EXPLORING THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
Bermuda, Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico mark out a triangular region on the western part of the Atlantic Ocean.
Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, this region has become notorious for the seemingly inexplicable disappearances of over 100 aircraft and surface-vessels. There are theories galore “explaining” the disappearances but none that has been able to establish what happens conclusively. LESS KNOWN FACTS
The Bermuda Triangle is one of two places on earth that a magnetic compass points towards true north and not magnetic north. This compass variation between the two changes by as much as 20 degrees, confusing the navigator. The Gulf Stream is swift and turbulent and can quickly erase any evidence of a disaster. This unpredictable weather pattern including sudden storms and water spouts can lead to trouble for captains and pilots. The triangle sits over an oceanic trench. Large amounts of gas are released to the surface that causes a vacuum-like effect and unstable waters.This decreases the buoyancy of ships causing them to sink.
Over a 100 ships and planes have disappeared till date
FLIGHT 19, DECEMBER 5, 1945 Flight 19 originated at the U S Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Five TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers carrying 14 men took off at roughly 2.10 in the afternoon that day on a routine navigational training mission. Led by instructor Lieutenant Charles Taylor, the assignment was to fly a three-legged triangular route with a few bombing practice runs over Hen and Chickens shoals. But both the compasses on his plane were malfunctioning and he wasn’t even wearing a watch to find out how long they were flying. Despite a massive land and sea search, no wreckage was found.
THE STAR TIGER, JAN 31, 1948 ABritish passenger plane, the Star Tiger, disappeared somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle.The Tudor IV left England on January 30, 1948 with 25 passengers on a long flight scheduled to arrive around 5 am the next day in Bermuda. After refuelling at Santa Maria Island in the Azores (Portugal), the flight continued with no apparent problems.Although the aircraft was airtight and capable of much higher altitudes, it was flying low at 2,000 feet to avoid the headwinds from the Gulf Stream. The runway was clearly lit and visible from 30 miles away.At 3.15 am they made the last contact with the plane.And then it disappeared.
DOUGLAS DAKOTA, DECEMBER 28, 1948 The Douglas Dakota, or DC-3, is considered the most reliable aircraft ever built.Three of these airliners are known to have vanished in the Bermuda Triangle. All of them within 50 miles of the same location, near the Florida Keys. The first was NC16002 with a full complement of 31 passengers and crew while within 20 minutes of its destination of Miami Airport. No trace of the aircraft was found. No one saw or heard an explosion in the sky. Official investigation says plane’s batteries were not fully charged interfered with communications.
USS CYCLOPS, MARCH 1918 The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy not related to combat occurred when USS Cyclops under the command of Lieutenant Commander G W Worley, went missing without a trace with a crew of 306 sometime after March 4, 1918, after departing the island of Barbados. The 542 foot, 19,600 ton US Navy Collier equipped with radio had 309 men at the time of her disappearance somewhere between Barbados and Baltimore. In 1941, two of her sister ships the Noreus and the Proteus disappeared on almost the same route. Cyclops vanished with no trace, no SOS and no debris.
WITCH CRAFT, DECEMBER 22, 1967 In the twilight of December 22, 1967, hotelier Dan Burack along with his father Patrick Horgan left Miami’s marina in Burack’s 23-foot cabin cruiser Witchcraft to view the Christmas time lights. Something hit the cruiser and Burack sent a message to RCC Miami saying he needed help. Within 19 minutes the Coast Guard arrived. But there was no sign of Witch Craft, of debris, life jackets or bodies. In that 19 minutes Burack did not even send another message.Very mysterious, considering the Witchcraft had built-in floatation and was thus ‘unsinkable.’
MORE RECENT INSTANCES Adam Air Flight 574 between the Indonesian cities of Surabaya and Manado disappeared off the western coast on 1 January 2007. While the black box and some debris were eventually recovered, the bodies of the 102 people on board were never found. In 1999, Egyptair Flight 990 from New York to Cairo nosedived into the Atlantic Ocean 60 miles off the US coast. All 217 people died in the crash, but mystery still surrounds its cause.The Egyptian Flight Officer controlling the plane was recorded repeatedly saying “I rely on God” before the crash, but an investigation concluded he did not deliberately cause the accident. On October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan air force plane carrying 40 passengers and five crew disappeared while crossing the Andes. Seventy-two days later, after everyone on board was presumed dead, 16 survivors emerged.
source : timesofindia
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