Bermuda Triangle Essay, Research Paper
BERMUDA : THE SATAN’S RING
Introduction:
A legendary triangle of Ocean lies between 3 countries upon the Atlantic
ocean. The Cities are Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Fort Lauderdale. Ships,
people and aeroplanes have been reported mysteriously disappearing off the
face of the earth whilst travelling inside this triangle. It soon acquired
the name “Devils Triangle” owing to peoples superstitions that the devil
was at play on this stretch of ocean and gobbling up weary and lost
travellers with great delight, but what actually was at play inside this
triangle of rough water, is it really the devil?, or perhaps aliens are
using this spot as their home base on earth. Maybe it really does contain a
mystical vortex that sucks people down into a third dimension. The myth of the mysterious triangle was first begun in an Associated Press
dispatch Reporter E.V. W. Jones wrote of “mysterious disappearances” of ships and planes between the Florida coast and Bermuda.
Two years after this article appeared Fate magazine ran an article by
George X. Sand 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”.
It was not long before ideas and suggestions started forming about this
piece of ocean. M.K. Jessup wrote about the disappearances and gave ideas
about alien intelligences being behind them in the book “The Case for the
UFO. The view was also echoed by Donald E. Kyhoe who is noted for his “The
Flying Saucer Conspiracy” of 1955. Frank Edwards (Stranger Than Science)
agreed with the theory of aliens having a local hangout in the triangle as
well. Finally a man by the name of Vincent H. Gaddis came up with the
phrase “BermudaTriangle”. Throughout the years it has featured in many many articles, books, television series and movies and always portrayed as a very real and mysterious thing, but anyone out there with any sense surely will ask themselves ” how in this day and age could boats, planes and other
travellers just go mysteriously missing in a certain piece of water?”
Geography:
The area of the Atlantic Ocean popularly referred to as the Bermuda Triangle is a complete enigma and has proven to be so for much of recorded history. Many seemingly inexplicable occurrences and disappearances have taken place in this particular area. No rational explanation that will satisfy the materialistic parameters of the typical scientist has been offered that would account for all the mysterious happenings that have taken place in the Bermuda Triangle during the course of many thousands of years.
Where is the Bermuda Triangle?
The Bermuda Triangle lies vaguely east of Florida. Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Miami are said to be the “points” of this legendary triangle. However, the U.S. government denies the existence of these borders. Many “phenomena” enthusiasts claim that the triangle is not truly a triangle but a general area of water found east and southeast of North America. In any event, the geography of the area is awe-inspiring and deeply misunderstood.
The humid subtropical climate of the region brings with it heavy rainfall and high temperatures. An annual rainfall in excess of 60 inches (152 cm) can be expected. Though much this rainfall is mostly spread evenly through the year, hurricanes and harsh thunderstorms occasionally drop 10 inches of rain within hours. This area is well known by geographers for the sudden nature of its storms. There have been many reports of complete whiteouts being formed in seconds. Waterspouts and extremely strong winds are dangerous elements that often accompany these storms. The topography of the ocean floor bottom is surprising to many that sail the area. It is commonly believed that this whole area is very shallow. This is true near to the Florida coastline, but as the North Atlantic Continental Shelf breaks off only miles away, depths quickly reach as low as 12,000 feet. About 100 miles north of Puerto Rico is the deepest part of the Atlantic, the Puerto Rico Trench, estimated at 30,000 feet deep!
The Florida Straits within this area are approximately 5000 feet deep. While people snorkel in the water only a few hundred feet deep near the coasts of the islands and Florida and ships can be seen sunk in the clear blue waters, this area is incredibly deceptive. To this day, the ocean floor of this area has not been systematically mapped out. It is known that the ocean floor is littered with caves and varies greatly in depth.
Phenomena noted in the area of the Bermuda Triangle:
· Glowing ‘white water’ scanned from satellites
· A glowing green fog
Incidents:
The first legends of the Bermuda Triangle begin already with Cristopher Columbus. As a captain, he was greatly respected, and his brave sailing efforts helped revolutionize the world. Much of the information we have about Columbus is picked up directly from his journal, so we are able to trace his footsteps to the New World. His first problem occurred as he ran into the Sargasso Sea. The crew was greatly disappointed when seaweed and land birds were sighted, but after a few days no land was to be seen. Soon after, Columbus reported his compass acting strangely. He did not report this to his crew due to their deep superstitions. Days later, Columbus saw a large meteor fall from the sky. He described it as “a large ball of light fallen from the sky.” It is unsure whether he mentions this occurrences in awe, because of its great size, or in fright. Later in their trip, Columbus and a few crew members sighted a few dancing lights on the horizon. They wandered about in the Caribbean for over a week yet before sighting land.
Since Columbus, as many as 100 ships and planes have been reported missing, taking over 1000 lives. A select few of them are reported here.
The disappearance of the 504-foot T-2 tanker Marine Sulphur Queen near the Florida Keys in February 1963 is one of the most famous mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle. It was only a year after her disappearance in 1964 that Vincent Gaddis coined the term “Bermuda Triangle.” As the largest ship to vanish in recent times (pre-1964), she became a central figure in the soon to be popular Bermuda Triangle. MSQ plied her trade of sulphur for 2 years without incident. In January 1963 her biennial check was required. Two weeks before her final voyage, she was recertified. This inspection had entailed her general alarm system, steering gear, engine telegraph, fire
hose, navigation lights, portable fire extinguishers, life preservers, all machinery, all accessible spaces, and the boilers. All were passed. Eleven new life rings were added and life boats were all repaired. Moreover, the FCC now inspected and certified in good working order her radios, including those in her lifeboats. Even more, the Bureau of Shipping now made its annual inspection of the hull, machinery, the boilers again, and certified all in good condition. The disappearance of the MSQ is just another example of a ship fully inspected and certified, sailing out and then vanishing for no reason. On February 7 the Coast Guard was informed MSQ did not arrive. A hot line message was sent to try and raise the ship. When this failed a vast search entailing 348,400 square miles and 499.6 man hours failed to find a clue. By an anticlimactic coincidence, on February 20, a Navy Torpedo Retriever sighted something in the water during routine exercises. It was only 12 miles southwest of Key West. It was a fog horn. Close by a life preserver was found, then a sign board and life ring reading Marine Sulphur Queen. The search was reactivated, but no real clue could ever be found, only a few more pieces of debris were picked up, all grouped in the same area. There are many mysteries surrounding the loss of MSQ, but none so perplexing as her debris.
Another one of the most famous stories to ever surround the Bermuda Triangle is the mysterious disappearance of the Naval Air Flight 19.
On December 5th, 1945, five Avenger torpedo bombers left the Naval Air
Station at Fort Lauderdale. They never returned home. The Avenger bombers contained 14 men, 13 of those were trainees in the last
stages of their training. The five pilots had been recently transferred from the Miami Naval Air Station. They had no knowledge of flying over the Bahamas which was the direction Flight 19 was headed in. At one point the ComGulf Sea Frontier Evaluation Center thought it had pinpointed the flight’s approximate position; east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and far to the north of the Bahamas.The first rescue craft was sent out was a Dumbo flying boat and it soon lost contact with the shore, leading all to believe that they had also lost the Dumbo. The problem turned out to be and iced over
antenna. Within the hour more aircraft joined in the search. The weather was overcast and the seas were reported as rough and turbulent. A crew of a nearby ship reported of seeing an enormous sheet of fire caused by the explosion of an aeroplane. The ship reported of passing through a large pool of oil soon after and not finding any survivors or bodies of the crashed aircraft. They did not try to retrieve any debris from the ocean as weather conditions were at this point deteriorating rapidly making it impossible for any kind of retrieval. No trace of the Mariner or Avengers have ever been found.
Others:
1872: The Mary Celeste
1945: The disappearance of 5 Navy avengers – Flight 19
1947: Army C-45 Superfort vanishes 100 miles off Bermuda.
1948: Four-engined Tudor IV lost with 31 lives.
1948: DC-3 lost with 32 passengers and crew.
1949: Second Tudor IV vanishes.
1950: Giant US Air Force Globemaster lost.
1950: American freighter, SS Sandra (350 ft), sinks without a trace.
1952: British York transport plane lost with 33 aboard.
1954: US Navy Lockheed Constellation vanishes with 42 aboard.
1956: US Navy seaplane, Martin p5M, dessappears with crew of ten.
1962: US Air Force KB-50 tanker plane lost.
1963: Marine Sulpher Queen vanishes without a trace.
1967: Military YC-122, converted to cargo plane, lost.
1970: French freighter Milton latrides disappears.
1972: German freighter Anita (20,000 tons), lost with crew of 32.
1997: Passengers dissappear from German yacht.
Theories:
A very skeptical scientific explanation of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle is the idea is that pockets of methane hydrates are released from the ocean floor and cause the water in that particular area to become less dense. Because of the loss of density the buoyancy of the ship is affected and the ship sinks rapidly. Scientist supposedly confirm that the area of the triangle is high in Methane hydrates and methane gas does tend to float above the oil deposits.Indeed the one instance that tends to be reported is an oil rig that sank supposedly due to methane gas. It seems like this theory could easily be proven or disproven using a simple bunsen burner, a toy boat, and bathtub but it seems that the theory is much more complicated that it seems. The sudden release of methane gas may rock the boat but I doubt it would cause a lack of buoyancy. I would assume that as with most sea floor activity, the water above would react in some way. But is this really any different than tidal waves being caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions? While skeptical about the methane gas theory, I do not discard it outright because nature does some very strange things. This is at least a natural occurrence that is worth exploring.
Elctrical and magnetical forces
Magnetic North
This is one of the most famous Bermuda Triangle theories. It has basis on the following physics:
A compass DOES NOT always point to the true north but rather to the magnetic north. This phenomenon is referred to as compass variation. As a sailor or pilots circumnavigates the earth this variation changes, at times as much as 20 degrees. The navigator must
Boom
This is a theory proposed by the US Navy. The investigation centers on the possibility of electro-magnetic gravitational and atmospheric disturbances that might be possible for disintegrating craft. The Lost Patrol reported seeing a large ball of fire in the skies. Could 5 planes collide and then joined by a sixth? The investigation believes that the fireball was could have been created by the impact of the patrol and it’s rescue ship with a disintegrating electro-magnetic force.
The Twisting Sucker
A certain psychic named Ed Snedeker has his own theory. He believes that our atmosphere are filled with tunnels that are invisible to the human eye but they do exist. He has seen them physically and says they look like tornado funnels. These funnels have sucked in the aircraft, the ships and of course, the people. These funnels move in from North to South finally let go of their prey in the Atlantic Ocean or in the beyond! Snedeker also says he has talked with them (specifically an RAF pilot).
Anti Matter?
This is interesting theory vaguely based on “real” physics.
Lobsang Rampa believes that the ships and planes have mysteriously traveled from this world to world of anti-matter. Everyone and indeed everything has a counterpart in this anti-matter world. He explains that the disappearances occur due to a “split” in one world coming close with a “split” in the other world. So the ship or plane travel in a way. “Jump” from this world to the next. Anti-matter theories could have some truth in them as our scientists have lately discovered a hole of what appears to be anti-matter in our solar system.
Atlantis: The Lost City?
The position – the continent of Atlantis occupied is between the Gulf of Mexico on the one hand and the Mediterranean upon the other. Evidences of this lost civilization are to be found in the Pyrenees and Morocco, British Honduras, Yucatan and America. There are some protruding portions that must have at one time or another been a portion of this great continent. The British West Indies, or the Bahamas, are a portion of same that may be seen in the present. If the geological survey would be made in some of these especially, or notably in Bimini and in the Gulf Stream through this vicinity, these may be even yet determined. When Atlantis was destroyed it sank to the very bottom of the ocean. While the ruined temples now play host to multitudinous underwater creatures, the great Atlantean fire-crystals that once provided so much of the tremendous power and energy that was found in Atlantis long ago still exist. And they are still emitting strong energy beams into the universe. Unfortunately, however, when the destruction occurred some of these fire-crystals were partially damaged, which has resulted in them only being able to project their energy rays at random. It is said that each fire-crystal would have been at least twenty feet high and some eight feet wide. In Atlantis these fire- crystals would have been erected in a series of three, thus creating a vortex of astronomical energy and a power of the first magnitude! From time to time, the force field emitted by these damaged Atlantean fire-crystals becomes very powerful and any plane or ship coming within the influence of this force field disintegrates and is transformed into pure energy. Hence the inexplicable and mysterious disappearances that has very often been blamed on the area of the ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle! Some scientists have advanced the theory that many of the planes and ships that have been lost and that have disappeared within the Bermuda Triangle have been transported into some kind of Black Hole or time warp. Those individuals who were aboard planes and ships when they disappeared have basically been returned to spirit. On a few rare occasions, ships that had been reported as having vanished have actually returned. The crew members, though, have all appeared to be insane, incoherent and babbling wild stories. This has occurred because there are certain times when the force field projected by the Atlantean fire-crystals is not strong enough to effect total disintegration. Mental disorientation results instead!
It is very similar to someone who receives an overdose from a shock treatment to the brain. Not enough, perhaps, to kill, or destroy the person, but enough to seriously damage the brain structure and to cause insanity and other forms of madness. The ramblings that all these crew members have related are hallucinations, thoughts of fear and of unknown indescribable horrors with which their minds cannot possibly cope.In addition to the damaged Atlantean Fire-Crystals, the Timekeeper Crystal still stands guard within the ruined Atlantean Temple of Healing. The great Timekeeper Crystal, however, does not project its energies in the same way as the fire-crystals because it is hermetically sealed. The Timekeeper Crystal is waiting patiently for the time which is yet to come when once again it will play its important role in the affairs of the world! In 1970, Dr.Ray Brown, a naturopathic practitioner from Mesa, Arizona, went scuba diving with some friends near the Bari Islands in the Bahamas, close to a popular area known as the Tongue of the Ocean. During one of his dives, Brown became separated from his friends and while searching for them he was startled when he came across a strange pyramid shape silhouetted against the aquamarine light. Upon investigating further, Brown was surprised by how smooth and mirror-like was the stone surface of the whole structure, with the joints between the individual blocks almost indiscernible. Swimming around the capstone, which Brown thought might have been lapis lazuli, he discovered an entrance and decided to explore inside. Passing along a narrow hallway, Brown finally came to a small rectangular room with a pyramid-shaped ceiling. He was totally amazed that this room contained no algae or coral growing on the inner walls. They were completely spotless! In addition, though Brown had brought no torch with him, he could nevertheless see everything in the room with his normal eyesight. The room was well lit, but no direct light source was visible. Brown’s attention was drawn to a brassy metallic rod three inches in diameter hanging down from the apex of the center of the room and at its end was attached a many-facetted red gem, which tapered to a point. Directly below this rod and gem, sitting in the middle of the room, was a stand of carved stone topped by a stone plate with scrolled ends. On the plate there was a pair of carved metal bronze-colored hands, life-sized, which appeared blackened and burnt, as if having been subjected to tremendous heat. Nestled in the hands, and situated four feet directly below the ceiling rod gem point, was a crystal sphere four inches in diameter. Brown tried to loosen the ceiling rod and red gemstone but neither would move. Returning to the crystal sphere, he found, to his amazement, that it separated easily from the bronze hand holders. With the crystal sphere in his right hand he then made his way out of the pyramid. As he departed, Brown felt an unseen presence and heard a voice telling him never to return! Fearing, rightly, that his unusual prize might be confiscated as salvage-treasure by the American Government, Dr. Brown did not reveal the existence of his strange crystal sphere, nor did he relate his experiences until 1975, when he exhibited his crystal for the first time at a psychic seminar in Phoenix. Since that time, the crystal sphere has made only a very few public appearances but on each occasion people who have seen it have experienced strange phenomena directly associated with it. Deep inside the crystal form, one gazes upon three pyramidical images, one in front of the other,in decreasing sizes. Some people who enter a deep meditative state of consciousness are able to discern a fourth pyramid, in the foreground of the other three. Elizabeth Bacon, a New York psychic, claimed while in trance, that the crystal sphere had once belonged to Thoth, the Egyptian God who was responsible for burying a secret vault of knowledge in Giza, near the three great Pyramids. Perhaps the positions of the three pyramidical images in the crystal sphere hold the long-sought key to finding a fourth, as yet unfound. Looking at the crystal sphere from the side, the internal images dissolve into thousands of tiny fracture lines. Brown feels that these may prove to be electrical in nature, like some form of microscopic circuitry. From yet another angle, and under special conditions, many people have been able to see a large single human eye staring out serenely at them. Photographs of this eye have also been taken! Dr. Brown’s crystal sphere has been the source of a wide variety of paranormal and mysterious occurrences. People have felt breezes or winds blowing close to it. Both cold and warm layers surround it at various distances. Other witnesses have observed phantom lights, heard voices or felt strange tingling sensations surrounding it. A compass needle, when placed next to the crystal sphere, will spin counter-clockwise, then commence turning in the opposite direction when moved only inches away. Metals become temporarily magnetized when they come into close contact with the sphere. There are even recorded instances where healing has taken place by merely touching the sphere. Seismographic surveys carried out across the Atlantic Ocean have shown that there are many deviations and unexplained contours to be found right at the bottom of the ocean.
Perhaps Brown’s Bahamas pyramid once formed part of Atlantis. It has been suggested that this sunken pyramid once attracted, accumulated and even generated some form of cosmic force. The suspended rod may have conducted forces accumulated in the capstone. The faceted red gem at its end may have been used to concentrate and project the energies to the crystal sphere below it. The burnt and blackened hands, showing the evidence of an energy transfer, probably amplified the release of these energies while the crystal sphere acted as the tuner and broadcaster of the energies.
Various:
Others believe that the Bermuda Triangle Phenomena is caused by the Lost City of Atlantis, sunk thousands of feet below the water’s surface. The advanced state of Atlantis at the time of it’s submersion, relied on the power of energy crystals. It is possible that these crystals are still at the bottom of the ocean, in a somewhat altered state, sending out rays of energy that either confuses the instrumentation of vehicles, or disintegrates them all together.
Lastly, many believe the Bermuda Triangle to be a man-made energy field using Tesla based technologies. A VLF-Resonance transmitter (a technology many believe to be in use by the North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD) would have an antipode directly in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. This hypothetical system would be capable of recharging speculated secret electric-powered submarine classes, and would definitely provide enough interference to scramble signals that airplanes and boats rely upon.
My Personal Opinion
Now, my personal opinion on the happenings of the Bermuda Triangle is that some “normal” phenomenon is occurring at the Bermuda Triangle, but one that cannot be explained by science, yet. I think that sooner or later all these “paranormal phenomena” will be scientifically explained. The “alternate worlds” that people speak of will be clarified scientifically as existing and will be classified as normal scientific occurring. Many scientists already have begun to accept these “alternative” realities as true – but hard facts are scarce to say the least. We must remember that until Copernicus (or actually Aristarchos) everyone thought that everything revolved around the Earth. We need a new Copernicus to show us another small piece of truth about the world we live in and on and on, eventually we will learn the whole truth and that is our purpose.