The Bermuda Triangle Evidence and use of research

Trever Wack D Block Mrs. Griffin FCA’s 1. MLA documentation/works cited 2. THESIS STATEMENT 3. Evidence and use of research There is a place, it’s said where small boats, huge ships, and even powerful military vessels sail out into calm, clear weather†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦and then just vanish†¦. without a trace (Lexington 1). This is the dreaded Bermuda triangle also referred to as the devil’s triangle (Bermuda Triangle 1). It is located off the southeastern coast of the United States in the Atlantic Ocean. The three points that create the triangle are Miami Florida, Bermuda, and San Juan Puerto Rico.It covers roughly 500,000 square miles (Obringer 1). Here, off the coast of Florida, is a vacation paradise: Clear water, white beaches, and warm weather, but legends warn this tropical beauty conceals a deadly secret. This unknown something, snatches people from the surface of the world, and vaporizes them as they were never here in the first place. There are few ideas as chilling as the thought that sometimes, in some places, for no reason, people simply disappear without a trace (Lexington 1).The Bermuda triangle is a well-known conspiracy resulting in the disappearance of flight 19, testimonies of the survivors, and known possible theories. The Bermuda triangle is well known today because of the disappearance of six Navy planes and their crew was on December 5, 1945 (Berlitz 21). The first five planes that disappeared, apparently simultaneously, were on a routine training mission with a flight plan designed to follow a triangular flight pattern. The pattern started at Naval Air Station at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Then 160 miles to the east, 40 miles to the north, and then southwest back to their base (Berlitz 21).No incident before or since has been more remarkable than this total disappearance of an entire training mission, along with the giant rescue plane, a Martin Mariner with a crew of 13, which inexplicably vanished during rescue operat ions (Berlitz 21-22). Flight 19 contained five officer pilots and nine enlisted crewmembers. The planes were navy Grumman TBM-3 avenger torpedo bombers, and each carried enough fuel to enable it to cruise over 1000 miles (Berlitz 22). The weather that day was said to be clear and sunny, and according to planes that flew earlier that day, this was ideal flying conditions.The flight time calculated for this specific mission was two hours. The planes started taking off at 2 PM and by 2:10 PM they were all airborne (Berlitz 22). In command was Lieut. Charles Taylor, with over 2500 hours of flying time, who led the planes to where they would make their practice runs on a so called â€Å"target hulk† (Berlitz 22). Both pilots and crews were experienced airmen and there was no reason to expect anything other than usual nature to happen during this mission of. But something did happen†¦. and with a vengeance (Berlitz 22).At around 3:30 PM flight 19 could no longer hear messages from the tower, but the tower could hear conversations between the planes. Some of these messages referred to possible fuel shortages, references to 75 mile per hour winds, references to being lost, and the unnerving observation that every Gyro and magnetic compass in all the planes were off – â€Å"going crazy,† as it was reported at the time –each showing a different reading (Berlitz 23). At this time the personnel of the base were in an understandable uproar as news spread that flight 19 had encountered an emergency.Rescue crafts where dispatched, the rescue team consisted of a crew of thirteen aboard a Martin Mariner flying boat patrol plane, from the banana river naval air station. Minutes after the Martin Mariner the tower received a message from Lieut. Come, one of the officers of the Martin Mariner, dispatched to the general area where flight 19 was presumed to be, that there were strong winds above 6,000 feet. This, however, was the last message receive d from the plane (Berlitz 24). There was an immediate message sent out to other rescue vessels stating that six planes instead of five are now missing.The Martin Mariner had disappeared as well. The original and search, initiated on the day of disappearance, was suspended because of darkness, although Coast Guard vessel continued to look for survivors during the night. The following day, Thursday, December 6th, 1945, would be one of history’s most intensive search efforts ever recorded. The search effort involved 240 planes and 67 additional planes from the aircraft carrier Solomons, 4 destroyers, several submarines, 18 Coast Guard vessels, and Royal Navy units in the Bahamas, along with hundreds of private planes, yachts, and boats (Berlitz 24-25).Unfortunately despite all the rescue efforts, nothing was found of either flight 19 or the Martin Mariner. Although there have been many disappearances after flight 19 and the Martin Mariner, there are only few that are as signific ant as the disappearance of flight 19. January 29, 1948: Star Tiger, four engine Tudor IV, lost radio contact 380 miles northeast of Bermuda, plane lost with 31 passengers and crew. January 17, 1949: Star Ariel, sister ship of the Star Tiger, London to Santiago, Chile, via Bermuda and Jamaica, radio communications lost 380 miles south-southwest of Bermuda on course to Kingston.Airplanes are not only thing that had disappeared in the Bermuda triangle, major ships and disappeared as well. On March 4, 1918: U. S. Navy supply ship U. S. S . Cyclops, 500 feet, 19,000 tons displacement, sailed March 4 from Barbados to Norfolk with 309 aboard, no bad weather, no radio messages, no wreckage ever found. These are some of the most known disappearances in the Bermuda triangle, but what about people who have experienced strange occurrences in the Bermuda triangle and still survived to tell their tale?In his book â€Å"invisible horizons†, Vincent Gaddis devotes a section to the Bermuda t riangle. Vincent recalls acquiring a letter from an ex-airman, named Dick Stern, containing surprising information. Mr. Stern indicated in his letter that towards the cessation of 1944 he was on a flight going to Italy. The flight consisted of a group of seven bombers, about 300 miles off Bermuda, his plane suddenly experienced such violent and destructive turbulence they are obligated to return to the Amalgamated States.When this transpired the weather was clear, but due to the critically damaging turbulence the plane turned over and pitched so violently that the crew was thrown to the ceiling. The plane suddenly lost altitude to a point where it was virtually coerced into the ocean (Berlitz 65). When Mr. Stern returned to base he described that there was only one other plane left who had returned to the base safely out of seven when they originally left. There had been no radio contact with the other planes and no trace of anything left from the disappearance was found (Berlitz 66 ).Some years after Mr. Stern and his wife were on a flight from Bermuda to Nassau, when, by coincidence, Mrs. Stern was talking about the previous incident, and suddenly the plane lost altitude quickly and the plane shook violently. The food that they were eating flew to the ceiling. The plane perpetuated to elevate and fall for a quarter of an hour (Berlitz 66). This occurrence may be an example of clear air turbulence, which if rigorous or continued, would possibly cause some planes to be ripped apart and scattered all over the sea.In any case Dick Stern has the distinction of having encountered the same arbitrary and powerful force transpire twice at virtually the same place in the triangle†¦. and lived to tell about it (Berlitz 66). But how is the Bermuda triangle consuming so many ships and planes? The following five conceptions are considered myths because they're not supported by much scientific proof. Some people have speculated that sea monsters live in this particular area of the ocean and are just waiting for sailors and pilots to come by so they can seize their next victim.Maybe all of those people who have vanished are actually living in a third dimension that people can't even imagine (The Bermuda Triangle 1). An antediluvian philosopher, Plato, told about a lost continent called Atlantis. The story of Atlantis describes a beautiful continent that was ahead of its time and that sadly and mysteriously vanished or got swallowed up by the ocean. No one knows if the story of the lost continent is true but it has been linked to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. Some believe that Atlantis is right below The Triangle.People believe that if you make your way to deep below the oceans surface you would find the missing continent of Atlantis. But how does this explain the disappearing boats and planes? Does the continent just suction them under? Or are travelers going there intentionally on an endeavor to find Atlantis (The Bermuda Triangle 2)? The Bermuda Triangle is one of only two areas in the world where true north and magnetic north are the same. True north is considered the North Pole and magnetic north is a little different. This is because of magnetic fields in our atmosphere that pull compass readings a little bit away from true north.Because the two north’s line up in the Bermuda Triangle, magnetic compasses go crazy when they're utilized in this area. It could cause ship captains and pilots to get lost—perhaps forever (The Bermuda Triangle 2). The Bermuda Triangle is located in a very tumultuous and stormy area. Most Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes pass through the perfidious triangle. Many ships that have vanished in the area have vanished just before an immensely colossal storm when the waters are especially dangerous and hard to navigate (The Bermuda Triangle 2).Imagine being a sailor and heading through the Bermuda Triangle – what an adventure! People may never know the truth about t his weird and abstrusely cryptic environment but it's pretty cool to contemplate the possibilities! The Bermuda triangle is a well-known conspiracy resulting in the evaporation of flight 19, statements from the survivors, and known possible theories. The Bermuda triangle is a mysterious place where flight 19 vanished and to this day we have no plausible reason of why. Not only did flight 19 disappear, many others have vanished without a trace or explanation.There are not many survivors today, but they are the lucky ones, the ones that are here to tell their tale. Most of the tales told will all have the same basic plot. That plot is that they fly, or sail, into clear weather, loose radio connectivity†¦and vanish. A lot of people have come up with some crazy explanations of why the Bermuda triangle snatches boats or planes. Some of these reasons are not plausible at all though! Some think that there is super nature controlling all, but who knows? Is there a Bermuda triangle? Or is it just a made up spoofed conspiracy?Works Cited â€Å"Bermuda Triangle. † Man, Myth & Magic, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mythology, Religion and the Unknown. 1974. Lexton, Daniel. â€Å"The Bermuda Triangle. † Skeptic 1. 2003. 96B. elibrary. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. Obringer, Lee Ann. â€Å"How the Bermuda Triangle Works. † 02 Aug 2006. Howstuffworks. com. Snow, Edward Rowe. â€Å"Supernatural Mysteries and Other Tales. † New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1974. Print. â€Å"The Bermuda Triangle: Exploring the Mystery of this Underwater Wonder. † Kidsworld Magazine. Spring 2011: pi 1. General One File. Web. 10 May 2012.