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Theories & Explanations
There are more theories concerning the Bermuda Triangle than there are people in the world (more or less). None the less I am going to attempt to tackle the grand task of gathering a collection of them.
Realistic Theories (Debunking The Myth)
Larry Kusche's Research
In 1975 a librarian at Arizona State University, named Larry Kusche, decided to investigate the claims made by these articles and books. 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. So the Bermuda Triangle mystery disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims had vanished.
Which North Is North?
A few hazards in the area of the Bermuda Triangle do contribute to the accidents that do occur in the wide swath of sea. The first is the lack of magnetic declination near 80� west (just off the coast of Miami). This agonic line is one of two points on the earth's surface where compasses point directly to the North Pole, versus to the Magnetic North Pole elsewhere on the planet. The change in declination can make compass navigation difficult.
There have been reports of pilots saying that they were confused as to direction. A typical example is the reply from Lt. Charles Taylor on Flight 19 when he was asked by the radio tower as to his position. His reply was "We are not sure... We seem to be lost..", then a few minutes later "We cannot be sure which way is west... everything is wrong... strange... we cannot be sure of any direction." Or could this simply be a disorientation in a man's own mind? Hard to say.
Tricky Waters
The Bermuda Triangle is re-known for it's tricky waters.
Specifically, there is a large area of very little wind that in the days of sailing ships this area was feared with good reason. Ships were often becalmed in these waters for long periods. Drinking water supplies got lower and lower as the crews waited for a wind to allow them to sail out of the sea with its large clumps of seaweed. As drinking water dwindled, ships carrying horses sometimes had to throw them overboard as they died of thirst, sometimes while the horses were still alive. Because of this, the large calm area north of 30� became known as the Horse Latitudes. Superstitious sailors used to believe that the ghosts of sailors, ships and even horses haunted these waters.
As you go east out of the Sargasso Sea and the Horse Latitudes, things don't necessarily get better. The waters off the eastern coast of the U.S. are in the middle of hurricane alley and before electronic communication, hurricanes and smaller storms blew in without warning.
More recently, inexperienced pleasure boaters and aviators are common in the area of the triangle and the U.S. Coast Guard receives many distress calls from stranded seamen. They travel too far from the coast and often have an insufficient supply of fuel or knowledge of the swiftly moving Gulf Stream current.
Far-Fetched Theories
Boom!
This is a theory proposed by the US Navy (or so I am told). The investigation centers on the possibility of electro-magnetic gravitational and atmospheric disturbances that might be possible for disintegrating craft.
The Lost Patrol reported seeing a large ball of fire in the skies. Could 5 planes collide and then joined by a sixth? The investigation believes that the fireball was could have been created by the impact of the patrol and it's rescue ship with a disintegrating electro-magnetic force.
The Twisting Sucker
A certain psychic named Ed Snedeker has his own theory. He believes that our atmosphere are filled with tunnels that are invisible to the human eye but they do exist. He has seen them physically and says they look like tornado funnels. These funnels have sucked in the aircraft, the ships and of course, the people. These funnels move in from North to South finally let go of their prey in the Atlantic Ocean or in the beyond! Snedeker also says he has talked with them (specifically an RAF pilot).
Anyone who has seen the twilight zone will feel right at home with Snedeker's theory but frankly twisting tornado funnels sucking up airplanes is a little far stretched.
Paradise Lost
I have been e-mailed by a variety of believers saying that the Bermuda Triangle is nothing more than a gateway to hell. While they actually manage to support this theory with pseud-logical claims based on the writings of the Bible, I think I'll stick to my scepticism. The reason for this is that the Bible is highly alegorical and often wrong or
at least very confused about things. Suposing, just for the sake of argument that Hell is in the Bermuda Triangle then it would mean that it's an actual geographic place. Logically, Heaven would also be a specific geographic place. But the Garden Of Eden is giving explicitly in the Genesis, and is found to be in no particular place at all. Since Heaven is not a place in the material world, and assuming that Heaven and Hell do indeed exist, then we can safely assume that Hell isn't either.
Anti what?
This is interesting theory vaguely based on "real" physics.
Lobsang Rampa believes that the ships and planes have mysteriously traveled from this world to world of anti-matter. Everyone and indeed everything has a counterpart in this anti-matter world. He explains that the disappearances occur due to a "split" in one world coming close with a "split" in the other world. So the ship or plane travel in a way. "Jump" from this world to the next. Anti-matter theories could have some truth in them as our scientists have lately discovered a hole of what appears to be anti-matter in our solar system (I'm not sure if this is true or not. I just read it in a magazine). Now, in case you didn't know if you meet your anti-self and you shake hands you will both disappear in a white (I presume) flash of energy.
Cthulhu Lives!
Okay, now you're gonna read the most stupid theory of all... mine:
This isn't exactly a theory as much as a laughable excuse for a short fiction story I was planning to write. The basis for this... "theory", is that Cthulhu (Lovecraft fans need no introductions), the most known Ancient One (a mythical evil god creature) that "lies not dead, but dreaming in the under water city of of R'lye" (as Lovecraft said) lives in the Bermuda Triangle. Okay it's far out, it's stupid but you must admit it makes a good fiction story. =)
So that sums it up I guess. Maybe it's a fraud, maybe it's not. Some of the theories appear to be no more than wild fantasies invented by people bored out of their minds. Then again...
E-Mail me if you have any comments or other theories or whatever.
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