Flight 19
US Navy TBF Grumman Avenger flight, similar to Flight 19. This photo had been used by various Triangle authors to illustrate Flight 19 itself. (US Navy)
Flight 19 was a training flight of TBM Avenger bombers that went missing on December 5, 1945 while over the Atlantic. The impression is given that the flight encountered unusual phenomena and anomalous compass readings, and that the flight took place on a calm day under the supervision of an experienced pilot, Lt. Charles Carroll Taylor. Adding to the intrigue is that the Navy's report of the accident was ascribed to "causes or reasons unknown." It is believed that Taylor's mother wanted to save her son's reputation, so she made them write "reasons unknown" when actually Taylor was 50 km NW from where he thought he was.
While the basic facts of this version of the story are essentially accurate, some important details are missing. The weather was becoming stormy by the end of the incident; only Taylor had any significant flying time, but he was not familiar with the south Florida area and had a history of getting lost in flight, having done so three times during World War II, and being forced to ditch his planes twice into the water; and naval reports and written recordings of the conversations between Taylor and the other pilots of Flight 19 do not indicate magnetic problems.
Mary Celeste
The mysterious abandonment in 1872 of the Mary Celeste is often but inaccurately connected to the Triangle, the ship having been abandoned off the coast of Portugal. Many theories have been put forth over the years to explain the abandonment, including alcohol fumes from the cargo and insurance fraud. The event is possibly confused with the sinking of a ship with a similar name, the Mari Celeste, off the coast of Bermuda on September 13, 1864, which is mentioned in the book Bermuda Shipwrecks by Dan Berg.
Ellen Austin
The Ellen Austin supposedly came across an abandoned derelict, placed on board a prize crew, and attempted to sail with it to New York in 1881. According to the stories, the derelict disappeared; others elaborating further that the derelict reappeared minus the prize crew, then disappeared again with a second prize crew on board. A check of Lloyd's of London records proved the existence of the Meta, built in 1854; in 1880 the Meta was renamed Ellen Austin. There are no casualty listings for this vessel, or any vessel at that time, that would suggest a large number of missing men placed on board a derelict which later disappeared.
USS Cyclops
Main article: USS Cyclops (AC-4)
The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the U.S. 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. Although there is no strong evidence for any theory, storms, capsizing and enemy activity have all been suggested as explanations.
Theodosia Burr Alston
Main article: Theodosia Burr Alston
Theodosia Burr Alston was the daughter of former United States Vice President Aaron Burr. Her disappearance has been cited at least once in relation to the Triangle, in The Bermuda Triangle by Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey (1975). She was a passenger on board the Patriot, which sailed from Charleston, South Carolina to New York City on December 30, 1812, and was never heard from again. Both piracy and the War of 1812 have been posited as explanations, as well as a theory placing her in Texas, well outside the Triangle.
Spray
Main article: Spray (sailing vessel)
Captain Joshua Slocum's skill as a mariner was beyond argument; he was the first man to sail around the world solo. In 1909, in his boat Spray he set out on a course to take him through the Caribbean to Venezuela. He disappeared; there was no evidence he was even in the Triangle when Spray was lost. It was assumed he was run down by a steamer or struck by a whale, the Spray being too sound a craft and Slocum too experienced a mariner for any other cause to be considered likely, and in 1924 he was declared legally dead. While a mystery, there is no known evidence for, or against, paranormal activity.
Carroll A. Deering
Main article: Carroll A. Deering
Schooner Carroll A. Deering, as seen from the Cape Lookout lightship on January 29, 1921, two days before she was found deserted in North Carolina. (US Coast Guard)
A five-masted schooner built in 1919, the Carroll A. Deering was found hard aground and abandoned at Diamond Shoals, near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina on January 31, 1921. Rumors and more at the time indicated the Deering was a victim of piracy, possibly connected with the illegal rum-running trade during Prohibition, and possibly involving another ship, S.S. Hewitt, which disappeared at roughly the same time. Just hours later, an unknown steamer sailed near the lightship along the track of the Deering, and ignored all signals from the lightship. It is speculated that the Hewitt may have been this mystery ship, and possibly involved in the Deering crew's disappearance.
Douglas DC-3
Main article: NC16002 disappearance
On December 28, 1948, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft, number NC16002, disappeared while on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. No trace of the aircraft or the 32 people onboard was ever found. From the documentation compiled by the Civil Aeronautics Board investigation, a possible key to the plane's disappearance was found, but barely touched upon by the Triangle writers: the plane's batteries were inspected and found to be low on charge, but ordered back into the plane without a recharge by the pilot while in San Juan. Whether or not this led to complete electrical failure will never be known. However, since piston-engined aircraft rely upon magnetos to provide electrical power and spark to their cylinders rather than batteries, this theory is unlikely.
Star Tiger and Star Ariel
Main article: Star Tiger and Star Ariel
These Avro Tudor IV passenger aircraft disappeared without trace en route to Bermuda and Jamaica, respectively. Star Tiger was lost on January 30, 1948 on a flight from the Azores to Bermuda. Star Ariel was lost on January 17, 1949, on a flight from Bermuda to Kingston, Jamaica. Neither aircraft gave out a distress call; in fact, their last messages were routine. A possible clue to their disappearance was found in the mountains of the Andes in 1998: the StarDust, an Avro Lancastrian airliner run by the same airline, had disappeared on a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile on August 2, 1947. The plane's remains were discovered at the melt end of a glacier, suggesting that either the crew did not pay attention to their instruments, suffered an instrument failure or did not allow for headwind effects from the jetstream on the way to Santiago when it hit a mountain peak, with the resulting avalanche burying the remains and incorporating it into the glacier. However, this is mere speculation with regard to the Star Tiger and Star Ariel, pending the recovery of the aircraft. It should be noted that the Star Tiger was flying at a height of just 2,000 feet (610 m), which would have meant that if the plane was forced down, there would have been no time to send out a distress message. It is also far too low for the jetstream or any other high-altitude wind to have any effect.
KC-135 Stratotankers
On August 28, 1963 a pair of U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft collided and crashed into the Atlantic. The Triangle version (Winer, Berlitz, Gaddis) of this story specifies that they did collide and crash, but there were two distinct crash sites, separated by over 160 miles (260 km) of water. However, Kusche's research showed that the unclassified version of the Air Force investigation report stated that the debris field defining the second "crash site" was examined by a search and rescue ship, and found to be a mass of seaweed and driftwood tangled in an old buoy.
SS Marine Sulphur Queen
Main article: SS Marine Sulphur Queen
SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker converted from oil to sulfur carrier, was last heard from on February 4, 1963 with a crew of 39 near the Florida Keys. Marine Sulphur Queen was the first vessel mentioned in Vincent Gaddis' 1964 Argosy Magazine article, but he left it as having "sailed into the unknown", despite the Coast Guard report which not only documented the ship's badly-maintained history, but declared that it was an unseaworthy vessel that should never have gone to sea.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Bermuda Trangle Acts of Man
Human error
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is human error. Whether deliberate or accidental, humans have been known to make mistakes resulting in catastrophe, and losses within the Bermuda Triangle are no exception. For example, the Coast Guard cited a lack of proper training for the cleaning of volatile benzene residue as a reason for the loss of the tanker V.A. Fogg in 1972. Human stubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailing yacht, the Revonoc, as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958. It should be noted that many losses remain inconclusive due to the lack of wreckage which could be studied, a fact cited on many official reports.
Deliberate acts of destruction
This can fall into two categories: acts of war, and acts of piracy. Records in enemy files have been checked for numerous losses; while many sinkings have been attributed to surface raiders or submarines during the World Wars and documented in the various command log books, many others which have been suspected as falling in that category have not been proven; it is suspected that the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918, as well as her sister ships Proteus and Nereus in World War II, were attributed to submarines, but no such link has been found in the German records.
Piracy, as defined by the taking of a ship or small boat on the high seas, is an act which continues to this day. While piracy for cargo theft is more common in the western Pacific and Indian oceans, drug smugglers do steal pleasure boats for smuggling operations, and may have been involved in crew and yacht disappearances in the Caribbean. Historically famous pirates of the Caribbean (where piracy was common from about 1560 to the 1760s) include Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Jean Lafitte. Lafitte is sometimes said to be a Triangle victim himself.
Another form of pirate operated on dry land. Bankers or wreckers would shine a light on shore to misdirect ships, which would then founder on the shore; the wreckers would then help themselves to the cargo. It is possible that these wreckers also killed any crew who protested. Nags Head, North Carolina, was named for the wreckers' practice of hanging a lantern on the head of a hobbled horse as it walked along the beach.
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is human error. Whether deliberate or accidental, humans have been known to make mistakes resulting in catastrophe, and losses within the Bermuda Triangle are no exception. For example, the Coast Guard cited a lack of proper training for the cleaning of volatile benzene residue as a reason for the loss of the tanker V.A. Fogg in 1972. Human stubbornness may have caused businessman Harvey Conover to lose his sailing yacht, the Revonoc, as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on January 1, 1958. It should be noted that many losses remain inconclusive due to the lack of wreckage which could be studied, a fact cited on many official reports.
Deliberate acts of destruction
This can fall into two categories: acts of war, and acts of piracy. Records in enemy files have been checked for numerous losses; while many sinkings have been attributed to surface raiders or submarines during the World Wars and documented in the various command log books, many others which have been suspected as falling in that category have not been proven; it is suspected that the loss of USS Cyclops in 1918, as well as her sister ships Proteus and Nereus in World War II, were attributed to submarines, but no such link has been found in the German records.
Piracy, as defined by the taking of a ship or small boat on the high seas, is an act which continues to this day. While piracy for cargo theft is more common in the western Pacific and Indian oceans, drug smugglers do steal pleasure boats for smuggling operations, and may have been involved in crew and yacht disappearances in the Caribbean. Historically famous pirates of the Caribbean (where piracy was common from about 1560 to the 1760s) include Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Jean Lafitte. Lafitte is sometimes said to be a Triangle victim himself.
Another form of pirate operated on dry land. Bankers or wreckers would shine a light on shore to misdirect ships, which would then founder on the shore; the wreckers would then help themselves to the cargo. It is possible that these wreckers also killed any crew who protested. Nags Head, North Carolina, was named for the wreckers' practice of hanging a lantern on the head of a hobbled horse as it walked along the beach.
Natural explanations (Bemuda)
An explanation for some of the disappearances has focused on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates on the continental shelves. Laboratory experiments carried out in Australia have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water[13]; any wreckage consequently rising to the surface would be rapidly dispersed by the Gulf Stream. It has been hypothesized that periodic methane eruptions (sometimes called "mud volcanoes") may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning. Furthermore, clouds above the triangle have high methane concentrations due to the eruptions,[citation needed] which as experiment has shown[citation needed] can stall an airplane engine (more notably older, open engined models) in high enough concentration, caused by prolonged flight through the clouds.
A white paper was published in 1981 by the United States Geological Survey about the appearance of hydrates in the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast.[14] However, according to a USGS web page, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.[15]
Compass variations
Compass problems are one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. Some have theorized the possibility of unusual local magnetic anomalies in the area, however these have not been shown to exist. It should also be remembered that compasses have natural magnetic variations in relation to the Magnetic poles. For example, in the United States the only places where magnetic (compass) north and geographic (true) north are exactly the same are on a line running from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. Navigators have known this for centuries. But the public may not be as informed and think there is something mysterious about the compass "changing" across an area as large as the Triangle, which it naturally will.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are extremely powerful storms which are spawned in the Atlantic near the equator, and have historically been responsible for thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, set back Jamaica's economy by three years.[citation needed] These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Straits of Florida, into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and like a river, it can and does carry floating objects. A small plane making a water landing or a boat having engine trouble will be carried away from its reported position by the current, as happened to the cabin cruiser Witchcraft on December 22, 1967, when it reported engine trouble near the Miami buoy marker one mile (1.6 km) from shore, but was not there when a Coast Guard cutter arrived.
Freak waves
Main article: Rogue wave (oceanography)
Extremely large waves can appear seemingly at random, even in calm seas. One such rogue wave caused the Ocean Ranger, then the world's largest offshore platform, to capsize in 1982. There is, however, no particular reason to believe rogue waves are more common in the Bermuda region, and this explanation cannot account for the loss of airplanes.
A white paper was published in 1981 by the United States Geological Survey about the appearance of hydrates in the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast.[14] However, according to a USGS web page, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.[15]
Compass variations
Compass problems are one of the cited phrases in many Triangle incidents. Some have theorized the possibility of unusual local magnetic anomalies in the area, however these have not been shown to exist. It should also be remembered that compasses have natural magnetic variations in relation to the Magnetic poles. For example, in the United States the only places where magnetic (compass) north and geographic (true) north are exactly the same are on a line running from Wisconsin to the Gulf of Mexico. Navigators have known this for centuries. But the public may not be as informed and think there is something mysterious about the compass "changing" across an area as large as the Triangle, which it naturally will.
Hurricanes
Hurricanes are extremely powerful storms which are spawned in the Atlantic near the equator, and have historically been responsible for thousands of lives lost and billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of Francisco de Bobadilla's Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane. In 1988, Hurricane Gilbert, one of the most powerful hurricanes in history, set back Jamaica's economy by three years.[citation needed] These storms have in the past caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle.
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream is an ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, and then through the Straits of Florida, into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and like a river, it can and does carry floating objects. A small plane making a water landing or a boat having engine trouble will be carried away from its reported position by the current, as happened to the cabin cruiser Witchcraft on December 22, 1967, when it reported engine trouble near the Miami buoy marker one mile (1.6 km) from shore, but was not there when a Coast Guard cutter arrived.
Freak waves
Main article: Rogue wave (oceanography)
Extremely large waves can appear seemingly at random, even in calm seas. One such rogue wave caused the Ocean Ranger, then the world's largest offshore platform, to capsize in 1982. There is, however, no particular reason to believe rogue waves are more common in the Bermuda region, and this explanation cannot account for the loss of airplanes.
Bermuda Structur
The Triangle area
The boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some stating its shape is akin to a trapezoid covering the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire Caribbean island area east to the Azores; others add to it the Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar, triangular boundary in most written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlantic coast of Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.
The area of the Triangle varies by author.
The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean, and South America from points north.
The Gulf Stream ocean current flows through the Triangle after leaving the Gulf of Mexico; its current of five to six knots may have played a part in a number of disappearances. Sudden storms can and do appear, and in the summer to late fall hurricanes strike the area. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather makes it inevitable that vessels could founder in storms and be lost without a trace – especially before improved telecommunications, radar, and satellite technology arrived late in the 20th century.
History of the Triangle story
According to the Triangle authors, Christopher Columbus was the first person to document something strange in the Triangle, reporting that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon", flames in the sky, and at another point he wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings in the area. From his log book, dated October 11, 1492 he wrote:
The land was first seen by a sailor (Rodrigo de Triana), although the Admiral at ten o'clock that evening standing on the quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to be land; calling to Pero Gutiérrez, groom of the King's wardrobe, he told him he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it; he did the same to Rodrigo Sánchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the squadron as comptroller, but he was unable to see it from his situation. The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land. But the Admiral held it for certain that land was near...
Modern scholars checking the original log books have surmised that the lights he saw were the cooking fires of Taino natives in their canoes or on the beach; the compass problems were the result of a false reading based on the movement of a star.[citation needed]
The first article of any kind in which the legend of the Triangle began appeared in newspapers by E.V.W. Jones on September 16, 1950, through the Associated Press. Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door", a short article by George X. Sand in the October 1952 issue covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine. The article was titled "The Lost Patrol", by Allen W. Eckert, and in his story it was claimed that the flight leader had been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was also claimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars." "The Lost Patrol" was the first to connect the supernatural to Flight 19, but it would take another author, Vincent Gaddis, writing in the February 1964 Argosy Magazine to take Flight 19 together with other mysterious disappearances and place it under the umbrella of a new catchy name: "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle";he would build on that article with a more detailed book, Invisible Horizons, the next year. Others would follow with their own works: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969); Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974); Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974), and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.
Kusche's explanation
Lawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved (1975) has challenged this trend. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents which have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was surprisingly simple: he would go over period newspapers and see items like weather reports that were never mentioned in the stories.
Kusche came to several conclusions:
The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious; furthermore, Berlitz and other writers would often fail to mention such storms.
The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not be reported.
Some disappearances had in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to have taken place in 1937 off Daytona Beach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papers revealed nothing.
Kusche concluded that:
The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery… perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism.
Other responses
The marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the Triangle to be no more dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual rates for passage through the region. United States Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.
The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentationcontradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker V.A. Fogg in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodiesdespite one Triangle author stating that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup (Limbo of the Lost by John Wallace Spencer, 1973 edition).
The NOVA / Horizon episode The Case of the Bermuda Triangle (1976-06-27) was highly critical stating that "When we've gone back to the original sources or the people involved the mystery evaporates. Science does not have to answer questions about the Triangle because those questions are not valid in the first place. ... Ships and planes behave in the Triangle the same way they behave everywhere else in the world"
Skeptical researchers, such as Ernest Taves and Barry Singer, have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or not accurate, but its producers continue to market it. They have therefore claimed that the market is biased in favour of books, TV specials, et cetera. which support the Triangle mystery and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint.
Finally, if the Triangle is assumed to cross land, such as parts of Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda itself, there is no evidence for the disappearance of any land-based vehicles or persons. Located inside the Triangle, Freeport operates a major shipyard, an airport which yearly handles 50,000 flights and is visited by over a million tourists annually.
The boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some stating its shape is akin to a trapezoid covering the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire Caribbean island area east to the Azores; others add to it the Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar, triangular boundary in most written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlantic coast of Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.
The area of the Triangle varies by author.
The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean, and South America from points north.
The Gulf Stream ocean current flows through the Triangle after leaving the Gulf of Mexico; its current of five to six knots may have played a part in a number of disappearances. Sudden storms can and do appear, and in the summer to late fall hurricanes strike the area. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather makes it inevitable that vessels could founder in storms and be lost without a trace – especially before improved telecommunications, radar, and satellite technology arrived late in the 20th century.
History of the Triangle story
According to the Triangle authors, Christopher Columbus was the first person to document something strange in the Triangle, reporting that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon", flames in the sky, and at another point he wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings in the area. From his log book, dated October 11, 1492 he wrote:
The land was first seen by a sailor (Rodrigo de Triana), although the Admiral at ten o'clock that evening standing on the quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to be land; calling to Pero Gutiérrez, groom of the King's wardrobe, he told him he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it; he did the same to Rodrigo Sánchez of Segovia, whom the King and Queen had sent with the squadron as comptroller, but he was unable to see it from his situation. The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land. But the Admiral held it for certain that land was near...
Modern scholars checking the original log books have surmised that the lights he saw were the cooking fires of Taino natives in their canoes or on the beach; the compass problems were the result of a false reading based on the movement of a star.[citation needed]
The first article of any kind in which the legend of the Triangle began appeared in newspapers by E.V.W. Jones on September 16, 1950, through the Associated Press. Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door", a short article by George X. Sand in the October 1952 issue covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission. Sand's article was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place. Flight 19 alone would be covered in the April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine. The article was titled "The Lost Patrol", by Allen W. Eckert, and in his story it was claimed that the flight leader had been heard saying "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white." It was also claimed that officials at the Navy board of inquiry stated that the planes "flew off to Mars." "The Lost Patrol" was the first to connect the supernatural to Flight 19, but it would take another author, Vincent Gaddis, writing in the February 1964 Argosy Magazine to take Flight 19 together with other mysterious disappearances and place it under the umbrella of a new catchy name: "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle";he would build on that article with a more detailed book, Invisible Horizons, the next year. Others would follow with their own works: John Wallace Spencer (Limbo of the Lost, 1969); Charles Berlitz (The Bermuda Triangle, 1974); Richard Winer (The Devil's Triangle, 1974), and many others, all keeping to some of the same supernatural elements outlined by Eckert.
Kusche's explanation
Lawrence David Kusche, a research librarian from Arizona State University and author of The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved (1975) has challenged this trend. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst, which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents which have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was surprisingly simple: he would go over period newspapers and see items like weather reports that were never mentioned in the stories.
Kusche came to several conclusions:
The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious; furthermore, Berlitz and other writers would often fail to mention such storms.
The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not be reported.
Some disappearances had in fact, never happened. One plane crash was said to have taken place in 1937 off Daytona Beach, Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses; a check of the local papers revealed nothing.
Kusche concluded that:
The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery… perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism.
Other responses
The marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the Triangle to be no more dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual rates for passage through the region. United States Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.
The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentationcontradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker V.A. Fogg in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodiesdespite one Triangle author stating that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup (Limbo of the Lost by John Wallace Spencer, 1973 edition).
The NOVA / Horizon episode The Case of the Bermuda Triangle (1976-06-27) was highly critical stating that "When we've gone back to the original sources or the people involved the mystery evaporates. Science does not have to answer questions about the Triangle because those questions are not valid in the first place. ... Ships and planes behave in the Triangle the same way they behave everywhere else in the world"
Skeptical researchers, such as Ernest Taves and Barry Singer, have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or not accurate, but its producers continue to market it. They have therefore claimed that the market is biased in favour of books, TV specials, et cetera. which support the Triangle mystery and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint.
Finally, if the Triangle is assumed to cross land, such as parts of Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, or Bermuda itself, there is no evidence for the disappearance of any land-based vehicles or persons. Located inside the Triangle, Freeport operates a major shipyard, an airport which yearly handles 50,000 flights and is visited by over a million tourists annually.
The Biggest Mystery, Flight 19
The Myth.
On a clear day five Navy Avengers of flight 19 took off for a routine mission. The experienced crew had a route that would take them 160 miles east, 40 miles north and the 120 miles straight back to base. The planes were suppose to carry three man crews, but one crew member failed to show. Perhaps it was just coincidence, or was it premonition? The planes had done their required preflight test and every thing checked out in good working order. It was a routine two hour mission but the planes were still fully fueled. The planes had extensive radio equipment to include ten different radio channels and homing devices that would show them the way home. The first message that came from the patrol came in at 15:45: "Control tower this is an emergency. We seem to be off course. We seem to be lost. We can't make out where we are." The tower said "Head due west", but the flight did not know which way West was. "Everything looks wrong, even the ocean looks strange". The tower was puzzled; even if the compasses were not working, the crew should have been able to fly west by following the sun (which was several hours from setting). Finally around 16:25, the flight leader announced "We're not certain where we are. We must be 225 North east of base...it looks like we are..." and then silence. A Martin Mariner flight-boat with a crew of 13 took off to look for Flight 19. The Mariner sent several routine messages back to base before it, too, disappeared in the region where Flight 19 was thought to be. At 19:04, the last message from Flight 19 was received at base. It was only a faint message which repeated the letters FT FT, the call letters of Flight 19. The search for the planes continued for weeks, and even today the U.S. Navy has a standing order for crews to keep a look out for Flight 19. The military experts were completely baffled--how could 27 men and six planes just disappear? If the Avengers would have run out of fuel, the planes would have floated long enough for the crews to get out and onto their rafts. The men were well-trained in sea survival. The official Navy report stated that the planes had vanished "as if they had flown to Mars"The truth:Fact 1: Only the Patrol Leader Lt . Charles Taylor was an experienced pilot, and he had only recently been transferred to the US Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale. The other pilots, and all but one crew member were trainees.Fact 2: The patrol was to conduct a low-level bo mbing mission at Hens and Chickens Shoal south of the Grand Bahamas. Lt. Taylor tried to get out of doing the flight, most likely because he was hung over.( He had been at a partythe night before.) No one else in the duty rotation felt like switching with him.Fact 3: Soon after taking off, Taylor's compass went out, but he decided to fly by "dead reckoning" and "Pilotage". Fact 4: Taylor got screwed up because of his dead reckoning flying. He was not wearing a watch (something that has been assumed because he was always asking his crew what time it was). After several minutes of flying in circles, he saw a land mark that he thought he recognized. Taylor lived in the Florida Keys, and he mistakenly identified an island of the Bahamas as the island he lived on. He then issued an order for the flight to fly due North until they hit the mainland of Florida. It was getting late and the weather had been getting progressively worse. After about an hour of flying north and not hitting the mainland, Taylor issued an order to fly east. He assumed that they were now over the Gulf of Mexico.In fact, the flight had been flying north along the Atlantic coastline. When they decided to fly east, they started heading farther out into the Atlantic ocean.Fact 5: Flight 19 was in continuous contact with Base throughout the flight, up to this time, and the tower was aware that Taylor was flying without a compass. They asked Taylor to switch over to the emergency radio channel, but Taylor refused because one of his planes had a faulty receiver and he was afraid that if he changed frequencies he would lose contact with the plane. The weather was now a major storm; visibility was poor.Fact 6: Because of Taylor's refusal to switch to the emergency channel, Fort Lauderdale was picking up a lot of static on the line. It was also hard for the other radio stations along the coast to get a good fix on Flight 19. If Taylor had switched to the emergency channel, a fix could have been made almost immediately.Fact 7: It was raining: the weather was not clear and the sun could not be seen.Fact 8: A fix was made on the planes which put them around three hundred miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. When Taylor had thought he was lost, he was actually on course. If one were to back-track his flight plan from the point of where he thought he was lost, you will end up just South of the Bahamas.Fact 9: Several of the crew members were heard informing Taylor that if they headed West, they'd hit Florida. Because of their adherence to military discipline, they followed their leader. Fact 10: Fort Lauderdale sent vseveral messages to Flight 19. The flight was unable to receive the messages because of their distance from Lauderdale and all the interference from other radio traffic. If Taylor had switched to the emergency channel several other station could have contacted him. The other coastal stations id not have thefrequencies necessary to contact Taylor's group.Fact 11: The Mariner was not the only plane dispatched to search for Flight 19. It was the only one that blew up, almost on take off. The explosion was witnessed by several people and an oil slick and debris were found. The Mariners was notorious for having fuel leaks and were known as "flying gas tanks"; it exploded 23 minutes after takeoff, in the exact location were it should have been. Fact 12: Avengers may float for up to two minutes, if you're lucky, make a perfect water landing, and the sea is calm. You might be able to get out of the plane if the sea is calm, you are uninjured from the crash (you don't land an Avenger like you would a sea-plane) and there is light. Ditching in the sea is dangerous even under ideal conditions. Flight 19 was flying in a rainstorm at night, over rough seas, with pilots who had no experience at ditching a plane; they were students. The planes would have sunk like rocks if they ran out of fuel and had to ditch. It is doubtful from the last fewradio messages, that the planes decided to ditch together.Fact 13: It is common practice, upon the termination of any naval search, to conclude by stating that travelers in the area should remain on the alert. This order is never cancelled because it is part of termination orders. The Navy is not expecting to find Flight 19.Fact 14: The planes had flown far enough out to sea to have placed them off of the Continental Shelf. They were no longer flying over the shallow Caribbean water, but over water thousands instead of hundreds of feet deep. It is difficult to find sunken debris in such deep water.You decide. Is this a good story to tell around the camp fire or this a mystery that remains unsolved?for some reason people are always asking for photos of Flight 19. I don't have any. Here is the stock U.S. Navy photo of Avenger aircraft that appear in almost every book that mentions Flight 19.
On a clear day five Navy Avengers of flight 19 took off for a routine mission. The experienced crew had a route that would take them 160 miles east, 40 miles north and the 120 miles straight back to base. The planes were suppose to carry three man crews, but one crew member failed to show. Perhaps it was just coincidence, or was it premonition? The planes had done their required preflight test and every thing checked out in good working order. It was a routine two hour mission but the planes were still fully fueled. The planes had extensive radio equipment to include ten different radio channels and homing devices that would show them the way home. The first message that came from the patrol came in at 15:45: "Control tower this is an emergency. We seem to be off course. We seem to be lost. We can't make out where we are." The tower said "Head due west", but the flight did not know which way West was. "Everything looks wrong, even the ocean looks strange". The tower was puzzled; even if the compasses were not working, the crew should have been able to fly west by following the sun (which was several hours from setting). Finally around 16:25, the flight leader announced "We're not certain where we are. We must be 225 North east of base...it looks like we are..." and then silence. A Martin Mariner flight-boat with a crew of 13 took off to look for Flight 19. The Mariner sent several routine messages back to base before it, too, disappeared in the region where Flight 19 was thought to be. At 19:04, the last message from Flight 19 was received at base. It was only a faint message which repeated the letters FT FT, the call letters of Flight 19. The search for the planes continued for weeks, and even today the U.S. Navy has a standing order for crews to keep a look out for Flight 19. The military experts were completely baffled--how could 27 men and six planes just disappear? If the Avengers would have run out of fuel, the planes would have floated long enough for the crews to get out and onto their rafts. The men were well-trained in sea survival. The official Navy report stated that the planes had vanished "as if they had flown to Mars"The truth:Fact 1: Only the Patrol Leader Lt . Charles Taylor was an experienced pilot, and he had only recently been transferred to the US Naval Air Station in Fort Lauderdale. The other pilots, and all but one crew member were trainees.Fact 2: The patrol was to conduct a low-level bo mbing mission at Hens and Chickens Shoal south of the Grand Bahamas. Lt. Taylor tried to get out of doing the flight, most likely because he was hung over.( He had been at a partythe night before.) No one else in the duty rotation felt like switching with him.Fact 3: Soon after taking off, Taylor's compass went out, but he decided to fly by "dead reckoning" and "Pilotage". Fact 4: Taylor got screwed up because of his dead reckoning flying. He was not wearing a watch (something that has been assumed because he was always asking his crew what time it was). After several minutes of flying in circles, he saw a land mark that he thought he recognized. Taylor lived in the Florida Keys, and he mistakenly identified an island of the Bahamas as the island he lived on. He then issued an order for the flight to fly due North until they hit the mainland of Florida. It was getting late and the weather had been getting progressively worse. After about an hour of flying north and not hitting the mainland, Taylor issued an order to fly east. He assumed that they were now over the Gulf of Mexico.In fact, the flight had been flying north along the Atlantic coastline. When they decided to fly east, they started heading farther out into the Atlantic ocean.Fact 5: Flight 19 was in continuous contact with Base throughout the flight, up to this time, and the tower was aware that Taylor was flying without a compass. They asked Taylor to switch over to the emergency radio channel, but Taylor refused because one of his planes had a faulty receiver and he was afraid that if he changed frequencies he would lose contact with the plane. The weather was now a major storm; visibility was poor.Fact 6: Because of Taylor's refusal to switch to the emergency channel, Fort Lauderdale was picking up a lot of static on the line. It was also hard for the other radio stations along the coast to get a good fix on Flight 19. If Taylor had switched to the emergency channel, a fix could have been made almost immediately.Fact 7: It was raining: the weather was not clear and the sun could not be seen.Fact 8: A fix was made on the planes which put them around three hundred miles east of Jacksonville, Florida. When Taylor had thought he was lost, he was actually on course. If one were to back-track his flight plan from the point of where he thought he was lost, you will end up just South of the Bahamas.Fact 9: Several of the crew members were heard informing Taylor that if they headed West, they'd hit Florida. Because of their adherence to military discipline, they followed their leader. Fact 10: Fort Lauderdale sent vseveral messages to Flight 19. The flight was unable to receive the messages because of their distance from Lauderdale and all the interference from other radio traffic. If Taylor had switched to the emergency channel several other station could have contacted him. The other coastal stations id not have thefrequencies necessary to contact Taylor's group.Fact 11: The Mariner was not the only plane dispatched to search for Flight 19. It was the only one that blew up, almost on take off. The explosion was witnessed by several people and an oil slick and debris were found. The Mariners was notorious for having fuel leaks and were known as "flying gas tanks"; it exploded 23 minutes after takeoff, in the exact location were it should have been. Fact 12: Avengers may float for up to two minutes, if you're lucky, make a perfect water landing, and the sea is calm. You might be able to get out of the plane if the sea is calm, you are uninjured from the crash (you don't land an Avenger like you would a sea-plane) and there is light. Ditching in the sea is dangerous even under ideal conditions. Flight 19 was flying in a rainstorm at night, over rough seas, with pilots who had no experience at ditching a plane; they were students. The planes would have sunk like rocks if they ran out of fuel and had to ditch. It is doubtful from the last fewradio messages, that the planes decided to ditch together.Fact 13: It is common practice, upon the termination of any naval search, to conclude by stating that travelers in the area should remain on the alert. This order is never cancelled because it is part of termination orders. The Navy is not expecting to find Flight 19.Fact 14: The planes had flown far enough out to sea to have placed them off of the Continental Shelf. They were no longer flying over the shallow Caribbean water, but over water thousands instead of hundreds of feet deep. It is difficult to find sunken debris in such deep water.You decide. Is this a good story to tell around the camp fire or this a mystery that remains unsolved?for some reason people are always asking for photos of Flight 19. I don't have any. Here is the stock U.S. Navy photo of Avenger aircraft that appear in almost every book that mentions Flight 19.
Bermuda Trangle
Introduction:
Okay Let me tell you right off that the Bermuda Triangle is a myth that started off as old-time stories that sailors used to tell new ship mates to give 'em the heebie-jeebies. Now let me go on to say that the myths have become a great money making scam by people who like to stretch the truth. With that said, let me add I love the stories of the Bermuda Triangle and I love the way many FICTION writers have used the Bermuda Triangle as a premise for several fascinating STORIES.
The Purpose of this page is an attack on the pseudo-scientific publications that try to turn the Triangle into some mystical place that is a warp in the fabric of time or some kind of UFO landing spot. While some people will believe that stuff no matter what they read, this page is an attempt to explain away the myths and get to facts that created them. Let the fiction writers have their fun, let the pseudo-scientist with his half-baked facts.
What this page will explain is why currents in the area around the triangle can be dangerous, how a ship or plane can be lost without a trace, why many of the occurrences that are truly a mystery can not be attributed to the triangle, and why
some of the so-called mysteries are no more than over-active imaginations.
First Known use of the Bermuda Triangle
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 2d edition, the first recorded use of the term "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" was in February, 1964 in an article appearing in Argosy. The article, The Deadly Bermuda Triangle, by V. Gaddis can be attributed to all the hype and craziness centered around the mythical Bermuda Triangle.
For those not familiar with Argosy, maybe its subtitle will give you a clue about what it publishes:
Argosy : Magazine of Masterpiece Fiction.
It has also gone by the name:
The Argosy: A Magazine of Tales, Travels, Essays, and Poems.
Obviously not a major source for nautical research but definitely a place to spin a tale or two.
The Dimensions of the Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle covers approximately 500,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean.
The official dimmensions (if you can call them that) claim the triangle is that area between Bermuda, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Miami Florida. However when you start plotting ocean disasters that are attributed to the Triangle its boundaries shift all over the North Atlantic and sometimes into the Eastern Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. See the Mary
Celeste and the Sargasso Sea
The Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream
The currents throughout the Bermuda Triangle are affected by the warm Gulf Stream. This current flows in a north easterly direction from the tip of Florida, up the Eastern seaboard to The Saint Lawrence Seaway and then roughly across the Atlantic toward the United Kingdom. The current divides the Cold waters of the North Atlantic from the hot water of the Sargasso Sea. The current accounts for the London fog as well as the temperate climate of Europe. Much of Europe is as far north as Canada, yet the climate tends to be more moderate, all because of this Gulf Stream.
The current is strong and small boats in the area that are not familiar with it (the Snow Birds and other Vacationers as well as new sailors) can easily be pushed off-course. The reason is that the current is continuously pushing the boat north and east of Florida and the Bahamas. In the area of the Florida straits (the narrow channel separating Florida and the Bahamas) the current is always swift, turbulent and traveling almost straight north! Debris form ships that have sunk in the Straights of Florida (as well as notes in bottles, and pollution) have been found all the way on the other side of the
Atlantic because of the force that this current possesses.
What this means: Boats go into the area an assume they are traveling in an easterly direction when in fact they are traveling east-north east. If the boat is going a short distance the problem can be corrected by simply watching the shoreline or other familair landmarks. If the boat is going a long distance the landmarks become lost beyond the
horizon. To further exaberate the problem the further the boat goes out the more off course it becomes.
To make matter worse, when the boat turns around and heads due west on its return route, it is still being pushed northeast. Anyone who has tried to paddle a canoe upstream realizes that it takes longer to go upstream than down stream. The same is true when fighting the Gulf Stream. Furthermore the current is still pushing you north so even if you compensate for the outward motion of the gulf stream you can still wind up several miles north of your destination unless you are a very good sailor.
To compound the problem, the Captain of the craft will probably "May Day" where he should be according to the route he thought he took, without making any compensation for the drift of the Gulf Stream, complicating any Search-and-Rescue mission.
The Ocean Floor
The North-American Continental Shelf explains the wonderful blue water of the Caribbean. In many places throughout the Caribbean Islands when flying over the shelf it is possible to see large objects submerged several feet under the water. It's a splendid sight and it would make it seem that finding a lost plane submerged in these parts quite easy, especially in this day of Black Boxes (Flight Data Recorders, Cockpit Voice Recorders and Emergency Locator Transmitter).
While the Big Jets have all sorts of tracking gear, Small Aircraft only have the Emergency Lacator Transmitter Unfortunately, the Black boxes don't work very well when they are submerged. Also, when the sandy bottom of the ocean floor is disturbed it can often cause the sand to lift up into a cloud and resettle on top of whatever disturbed it. To make matters worse, if a boat has capsized it may go completely unnoticed by all but the most sophisticated sonar equipment.
But these are only minor perils when it comes to searching for sunken craft in the Triangle. The real peril is that while many people have snorkeled in the wonderful shallow areas of the Caribbean, few have gone just a few miles away from these shallow areas where the continental shelf gives way to the ocean floor! Suddenly, within a matter of miles, what was once water only a couple hundred feet deep begins an ocean thousands of feet deep. About 100 miles north of Puerto Rico is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean: the Puerto Rico Trench, estimated at 30,100 ft (9200 meters) deep. The Florida Straits, between Miami and the Bahamas at around 5,000 or so feet deep. This is the shallow water where so many planes and boats have disappeared with out a trace. The 120 mile distance between the Grand Bahamas from New Providence lies the North East Providence Channel which has a depth of ranging between 6,000 and 12,000 feet (2,000-4,000 meters).
The Channel is at the tip of the basin which spreads out covering much of the ocean floor from Miami and the Bahamas out to Bermuda. This basin is ap proximately 18,000 feet (6,000 meters) deep. Contrary to the Bermuda triangle legend, the water of the islands is quite deep and turbulent.
The North Pole.
This information is currently a rough estimate. However, the information is critical to understanding some of the reports of strange compass readings in the triangle. As more information is made available to me, I will update this information. There are three north poles, Magnetic, Grid, and True or Celestial North. True North True north is determined by Polaris, the North Star. It can be found using the Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). To find it, line up the two stars at the end of the dipper and draw an imaginary line out to the last star in Ursa Minor. This is Polaris. Grid North is the real North Pole, at 90 degrees latitude. It is the North Pole according to maps and globes. Because Polaris is not directly above Grid North, the two sometimes differ.
Magnetic North
Magnetic North is where compasses point and is several thousand miles from the Grid North. It is located somewhere north of one of the Baffin Islands in the Hudson Bay. If you look at most globes, you can find a little (x) with the label(Magnetic North) marking this location.
This is the answer to many of the strange compass readings that have been discussed when crossing the Atlantic. Columbus was one of the first Navigators to recognize that True North and Magnetic North were not the same thing, and he noted this in his log. He also surmised, correctly, 500 years ago, that the compass must point to something other than the North Pole.
There are only two longitudes in the world where Magnetic and Grid, or Magnetic, and True North align. These location are near the center of Europe and near the eastern part of the United States.
At the tip of Portugal the difference between Magnetic and Grid North is about four degrees. As you travel west across the Atlantic, the difference between Magnetic and Grid North begins to increase. This difference can get as much as 22 degrees. This increase continues until you reach the middle of the Atlantic and the Sargasso Sea, and then slowly Grid and Magnetic begin to realign so that by the time you reach the southern tip of Florida the two are only one and a half degrees different. To get an idea of how Grid, True, and Magnetic Norths differ, go to any large library with a good
map collection and ask to see the USGS 1:24,000 maps for your home town, a map for Washington State, New York State, and Kansas. On the bottom of the map will be a small diagram showing the differences between the three Norths.
History Lesson
Christopher Columbus
Three items are usually mentioned about Columbus and the Bermuda Triangle: the strange occurrence in the SargassoSea, the way his compasses acted up, and the strange lights he saw in the Indies.
First let's point out that Columbus was an excellent sailor and Captain, and despite several discussions of mutinies, none were attempted. His crew trusted his abilities. The main concern of his crew was the lack of land and the thought of running out of food and water on the journey. They had no idea how long they would be at sea, other than the
calculations of the Earth's circumference, according to Columbus.
There were two different circumferences of the Earth believed at this time. These estimates existed from as early as ancient Egypt. The basic way the circumference was figured out was by measuring the distance to the horizon from two different elevations (sea level and another height), and then using basic geometry determining the curvature of the circle.
No one with any education truly believed the earth was flat. Columbus believed the Earth to be about 15,000 miles in circumference; the shore of Asia should be reachable across the Atlantic. Most navigators used 25,000 miles, and believed the trip was impossible simply because it wasn't possible to carry provisions for such a long trip.
Furthermoe most Sailors liked to sail close to land in order to pick up provisions and fresh water. The open sea wasfeared and respected because of stormy weather conditions.
As Columbus went further out to sea, he ran into the Sargasso. The sea was a puzzle to him mainly because of the number of sea birds in the area; while usually a sign of land, no land was in sight. This was a major disappointment to Columbus and his crew and he made a special note of it for future voyages. (More as warning to future travelers not to
expect land fall than because of alien visitors.)
Later, as he went further west into the Atlantic, he noticed that the compass needle was acting up: the compass' North was not lining up with True (Celestial) North. Again he made a note of it, but didn't tell his superstitious crew. When others noticed the difference, Columbus informed them that he had made note of it, but it was not a major problem. He reasoned that the compass probably pointed to something other than True North. This, of course, has been proven to be true. Magnetic North is currently near Prince of Wales Island, half way between the Hudson Bay and the Geographic North Pole. Columbus and crew also spotted a meteor hitting the water. The crew was not puzzled by it, however, as it was not that uncommon to see shooting stars and the like. The meteor was noted in Columbus' log mainly because of the size. This occurred outside the boundaries of the Triangle. Columbus also logged a report of seeing lights in the distance, on October 11. He called for one of his men, who alsosaw the light. When a third man finally came, the light had vanished. By this time, the crew, while not mutinous, was calling for the ship to turn around. Columbus wrote that if land fall was
not made within f ew days, he would turn around. There was a reward for the first man to spot land and several bad sightings were made. There were visible signs, such as land birds or plants floating in the water, but no land was sighted. On several occasions, low clouds had been mistaken for land. Columbus issued an order that any false sighting would lead to a forfeiture of reward, because of the effect they were having on the crew.
The light Columbus had seen on the night of Oct 11 was probably from Man Island near Hispanola or from Hispanola itself. He failed to wake the crew because he did not want to report yet another false sighting. Four hours later, Rodrigo de Triana, aboard the Pinta, signaled land-in-sight. Land was spotted in the vicinity of where the light had been seen.
The Purpose of this page is an attack on the pseudo-scientific publications that try to turn the Triangle into some mystical place that is a warp in the fabric of time or some kind of UFO landing spot. While some people will believe that stuff no matter what they read, this page is an attempt to explain away the myths and get to facts that created them. Let the fiction writers have their fun, let the pseudo-scientist with his half-baked facts.
What this page will explain is why currents in the area around the triangle can be dangerous, how a ship or plane can be lost without a trace, why many of the occurrences that are truly a mystery can not be attributed to the triangle, and why
some of the so-called mysteries are no more than over-active imaginations.
First Known use of the Bermuda Triangle
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 2d edition, the first recorded use of the term "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" was in February, 1964 in an article appearing in Argosy. The article, The Deadly Bermuda Triangle, by V. Gaddis can be attributed to all the hype and craziness centered around the mythical Bermuda Triangle.
For those not familiar with Argosy, maybe its subtitle will give you a clue about what it publishes:
Argosy : Magazine of Masterpiece Fiction.
It has also gone by the name:
The Argosy: A Magazine of Tales, Travels, Essays, and Poems.
Obviously not a major source for nautical research but definitely a place to spin a tale or two.
The Dimensions of the Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle covers approximately 500,000 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean.
The official dimmensions (if you can call them that) claim the triangle is that area between Bermuda, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Miami Florida. However when you start plotting ocean disasters that are attributed to the Triangle its boundaries shift all over the North Atlantic and sometimes into the Eastern Pacific and Gulf of Mexico. See the Mary
Celeste and the Sargasso Sea
The Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream
The currents throughout the Bermuda Triangle are affected by the warm Gulf Stream. This current flows in a north easterly direction from the tip of Florida, up the Eastern seaboard to The Saint Lawrence Seaway and then roughly across the Atlantic toward the United Kingdom. The current divides the Cold waters of the North Atlantic from the hot water of the Sargasso Sea. The current accounts for the London fog as well as the temperate climate of Europe. Much of Europe is as far north as Canada, yet the climate tends to be more moderate, all because of this Gulf Stream.
The current is strong and small boats in the area that are not familiar with it (the Snow Birds and other Vacationers as well as new sailors) can easily be pushed off-course. The reason is that the current is continuously pushing the boat north and east of Florida and the Bahamas. In the area of the Florida straits (the narrow channel separating Florida and the Bahamas) the current is always swift, turbulent and traveling almost straight north! Debris form ships that have sunk in the Straights of Florida (as well as notes in bottles, and pollution) have been found all the way on the other side of the
Atlantic because of the force that this current possesses.
What this means: Boats go into the area an assume they are traveling in an easterly direction when in fact they are traveling east-north east. If the boat is going a short distance the problem can be corrected by simply watching the shoreline or other familair landmarks. If the boat is going a long distance the landmarks become lost beyond the
horizon. To further exaberate the problem the further the boat goes out the more off course it becomes.
To make matter worse, when the boat turns around and heads due west on its return route, it is still being pushed northeast. Anyone who has tried to paddle a canoe upstream realizes that it takes longer to go upstream than down stream. The same is true when fighting the Gulf Stream. Furthermore the current is still pushing you north so even if you compensate for the outward motion of the gulf stream you can still wind up several miles north of your destination unless you are a very good sailor.
To compound the problem, the Captain of the craft will probably "May Day" where he should be according to the route he thought he took, without making any compensation for the drift of the Gulf Stream, complicating any Search-and-Rescue mission.
The Ocean Floor
The North-American Continental Shelf explains the wonderful blue water of the Caribbean. In many places throughout the Caribbean Islands when flying over the shelf it is possible to see large objects submerged several feet under the water. It's a splendid sight and it would make it seem that finding a lost plane submerged in these parts quite easy, especially in this day of Black Boxes (Flight Data Recorders, Cockpit Voice Recorders and Emergency Locator Transmitter).
While the Big Jets have all sorts of tracking gear, Small Aircraft only have the Emergency Lacator Transmitter Unfortunately, the Black boxes don't work very well when they are submerged. Also, when the sandy bottom of the ocean floor is disturbed it can often cause the sand to lift up into a cloud and resettle on top of whatever disturbed it. To make matters worse, if a boat has capsized it may go completely unnoticed by all but the most sophisticated sonar equipment.
But these are only minor perils when it comes to searching for sunken craft in the Triangle. The real peril is that while many people have snorkeled in the wonderful shallow areas of the Caribbean, few have gone just a few miles away from these shallow areas where the continental shelf gives way to the ocean floor! Suddenly, within a matter of miles, what was once water only a couple hundred feet deep begins an ocean thousands of feet deep. About 100 miles north of Puerto Rico is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean: the Puerto Rico Trench, estimated at 30,100 ft (9200 meters) deep. The Florida Straits, between Miami and the Bahamas at around 5,000 or so feet deep. This is the shallow water where so many planes and boats have disappeared with out a trace. The 120 mile distance between the Grand Bahamas from New Providence lies the North East Providence Channel which has a depth of ranging between 6,000 and 12,000 feet (2,000-4,000 meters).
The Channel is at the tip of the basin which spreads out covering much of the ocean floor from Miami and the Bahamas out to Bermuda. This basin is ap proximately 18,000 feet (6,000 meters) deep. Contrary to the Bermuda triangle legend, the water of the islands is quite deep and turbulent.
The North Pole.
This information is currently a rough estimate. However, the information is critical to understanding some of the reports of strange compass readings in the triangle. As more information is made available to me, I will update this information. There are three north poles, Magnetic, Grid, and True or Celestial North. True North True north is determined by Polaris, the North Star. It can be found using the Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper). To find it, line up the two stars at the end of the dipper and draw an imaginary line out to the last star in Ursa Minor. This is Polaris. Grid North is the real North Pole, at 90 degrees latitude. It is the North Pole according to maps and globes. Because Polaris is not directly above Grid North, the two sometimes differ.
Magnetic North
Magnetic North is where compasses point and is several thousand miles from the Grid North. It is located somewhere north of one of the Baffin Islands in the Hudson Bay. If you look at most globes, you can find a little (x) with the label(Magnetic North) marking this location.
This is the answer to many of the strange compass readings that have been discussed when crossing the Atlantic. Columbus was one of the first Navigators to recognize that True North and Magnetic North were not the same thing, and he noted this in his log. He also surmised, correctly, 500 years ago, that the compass must point to something other than the North Pole.
There are only two longitudes in the world where Magnetic and Grid, or Magnetic, and True North align. These location are near the center of Europe and near the eastern part of the United States.
At the tip of Portugal the difference between Magnetic and Grid North is about four degrees. As you travel west across the Atlantic, the difference between Magnetic and Grid North begins to increase. This difference can get as much as 22 degrees. This increase continues until you reach the middle of the Atlantic and the Sargasso Sea, and then slowly Grid and Magnetic begin to realign so that by the time you reach the southern tip of Florida the two are only one and a half degrees different. To get an idea of how Grid, True, and Magnetic Norths differ, go to any large library with a good
map collection and ask to see the USGS 1:24,000 maps for your home town, a map for Washington State, New York State, and Kansas. On the bottom of the map will be a small diagram showing the differences between the three Norths.
History Lesson
Christopher Columbus
Three items are usually mentioned about Columbus and the Bermuda Triangle: the strange occurrence in the SargassoSea, the way his compasses acted up, and the strange lights he saw in the Indies.
First let's point out that Columbus was an excellent sailor and Captain, and despite several discussions of mutinies, none were attempted. His crew trusted his abilities. The main concern of his crew was the lack of land and the thought of running out of food and water on the journey. They had no idea how long they would be at sea, other than the
calculations of the Earth's circumference, according to Columbus.
There were two different circumferences of the Earth believed at this time. These estimates existed from as early as ancient Egypt. The basic way the circumference was figured out was by measuring the distance to the horizon from two different elevations (sea level and another height), and then using basic geometry determining the curvature of the circle.
No one with any education truly believed the earth was flat. Columbus believed the Earth to be about 15,000 miles in circumference; the shore of Asia should be reachable across the Atlantic. Most navigators used 25,000 miles, and believed the trip was impossible simply because it wasn't possible to carry provisions for such a long trip.
Furthermoe most Sailors liked to sail close to land in order to pick up provisions and fresh water. The open sea wasfeared and respected because of stormy weather conditions.
As Columbus went further out to sea, he ran into the Sargasso. The sea was a puzzle to him mainly because of the number of sea birds in the area; while usually a sign of land, no land was in sight. This was a major disappointment to Columbus and his crew and he made a special note of it for future voyages. (More as warning to future travelers not to
expect land fall than because of alien visitors.)
Later, as he went further west into the Atlantic, he noticed that the compass needle was acting up: the compass' North was not lining up with True (Celestial) North. Again he made a note of it, but didn't tell his superstitious crew. When others noticed the difference, Columbus informed them that he had made note of it, but it was not a major problem. He reasoned that the compass probably pointed to something other than True North. This, of course, has been proven to be true. Magnetic North is currently near Prince of Wales Island, half way between the Hudson Bay and the Geographic North Pole. Columbus and crew also spotted a meteor hitting the water. The crew was not puzzled by it, however, as it was not that uncommon to see shooting stars and the like. The meteor was noted in Columbus' log mainly because of the size. This occurred outside the boundaries of the Triangle. Columbus also logged a report of seeing lights in the distance, on October 11. He called for one of his men, who alsosaw the light. When a third man finally came, the light had vanished. By this time, the crew, while not mutinous, was calling for the ship to turn around. Columbus wrote that if land fall was
not made within f ew days, he would turn around. There was a reward for the first man to spot land and several bad sightings were made. There were visible signs, such as land birds or plants floating in the water, but no land was sighted. On several occasions, low clouds had been mistaken for land. Columbus issued an order that any false sighting would lead to a forfeiture of reward, because of the effect they were having on the crew.
The light Columbus had seen on the night of Oct 11 was probably from Man Island near Hispanola or from Hispanola itself. He failed to wake the crew because he did not want to report yet another false sighting. Four hours later, Rodrigo de Triana, aboard the Pinta, signaled land-in-sight. Land was spotted in the vicinity of where the light had been seen.
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