The Bermuda Triangle
The "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" is an
imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United
States of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of
unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft. The apexes of the
triangle are generally believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San
Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize
the Bermuda Triangle as an official name. The US Navy does not believe
the Bermuda Triangle exists. It is reported that Lloyd's of London, the
world's leading market for specialist insurance, does not charge higher
premiums for vessels transiting this heavily traveled area.
The most famous US Navy losses which have occurred in the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle are USS Cyclops in March 1918 and the aircraft of Flight 19
in December 1945. The ship probably sank in an unexpected storm, and
the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean -- no physical
traces of them have ever been found. Another well known disappearance is
the civilian tanker SS Marine Sulphur Queen carrying bulk molten sulfur which sank in February 1963. Although the wreck of Marine Sulphur Queen
has not been located, a life preserver and other floating artifacts
were recovered. These disappearances have been used to provide credence
to the popular belief in the mystery and purported supernatural
qualities of the "Bermuda Triangle."
Since the days of early civilization many thousands
of ships have sunk and/or disappeared in waters around the world due to
navigational and other human errors, storms, piracy, fires, and
structural/mechanical failures. Aircraft are subject to the same
problems, and many of them have crashed at sea around the globe. Often,
there were no living witnesses to the sinking or crash, and hence the
exact cause of the loss and the location of the lost ship or aircraft
are unknown. A large number of pleasure boats travel the waters between
Florida and the Bahamas. All too often, crossings are attempted with too
small a boat, insufficient knowledge of the area's hazards, and a lack
of good seamanship.
To see how common accidents are at sea, you can
examine some of the recent accident reports of the National
Transportation Safety Board for ships and aircraft.
One of the aircraft accident reports concerns an in-flight engine
failure and subsequent ditching of a Cessna aircraft near Great Abaco
Island in the Bahamas on 13 July 2003. This is the type of accident that
would likely have been attributed to mysterious causes in the Bermuda
Triangle if there had been no survivors or other eyewitnesses of the
crash.
A significant factor with regard to missing vessels
in the Bermuda Triangle is a strong ocean current called the Gulf
Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase
evidence of a disaster. The weather also plays its role. Prior to the
development of telegraph, radio and radar, sailors did not know a storm
or hurricane was nearby until it appeared on the horizon. For example, the Continental Navy sloop Saratoga was lost off the Bahamas in such a storm with all her crew on 18 March 1781. Many other US Navy ships have been lost at sea in storms around the world.
Sudden local thunder storms and water spouts can sometimes spell
disaster for mariners and air crews. Finally, the topography of the
ocean floor varies from extensive shoals around the islands to some of
the deepest marine trenches in the world. With the interaction of the
strong currents over the many reefs the topography of the ocean bottom
is in a state of flux and the development of new navigational hazards
can sometimes be swift.
It has been inaccurately claimed that the Bermuda
Triangle is one of the two places on earth at which a magnetic compass
points towards true north. Normally a compass will point toward magnetic
north. The difference between the two is known as compass variation.
The amount of variation changes by as much as 60 degrees at various
locations around the World. If this compass variation or error is not
compensated for, navigators can find themselves far off course and in
deep trouble. Although in the past this compass variation did affect the
"Bermuda Triangle" region, due to fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic
field this has apparently not been the case since the nineteenth
century.
We know of no US Government-issued maps that
delineate the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. However, general maps
as well as nautical and aviation charts of the general area are widely
available in libraries and from commercial map dealers.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar