Is the Bermuda Triangle mystery finally solved? One scientist thinks so
A scientist thinks he has cracked the code of one of the most enduring mysteries of the modern world – the Bermuda Triangle.
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an area of the Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda that is best known for its stories of ships and airplanes that seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
Conspiracy theories on their disappearance include everything from magnetic forces to aliens to methane bubbles to even the Lost City of Atlantis.
Australian scientist and author Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki explained this week that perhaps the legends aren’t as mysterious as they seem.
"Well, if you go to the facts, they come from both the United States Coast Guard and the massive insurance company, Lloyd’s of London," he told FOX Weather meteorologist Amy Freeze. "Both of them reckon that there’s no extra losses of ships or airplanes in that area."
Kruszelnicki added that, as a percentage, the disappearances are comparable to losses of ships and airplanes in other parts of the world.
"Some years a bit more, some years a bit less," he said. "But it averages out the same."
The mystery of Flight 19 in the Bermuda Triangle
Closeup of commemorative plaque for US Naval Aviators who served at Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, FL during WWII in particular the officers & crewmen of five Naval Avenger Torpedo Bombers who disappeared mysteriously on Dec. 5, 1945 in
No one knows the exact number of disappearances that have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle, but common estimates include about 50 ships and 20 airplanes, according to Britannica.com.
Among those include the doomed Flight 19, a group of five torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle. Kruszelnicki explained that Flight 19 took off in early December 1945 on a training mission because World War II had just ended, and the U.S. Navy was teaching their aviators a new trade.
"In charge of them was Lt. Charles Taylor, who, on two occasions, was such a bad navigator that he got lost at sea," Kruszelnicki said.
Kruszelnicki said that Taylor tried to get someone to cover his shift but was unsuccessful. He was also seen traveling without a watch which "was very unprofessional."
"Once out at sea, he then did not follow the standard lost at sea procedure with regard to the training mission," Kruszelnicki added. "And instead of heading back to the west, he kept on going east, further out into the Atlantic Ocean, ran out of fuel and vanished."
SEE THE REMAINS OF A HISTORIC HOSPITAL, CEMETERY THAT WERE FOUND UNDERWATER OFF THE FLORIDA COAST
Where did myths and legends about the Bermuda Triangle originate?
A map showing the approximate area of the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean. (FOX Weather)
Kruszelnicki said the original story of the Bermuda Triangle was written by Vincent Gaddis and appeared in the science fiction magazine Argosy.
Author Charles Berlitz followed up with a book called The Bermuda Triangle, and then author Larry Kusche debunked all the stories in 1980, referencing both the Coast Guard and Lloyd’s of London, according to Kruszelnicki.
WORLD'S OCEANS SET RECORD WARMTH PAVING WAY FOR ROBUST EL NINO
The Atlantic Ocean's size may have aided in Bermuda Triangle conspiracy theories
An image showing a newspaper article about the disappearance of Flight 19. (FOX Weather)
The size and depth of the ocean may have been fueling the flames of the Bermuda Triangle, according to Kruszelnicki.
"Another fact to be felt, beside the massive number of storms, is the fact that the ocean goes down to, not 5,000 feet – 30,000," he said. "When it’s going down, it’s staying down."
There’s also a slight chance that something beneath the ocean waters could be responsible for the loss of some ships.
"There is a microscopic chance of something called methane clathrate," Kruszelnicki said. "Which are methane gas bound in ice could bubble loose from the ocean floor, come up to the surface and then have a shower of bubbles appearing at the surface."
Kruszelnicki said that experiments conducted by Australia’s CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) showed that with model ships if enough bubbles are coming to the surface, the density of water is reduced.
So, Kruszelnicki said there’s a slight possibility that a situation like that is instrumental in some of the disappearances "but very remote."