The mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle can easily be explained, according to a professor who has studied the region in depth. Many planes and ships are said to have gone missing in the so-called Bermuda Triangle, a region between Florida, Bermuda, and the Greater Antilles in the Atlantic Ocean.
Conspiracy theories linked to supernatural or extraterrestrial forces have tried to explain the phenomenon; however, scientists have long disputed this. Now, oceanographer Dr Simon Boxall has thrown his hat into the ring with another scientific explanation. The University of Southampton academic linked it to “rogue waves,” which can create walls of water up to 30 metres high.
He explained when two or three storms come together, the waves interact. “The biggest waves you get from a single storm are usually about 10 metres, 12 metres tops, which [is] very big,” however, when the storms collide, the waves can multiply in size.
“You end up with, rather than a 10-metre wave, a 20-metre wave,” he explained.
“If you get three different wave systems coming together, you can get a 30-metre wave, but they also cancel out. So you get this sort of beat pattern… sort of a few low waves and some big waves and so on.”
As the waves crash together, they can engulf ships completely, which the oceanographer analogised with splashing in the bath. As the water crashes together, it “plops” down effectively like a rogue wave.
Dr Boxall explained a hypothetical situation in which the distance between the wave peaks is 200 to 300 metres, and a boat is in the middle.
“So you’ve got a boat being suspended, one end by the front of the wave, the other back end by the back of the wave – in the middle, there’s nothing – so the boat breaks in two.”
He said that a 30-metre wave could destroy ships up to 400 metres long, such as a supertanker or a cargo vessel.
He believed that most disappearances will have been due to human error or weather, as rogue waves are quite rare and do not appear out of nowhere. They are difficult to track, but scientists are increasingly using satellite imaging to better understand them.
According to Dr Boxall, academics have “ignored” the Bermuda Triangle for years because “there’s nothing there”. He said: “People will ignore facts and figures all the time. We have real problems in trying to persuade people once they’re determined.”
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) said in 2010: “There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-travelLed area of the ocean.”
US Coast Guard and scientists like Karl Kruszelnicki suggest that these disappearances are not statistically unique and are more likely the result of high traffic, normal accidents, and weather conditions, rather than a supernatural phenomenon.
