Scientists say they've finally 'solved' the Bermuda Triangle mystery — and it's still pretty scary
If internet sleuths had to put together a list of the greatest sci-fi mysteries in the world, the Bermuda Triangle had to be one of them. The vaguely defined area in the North Atlantic Ocean has turned heads for years due to several reports of unexplained disappearances of ships and airplanes that have claimed thousands of lives. Hate to kill the vibe, but scientists have dived headfirst to unravel the mystery behind the area, also ominously named the Devil’s Triangle. While multiple theories claiming to “solve” the mystery have emerged over time, the latest one hints at a rare phenomenon that is lethal to seafarers, up in the sky or on water, per the New York Post.
Scientists from the University of Southampton teamed up to explain how 100-foot rogue waves could be at the center of the mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. The British experts used indoor simulators to re-create strong waves, basing their experiment on the idea that the mystery lies in the natural event of rogue waves. According to NOAA, rogue waves or extreme storm waves are typically greater than twice the size of surrounding waves and are highly unpredictable. They can emerge from any direction and appear like “walls of water.” They are characterized by steep sides and unusually deep troughs. They were first observed in 1997 off the coast of South Africa.
Dr. Simon Boxall, ocean and earth scientist, explained that the Bermuda Triangle can become the meeting point of three wild storms surfacing from unexpected directions unrelated to the wind or waves. “There are storms to the south and north, which come together. And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves,” he said. The team assessed the damage done by these rogue waves by building a model of the USS Cyclops that went missing in 1918, resulting in the loss of 300 lives. In that case, the expert revealed that the bigger the boat’s size is, the greater the damage is done. “If you can imagine a rogue wave with peaks at either end, there’s nothing below the boat, so it snaps in two.”
The infamous triangle region is about 430,000 miles and is surrounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. In the Channel 5 documentary, The Bermuda Triangle Enigma, mineral prospector Nick Hutchings shared observations of the analysis of sediment core samples that showed a high number of magnetite content. This mineral is the most magnetic mineral found on Earth, and Bermuda Triangle is rich in it. Hence, the conspiracy theories about it’s extraordinarily strong magnetic field that sucks in vessels and airplanes.
“Bermuda’s basically a sea mountain - it’s an underwater volcano. 30 million years ago, it was sticking up above sea level,” said Hutchings in the documentary. However, that mountain is said to have eroded by now leaving only the top of a volcano. The researcher added, “You can just imagine the ancient mariners sailing past Bermuda. It would be very disconcerting.” Simply put, the two reasons for the mysterious disappearances are human error and bad weather. The most famous incident associated with Bermuda is the disappearance of Flight 19 in December 1945 as five US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers vanished out of plain sight, nowhere to be found, per Britannica.