The Bermuda Triangle is the name given to this expanse of 700,000 square kilometers and which has seen its share of acts of vanishing aircraft and sinking vessels without even a single distress call. The expanse of ocean lying between Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Florida has the distinction of superstitions and myriad vanishing cases as well as ghostly episodes.
Over the years, some theories have ranged anywhere from wormholes to extraterrestrial abductors. The seaman’s historical log, since Christopher Columbus in 1492, marking dancing lights and wild compass readings, only added to the mystery. By the mid-20th century, popular books, movies and documentaries had repositioned the site into an icon cum-culture of mystery.
Simon Boxall: Rogue Waves Science Steps
Dr. Simon Boxall of the University of Southampton says the shops of the paranormal seem too weak to withstand one modern oceanographical explanation. This, according to him, could very well be the reason for the entire scare of the Bermuda Triangle mischievous waves towerful water waves that may rise almost 100 feet high.
They are abnormal for they don’t behave like common waves, and they form for the most part due to the collision of storm systems offering seldom folds of extremely powerful bursts of wrecking energy. Boxall proposes that ships like the USS Cyclops, which vanished in 1918 with 306 crew aboard, possibly took minutes to sink from the moment of encountering rogue waves rather than hours.
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This rogue wave phenomenon was formerly viewed as folklore among musicians and is now beginning to be backed with satellite evidence and real-life events.
Human Error and Environmental Realities
Not all experts attribute disappearances singly to rogue waves. Karl Kruszelnicki sees brooding over mysteries. The point is that the Triangle happens to be at the intersection of the busiest shipping route and site of air flight just close to the U.S. itself, the busy hub. Statistically, incidences are not higher for the Triangle than for any other busy oceanic corridor.
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Probably the most interesting historical disappearance, of course, was that of Flight 19 in 1945 when human error, equipment failure and adverse weather accounted for what might be imagined as truly strange tragedies. Confused radio transmissions of pilots that night between failing instruments and worsening weather conditions are very familiar in aviation disasters.
Myth or Science?
At this point, the Bermuda Triangle straddles legend and scientific inquiry. For those enthralled with mystery and it is a symbol of the unknown-an area where reality and imagination blur for scientists, however, it is a natural laboratory reminding them of the immense power of the ocean.
Whether through rogue waves, storms, or a simple human error, the true danger does not reside in paranormal forces but rather in unpredictable might of the sea. While this may be an indelible legend, the Bermuda Triangle is more and more seen as a stage set for nature’s extremes rather than a cosmic enigma.
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