Research Paper about Bermuda Triangle
Since the first known reports of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, there have been about 25 to 30 estimated disappearances. There have also been numerous reports of mysterious weather in the Devil’s Triangle. Scientists and conspiracy theorists have questioned for hundreds of years the cause of these mysteries. Although many conspiracy theorists claim that aliens or wormholes are responsible for the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, the disruptions in Earth’s magnetic field, the methane gas located on the ocean floor, and the deadly storms are all the true solutions to this mystery.
Throughout history, the Bermuda Triangle has been the location of multiple disappearances of both air and sea vessels. The USS Cyclops, one of the largest ships in the American Navy, disappeared without a trace transporting cargo in March of 1918. The ship left the coast of Brazil towards Barbados, only to be never heard from or seen again. When discussing the disappearance of the Cyclops, Natasha Frost states in her article “Bermuda Triangle Mystery: What Happened to the USS Cyclops?” that the final message sent from the Cyclops was, “Weather Fair, All Well” (Frost, 2018). This final message only increases the mystery behind the incident. The investigators from the Navy looking into the disappearance of the Cyclops found no evidence of the ship anywhere. Larry Kutche, a reference librarian at Arizona State University, investigated the disappearance only to find that the Navy had been looking in the wrong place. While describing the research of Kusche, Christine Zuchora-Walske, writer of The Bermuda Triangle describes, “On those two days, a severe storm battered the area. Kusche proposes that the storm’s raging winds and high seas shifted the Cyclops’s heavy cargo, causing the ship to roll and sink without warning” (Zuchora-Walske 77). Based on Kusche’s research, The disappearance of the USS Cyclops is not due to any extranormal activity, but was actually just the issue of an unexpected, large storm.
Another scientifically-backed theory of the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle is that Earth has a hole in its electromagnetic forces. Over the past few hundred years, multiple explorers have noticed and documented the small area of the Bermuda Triangle where magnets are unable to correctly point to the true north. In their article titled “Bermuda Triangle,” the History.com writers give the example of when Christopher Columbus documented the “erratic compass readings” (History.com, 2010) he noticed during his voyages. This issue still continues to this day, being responsible for putting hundreds of pilots off-course for hundreds of miles making this a very plausible theory to many other disappearances.
Another theory that scientists have recently hypothesized is that there are gas hydrates located on the ocean floor which can cause severe destruction on surrounding boats and aircraft. Recently, Cardiff University experts have developed technology to investigate this theory. While discussing the effect of methane gas in the Bermuda Triangle, author of this ASM International article states, “[Methane gas] causes instability of the sea and an explosive mixture of air and methane above. Any ships or planes travelling over the area could sink or catch fire” (“Hydrates”). Based on this research, the methane gas could be a key factor in many of the disappearances in the Devil’s Triangle. However, the technology that we still currently have is not enough to fully study the effect of the methane ice on the ocean floor, so very little is known overall about the gas hydrates.
When discussing the Bermuda triangle with conspiracy theorists, it is likely that topics such as aliens and wormholes will be introduced in arguments. One of the biggest issues with the alien theory is that there is a lack of proof. When briefly describing the aliens in her web article, Shannon Serpette describes the aliens theory as a “a convenient scapegoat any time there are unexplained disappearances” (Serpette). This just further reinforces the point that conspiracy theorists only use aliens as a scapegoat to avoid the real science.
Over the recent years, technology utilized by scientists have dramatically improved. With this tooling, they have been able to study the Bermuda Triangle from several new angles/ This improvement has led scientists to the discovery of methane gas located on the ocean floor. This is a chemical that could be quickly fatal to passing by ships. Researchers have also been able to connect past storms to the exact dates of certain disappearances as well. Explorers over the past few centuries have noticed holes in the magnetic field of this planet, which may throw ships and airplanes off course, leading to their disappearance. These theories all combine to explain the mysteries of the Devil’s Triangle.
