e f Vincent H. Gaddis: The Deadly Bermuda Triangle . In: Argosy . 1964.
  5. ^ Disappearance of the SS Marine Sulfur Queen at sea on or about 4 February 1063 with the presumed loss of all persons on board. United States coast Guard - Treasury Department, March 17, 1964, accessed November 30, 2019 .
  6. a b Roland M. Horn : Human riddle: From Atlantis to Sirius . epubli, 2016, ISBN 978-3-7418-3767-8 ( google.de ).
  7. ^ Spurgeon G. Roscoe: Radio Stations Common? Not this child. (PDF) November 3, 2007, accessed March 10, 2014 (English).
  8. ^ Larry Kusche : The Bermuda Triangle Mystery - Solved
  9. Tina Treude: Methane hydrate - the burning ice . Retrieved December 21, 2017
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 10, 2005 .

Coordinates: 27 °  N , 71 °  W