On Truth and the Bermuda Triangle by Alex Armstrong
My personal opinion on the happenings of the Bermuda Triangle is that some "normal" phenomenon is occurring at the Bermuda Triangle, but one that cannot be explained by science, yet. I think that sooner or later all these "paranormal phenomena" will be scientificaly explained. The "alternate worlds" that people speak of will be clarified scientifically as existing and will be classified as normal scientific occurings. Many scientists already have began to accept these "alternative" realities as true - but hard facts are scarce to say the least.
Obviously quantum mechanics is a step in the right direction but we're not there yet. Einstein on the 4 Dec 1926 in a letter to Max Born had said "Quantum mechanics is very impressive. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory yields a lot, but it hardly brings us any closer to the secret of the Old One. In any case I am convinced that He doesn't play dice."
Like the man says, we're not much closer yet.
Still, we must remember that until Copernicus (or better, yet, Aristarchus, whose theories Copernicus used) everyone thought that everything revolved around the Earth. We need a new Copernicus to show us another small piece of truth about the world we live in. Some, Stephen Hawking for example, believe that this will proceed until we eventually learn the whole truth. Perhaps this search for truth is the reason we are here, maybe our purpose in life is to understand...
Without delving deeper into ontology I should note here that a variety of philosophers (existentialists primarily) believed that there is no single one and only and complete truth but rather interpretations. Perceptions if you will of the world around us. While this may be interpreted as nihilistic by some, I actually find reassurance in that we can't actually know everything. In practise we can only truly know the relationship between things and even this we receive through our limited perception.
I have probably confused you. But that is my purpose here. Get you thinking, moving, doubting, debating...
As a final note I will present Gertrude Stein's last questions to those gathered around him in his deatbed:
What is the answer? [ Everyone remains silent ] In that case, what is the question?
Limbo of the Lost: The Story of the Bermuda Triangle ([email protected])
The Bermuda Triangle. Ever since Vincent H. Gaddis first coined the term in 1964, few names have inspired such
fear, wonder, and- above all- mystery as this one. The disappearances, from a sailing ship in 1609 to two Navy
Patrol planes in 1975, still remain unaccounted for. Theories abound, from the probable to the bizarre, but still
the questions are unanswered. What is happening out there? What can possibly account for the unexplained disappearances
of more than 30 ships and 22 planes in the same location? (Armstrong, 2)
"Draw a line," Gaddis told the readers of Argosy magazine, in which his article was published, "from Florida
to Bermuda, another from Bermuda to Puerto Rico, and a third line from Puerto Rico to Florida." (Cusack, 44) This area of
sea is known as the Bermuda triangle. There are also various other names and shapes for the mysterious waters west of
Florida and south of Bermuda. They include "Limbo of the Lost", "Trapezium", and the rectangular "Hoodoo Sea".
(Cusack 43; 51) In fact, these may better describe the area where so many ships are lost, because many of the Bermuda
Triangle mysteries did not happen within the borders of Gaddis' Bermuda Triangle! However, one of the most famous
ones did occur there: the disappearance of Flight 19.
December 5, 1945. 5 Navy TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers were on a routine training mission over the Bahamas. The 15
men onboard had departed that afternoon from Ft. Lauderdale. Each plane carried a pilot, a gunner and a radio operator,
and every pilot had logged more than 350 hours of flight time and was considered experienced. (Cusack, 9-10) the man
in charge of Flight 19 was Lt. Charles C. Taylor, who had logged over 1000 hours and was a senior flight instructor.
It is unknown how far Flight 19 got in its mission, and nothing was heard from it after takeoff until 1 1/2 hours
later when another Navy pilot picked up a radio message from one of the pilots.
"Powers, Powers" The unidentified crewmen said, "what is your compass reading?" Lt. Cox (the pilot who overheard
the call) never heard an answer, and a second later the question was repeated along with "I don't know where we are.
We must have gotten lost after that last turn." Lt. Cox quickly radioed the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station and
filled them in. Powers was soon confirmed as one of the pilots on Flight 19, and Cox was told to attempt to contact
with one of the planes. He succeeded, and after asking what their problem was, received a response from Lt. Taylor.
"Both of my compasses are out. I am trying to find Ft. Lauderdale. I am over land, but (the land) is broken. I'm
sure I'm in the Florida Keys, but I don't know how far down and I don't know how to get to Ft. Lauderdale." Lt. Cox,
assuming they were coming up along the coast, started flying south to meet them. He failed to spot them, however, and
Flight 19's radio signals soon got weaker and faded out. Lt. Cox assumed something was wrong with his radio equipment and
flew back to Ft. Lauderdale. Thus ended the first part of the Flight 19 saga.
About the time Lt. Cox landed, several naval stations in Florida managed to get in contact with the planes. They
told Lt. Taylor to give command to another pilot with working compasses. He obeyed and turned over the lead to Lt.
Powers. From the pieces of conversation the naval station heard, it seemed the flight's route was changing, and the
pilots seemed to be disagreeing on where they should head. That evening, Lt. Taylor announced that they would set a
straight course and fly till they reached the Florida coast or ran out of fuel. A few hours later, a radar station got a
fix on the planes and discovered they were more than 60 miles northeast of were Lt. Taylor thought they were, but no
one radioed Flight 19 and told them! Perhaps they reasoned that it wouldn't matter, because Navy officials calculated
that if they stayed on their present course, Flight 19 would easily reach Florida. At 6:02, however, a pilot announced
that they "Might have to ditch at any minute." They apparently didn't, because at 7:00 the Port Everglades Naval
Station heard another message. "FT-3 calling FT-28. FT-3 calling FT-28." And that was the last anyone ever heard from
the planes! The Navy had launched a massive search even before Flight 19 stopped transmitting, but no trace was ever
found. The craft and crew of Flight 19 had disappeared, and The Bermuda Triangle had claimed its first air-borne victims.
By the time 18 years had passed since the disappearance of Lt. Taylor and his men, huge advances had been made in
the field of shipbuilding. One example of this was the Marine Sulfur Queen, the first ship ever to carry molten
sulfur. On what would prove to be its last voyage, the ship set out on February 2, 1963, from Beaumont, Texas. It was
headed to Virginia and maintained radio contact with several stations until February 4, when it rounded Florida and
headed out of the Gulf. After that, nothing was heard from the ship again. The disappearance of the Queen was not quite
as bizarre as Flight 19's. In fact, Coast Guard officials put forth several logical explanations. One was that
seawater seeping into the ship had met the hot sulfur tank had caused a buildup of steam which had built up enough
pressure to blow a hole in the ship. It was also possible that rough seas had caused the sulfur to slosh around and
emit gases which had been sparked into an explosion. Several bits of wreckage supported these "sudden disaster" theories,
including life jackets, a broken oar, a shirt, bits of wood and several oil cans. (Thorne, 44) Whatever the cause, the
Marine Sulfur Queen was gone, vanished forever in the waters of Bermuda.
Of all the things about the Bermuda Triangle, none are as strange as the hordes of ludicrous explanations and half-
baked theories surrounding it. One popular legend is that Flight 19's Lt. Taylor said things like "They look like
they're from outer space...don't come after me!" Some people say aliens have built an underwater power station in the
Triangle which, when on, sucks down planes and ships alike. One man says invisible wormholes in the sky are sucking
things up and dumping them into the Atlantic Ocean. The only person who can see these "wormholes", of course, is the
psychic who came up with the theory. The last and most ludicrous theory is that it's Atlantis down there, and an
ancient "death ray" vaporizes craft at certain times of the year. These ideas are totally unfounded. In reality, the
most likely explanation is that quickly-developing storms and magnetic disturbances are responsible for the
disappearances. It has been proven that the area around the Triangle is one of the few places on earth where a compass
will line up with True North- not the Magnetic North that the needle points to everywhere else. This makes misreading
instruments easy, and it becomes much easier to understand how so many planes have gotten lost. As for the ships, it is
a well-known fact that the Caribbean is a hot-bed of hurricanes, tidal waves and torrential rains, any of which
can easily bring down a boat. The Bermuda Triangle may be full of mysteries, but not all of them are inexplicable.
In conclusion, the fabled Bermuda Triangle is whatever you make of it. If you choose to believe alien craft are
powered by chewed up World War II bombers and 60's sulfur tankers, so be it. In fact, that's the thing about the
Triangle- no one knows for sure. When you get right down to it, all we really have are theories and a few bits of
wreckage. And the mysterious waters east of Florida, north of Puerto Rico and south of Bermuda.
