Thursday, June 09, 2005

The Bermuda Triangle!

Every since I first starting hearing stories about the Bermuda Triangle, I've been fascinated by the mysteries that surround it. I've read a number of books and try to see all the documentaries about it, but none of them seem to peg it quite like the most recent Discovery Channel's documentary "Dive to Bermuda Triangle."

In ‘91, Graham Hawkes photographed 5 Avengers on the ocean floor in the BT thought to be the missing Flight 19, but because of the grainy photos, they were unable to make a positive ID. Recently, after designing his Deep Flight submersible, he was able to go back to the site in person and was able to prove that the planes were indeed, not those of Flight 19, but of other Avengers that have been ditched in the same spot, at different times. Instead of dispelling the myth (as was his intention,) he created a new mystery... Until now!

Rather than trying to come up with some supernatural or super stupid reason for why so many have been lost in the BT, scientist and experts have conducted a few tests and have came up with a very plausible theory; methane gas bubbles.

They have determined that a lot of the losses where caused by simple human error and/or torturous weather (as is now thought to be the case with the missing Flight 19,) but what of the unexplainable mysteries like the cargo ship Sulpher Queen which disappeared on calm seas in ’63 without a word, or the five Avengers found in the same location that turned out not to be those of Flight 19?

There is proof of a large methane gas deposit on the ocean floor in the Bermuda Triangle, and the theory is that under the right conditions, it can sink ships and disable aircraft. It seems completely logical, yet still surreal.

It's like science fiction meeting science, meeting reality, meeting science fiction again!

The gas bubbles up to the surface and if a ship happens to pass through it, the loss of buoyancy can cause a ship to sink (which would also explain the randomness of disappearances.) And while some experts say that the bubbles are not enough to actually sink a ship, they agree that an underwater landslide (common in the area) could release enough bubbles, or a large enough bubble to sink a loaded freighter, much like the oil platform that nearly sunk in ’85 after puncturing a similar gas pocket.

Furthermore, they ran test and showed that the gas released into the atmosphere after such an eruption could be critically damaging to planes passing by. If enough gas were released, it could stall an engine, (which was what brought down at least 2 of the 5 Avengers found.) At the very least, the gas (being lighter than air) would cause a plane to lose altitude, while the plane’s instrument panel shows that they are ascending. In bad weather, with no clear focal point, the pilot would have no way of knowing that by correcting his altitude, he’s actually heading straight into the ocean!

In short, this particular train of thought shows that the missing ships and planes didn’t just disappear, they’re still there at the bottom of the ocean. It’s just a matter of finding them!

7 Comments:

Blogger Martin said...

I always figured that when I retire that I'd like to do some underwater investigations. I'd love to see sunken Spanish galleons and who knows... a pirate ship or two. Then again, I'd be happy just to see that "lost city" at the bottom of Lake Mead but the way the water level is dropping, I'll just need a row boat to see it.

9:53 PM  
Blogger RT said...

LOL Nut! I was so excited about coming back to Ohio because we supposedly have a "lost city" under Ceasars Creek. I found out, however, that the area is right where the river dumps into the lake and the visablity there is zip, not to mention the strong current... Very disappointing!

I don't think I've ever heard of there being a city beneath Lake Mead... And we dove there all the time! I've heard about the 600 pound catfish, and the carp hunt they have every year, and they even have a couple of sunken boats out there that we dove, but not of a lost city. Where's it suppose to be at?

10:30 PM  
Blogger nevermore said...

If you need a mind bender you really need to get into astronomy (not astrology mind you :P)

I don't remember the exact name for the rays but apparantly some type of natural phenomenon in space causes a ray of light to fire in a perfect straight line destroying just about anything in it's path (or heating whatever is in it up to several hundred degrees) ... according to scientists the direction of the rays is completely random but these happen very very frequently as in at least every few seconds ... even a nearby solarsystem getting the ray directly on it is enough to heat up the earth several thousand degrees in a couple of seconds, those aliens sure know how to cook a barbeque! :P

(btw I'm not making this up, I saw it in a documentary on national geographic ... just too lazy to look up the exact name of the rays or exactly what causes them, etc.)

9:25 PM  
Blogger RT said...

Hey Nevermore! Good to see you back in the land of the living!

Yeah, astronomy is pretty interesting, too. But so is astrology. Now there's some first class entertainment! Ever see someone try to follow their horoscope for the day? I used to write "horrorscopes" for the website, and I actually had people say that they came true... If only they knew that I was just pulling that crap out of my ass :o)

As for the rays you're talking about, I think I've heard of those. Aren't they caused by holes in the ozone layer?

7:42 AM  
Blogger nevermore said...

I very much doubt it, the rays I'm talking about are powerfull enough to whipe out our universe as if it were nothing

8:19 PM  
Blogger nevermore said...

and by universe of course I meant galaxy

8:19 PM  
Blogger RT said...

Oh! Then maybe I haven't heard of them. Can you find out more about them, or maybe point me in the right direction to find out myself?

10:42 AM  

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