Bermuda Triangle Theories Revisited By Scientists On Anniversary Of USS Cyclops Disappearance; Mysterious Ship, Plane Disappearances Still Unexplained

The Bermuda Triangle is the area of the Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda. Within the Bermuda triangle, over the last 500 years, dozens of mysterious disappearances have occurred.

Christopher Columbus first deemed the area within the Bermuda Triangle strange in 1492. He reported seeing strange lights in the region and a malfunctioning compass.

Most famously, the United States navy ship the USS Cyclops disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle 95 years ago.

In 1918 on March 4, the USS Cyclops set sail from the Bahamas, but vanished before it could reach its port at Baltimore.

The ship disappeared with its 306 crew and passengers. Because the disappearance occurred during WWI, people speculated that the ship was captured or sunk by a German sub because the USS Cyclops was carrying the materials to produce weapons. German authorities denied any knowledge in the vessel.

Two of the USS Cyclops' sister ships, the Proteus and the Nereus, disappeared in 1941 in the same region of the North Atlantic.

The cause of the ships' disappearances remains unknown and the wreckage has never been found.

Because of the passing of the anniversary of the USS Cyclops' disappearance, scientists have renewed their speculation about the phenomenon of the Bermuda Triangle.

The International Science Times lists 'Human Error' as the "most pragmatic theory of the bunch". This theory states that nothing out of the ordinary happens within the Bermuda Triangle, but that the disappearances are simply due to navigational errors, storms, piracy, fires, or mechanical failures. The same thing can explain aircraft disappearances.

'Wild Weather' is cited by the U.S. Navy as the most likely explanation for the accidents and disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.

The Bermuda Triangle is located in a tropical zone, so it is prone to severe storms, in addition to being in the path of hurricanes. The underwater terrain is very deep; the Bermuda Triangle is home to the Puerto Rico trench - the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, according to iScience Times. Little is known about the deep oceans.

Some scientists think that methane gas cause the disappearances. Large pockets of methane gas are found beneath the ocean surface in the Bermuda Triangle. When the gas is released, water density can decline, and the frothy water can no longer support a ship or keep it afloat. Methane is also highly flammable, so the pockets are thought to engulf ships in flames.

Another theory is that the Bermuda Triangle is home to a 'time vortex'. This theory is based on an instance when a pilot came across a strange cloud on a trip between Caribbean islands. In 1970, the pilot Bruce Gernon and his father say the cloud morphed into a tunnel, causing the plane's navigational equipment to malfunction.

After flying through the tunnel, the pilot found he was miles away from where he expected to be and farther than he could have traveled in that time frame.

Although disappearances have occurred within the Bermuda Triangle for hundreds of years, neither scientists or the government knows what caused them, and the mystery remains. 

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