Bermuda Triangle Mystery example essay topic

Science has an overwhelming way of trying to find a reason for anything and everything that occurs on, under and over the surface of the earth. If a thing cannot be explained by science then it is either dubbed as superstition or coincidence. One such mystery churned out after years of inhabiting this earth is the Bermuda triangle. For years, it has baffled scientists worldwide and evaded any logical explanation for its existence other than perhaps as a symbol of Nature's superiority over mankind. In the past 100 years over 1000 lives have been claimed by the Bermuda triangle.

This barely results in about 10 lives per year. It is not the 'number' of lives lost that is astounding but 'how' these lives were lost. The term 'Bermuda Triangle' was first coined by Mr. Vincent H. Gaddis in his article, which featured in the magazine 'Argosy: Magazine of Masterpiece fiction' in 1964. The advent of the legends, shrouding the 'Bermuda Triangle', date back to the times of Christopher Columbus. In fact much about him is known through his journals itself, thus leaving no roam for doubt as to the validity of his findings. Columbus first ran into problems in the Sargasso sea, where his crew members spotted sea weed and land birds even when land was no where in sight.

To add to his troubles his compass refused to respond properly and the following day he spotted a large meteor falling from the sky. His crewmembers even saw what they termed as 'dancing lights' in the horizon. This turned out to be just the beginning. Since that day over 100 ships and planes have disappeared while traversing this region. Some of the notable instances date back to 1945 when 5 Navy avengers disappeared (Flight 19). A more recent one is in 1972 when a German freighter Anita weighing around 20,000 tons disappeared with its crew of 32 people.

The latest instance occurred in 1997 when passengers simply disappeared from a German yacht without a trace. Other legends claim that the triangle houses the famous lost city of Atlantis. Though no proof has ever been found there are claims by people that they have felt the 'powers of the city'. Yet another myth encircling this triangle is that it is an 'alien' base. Several books suggested that the disappearances were due to an intelligent, technologically advanced race living in space or under the sea.

This is a conclusion, which even die-hard UFO experts refuse to believe in. The Bermuda Triangle lies vaguely east of Florida. Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Miami are said to be the "points" of this legendary triangle, though the US government denies recognizing it. In any event, the geography of this region is awe inspiring ly unique.

The humid subtropical climate of the region brings with it heavy rainfall and high temperatures. Though much this 60 inches of rainfall is mostly spread evenly through the year, hurricanes and harsh thunderstorms occasionally drop 10 inches of rain within hours. There have been many reports of complete whiteouts being formed in seconds. Waterspouts and extremely strong winds are dangerous elements that often accompany these storms.

The topography of the ocean floor bottom is surprising to many that sail the area. It is pretty shallow near the coast with several snorkeling enthusiasts having a great time. But as you move away from the coast the seabed almost drops to depths of 12,000 feet and is strewn with caves and fissures. About 100 miles north of Puerto Rico is the deepest part of the Atlantic, the Puerto Rico Trench, estimated at 30,000 feet deep! This area is incredibly deceptive and is host to several inexplicable phenomena. To this day, the ocean floor of this area has not been systematically mapped out.

The mysteries of this region don't just end here. Recently, scientists have found a hitherto hidden anti-current matching the Gulf Stream hundreds of feet below the famous gulf current. This undoubtedly has a profound effect upon these waters. Unexplainable white "masses" are said to reside in these waters, seen only by satellite photography. This region is also one of only two places on earth that true north lines up with physical (compass) north. (The other is another place of legend and tragedy on the opposite side of the earth, the Devil's Sea.) A fascinating area called the Sargasso Sea resides to the east of the Triangle.

Sitting in the middle of the Atlantic, it houses a few small islands and masses of clumped floating seaweed. A warm water current within it swirls clockwise, affecting the weather of the area, keeping it calm and steamy. Having little wind, this area greatly affects un powered ships. This was the region where Christopher had accidentally ventured into.

The possibility exists of never leaving this legendary sea. A bizarre feature of this sea is its ability to draw things in from all over the Atlantic. Some even claim it to be the "catch-basin" of the Atlantic. The major number of reports regarding this area are characterized by a common theme of aberrant electromagnetic activities such as radio, radar and sonar blackouts, instrument malfunction, drain of electric power and malfunction of motors. In addition reports tell of shining and pulsating lights seen in the night sky or beneath the sea, sudden glowing fogs.

Sighting of UFOs and Uses (unidentified submarine objects), the inexplicable loss or gain of time on air flights as well as the well witnessed appearances of 'phantom's hips and planes appearing, disappearing or crashing as if repeating an incident lost in time. The very absence of survivors or wreckage could be explained according to many who believe that unknown forces are at work within the triangle, by the possibility that the craft and occupants did not necessarily go down into the ocean but rather up into the sky, through a reversal of gravity or by collection of extra terrestrial entities, even out into another dimension through disintegration as a result of encountering an extremely high magnetic field or a field of ionization. The latter perhaps in turn is caused by pathways of extra terrestrial spacecraft. A further contribution to the deepening mystery of the Bermuda Triangle comes from the weather satellites, which despite being 800 miles high malfunction only when they pass over the Triangle. Professor Wayne Meshejian, a physicist at Longwood College, Virginia who with his assistant has been plotting satellite pictures for over three years stated that the taped signal often ceases transmission when the satellite enters the Bermuda Triangle area and telemetric and electronic pulses from the satellite are also wiped out.

He attributes the strong magnetic field to this. While the magnetic field is strong enough to erase a tape 800 miles above the earth, it doesn't interfere with the orbit pattern of the satellite. In an experiment an artificially induced magnetic field caused the temporary disappearance of a Destroyer and crew, which expanded possibilities of camouflage in naval warfare by rendering warships invisible. But its importance to scientific theory is more profound: men and material were temporarily projected into another dimension. Dr. Morris Jessup - an officer in the naval research center outlined some of the striking features of the experiment.

When the experiment first began a hazy green light became evident. Soon the whole ship was full of this green haze and the craft together with its personnel began disappearing from the sight of those on the dock until only its waterline was visible. As the force field intensified some crewmembers began disappearing and had to be discovered by actual contact and restored to visibility by a sort of laying on of hands technique. According to Mr. Jessup, the field was effective only in an oblate spheroid shape, extending one hundred yards out from each beam of the ship. Any person within that sphere appeared vague.

He also observed that the people aboard the ship under test appeared to be walking upon nothing. The men thus stricken weren't able to move on their own account unless two or more people within the field touched him quickly or else that person would 'freeze'. The person was then released from that condition by first marking out his location and then carefully cutting of the field. Thus scientists conclude that some basic atomic structure is essentially electric in nature rather than particulate.

The transition from one phase to another would be equivalent to the passage from one plane of existence to another - a sort of inter-dimensional metamorphosis. In other words there could be 'worlds within worlds'. Magnetism has long been suspected of being an agent in such potentially drastic changes. To begin with it happens to be the only inanimate phenomenon for which we have been unable to conceive a mechanistic analog. We can visualize electrons traveling along a conductor and thus explain electric current. But a magnetic field defies a mechanical interpretation.

There is something almost mystical about magnetism. It is reasonable to suppose that a purposeful genesis of unusual magnetic conditions could affect a change of phase in matter, both physical and vital. If so it could distort the time element, which is not an independent entity, but a part and parcel of particular matter, i. e., energy time dimension such as the one we live in. As time progressed, newer and more startling facts were revealed which almost eliminate the mystical feel of this region. In 1975 a librarian at Arizona State University, named Larry Kusche, decided to investigate the claims made by the articles and books regarding the Bermuda Triangle. What he found he published in his own book entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery-Solved.

Kusche had carefully dug into records other writers had neglected. He found that many of the strange accidents were not so strange after all. Often a triangle writer had noted a ship or plane had disappeared in "calms seas" when the record showed a raging storm had been in progress. Others said ships had "mysteriously vanished" when their remains had actually been found and the cause of their sinking explained. More significantly a check of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the triangle was a no more dangerous part of the ocean than any other. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. Instead the factors for the bizarre behavior of the vessels, planes and satellites has been attributed to any one or all of the following factors: Tropical weather: Many short and intense storms build up quickly and dissipate quickly, undetected by satellite surveillance.

These even hold such dangerous elements as waterspouts that could easily destroy any passing plane or ship. Amateur sailors: This area is a boon for the inexperienced boater. The Coast guard gets over 8000 distress calls a year. However, most are sailors who have run out of gas or encountered some other foolish problem. The beautiful area is highly deceptive in its calmness, so sailors are often not prepared for what the sea can throw at them. Underwater earthquakes: Though none have been officially recorded, scientists have found a great deal of seismic activity in this area.

In shallow areas, underwater earthquakes have the power to cause such disturbances such as the tsunamis of the Far East. The Gulf Stream: This ocean current is extremely strong. It has been reported to move faster than 5 mph in some areas. This is enough to throw many boaters hundreds of miles off coarse because they did not know how to compensate for the current. This, combined with the unusual effects of magnetism on the area, is the cause of many confused sailors. The Gas Bubble Theory: A theory also exists among serious scientists that a high concentration of gas hydrates exists in the area causing the water to become less dense within small patches.

This causes ships to sink quickly and without a trace. Pirates: A common way to get into the drug smuggling business in the '70's and '80's was to pirate a boat for your business. Suspicion also arises at the coincidence of the World Wars and the greatest count of mysterious acts in the Triangle. Traffic: There is undeniably a great deal of boat and airplane traffic over this area. It is not as great as some critics' claim, but still a much visited area. Logic would have it that accidents will happen.

In fact, it is reported that there are many other areas on earth where more "mysterious disappearances" have occurred, such as the Devil's Sea near Japan. So the Bermuda Triangle mystery disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims had vanished.