In the Bermuda Delta, many ships have no return.
Why did planes, ships and people mysteriously disappear———
The Bermuda Delta, which is located on the Atlantic Ocean, covers an area of 450,000 square miles. Bad weather here can destroy planes and ships. Even when the wind and waves are calm, the triangular waters, which culminate in Miami, Bermuda in the north, and Puerto Rico in the south, have taken many lives.
Some people disappeared out of thin air, without sending any distress signals, and no survivors could tell us what had happened. Others are buried under the waves, buried in graves made of planes and ships. We have no way of knowing the exact statistics. But some planes, ships and people have indeed mysteriously disappeared.
Recently, the National Geographic Channel conducted a detailed survey of Bermuda. Their investigation will help people understand the real reasons behind these bizarre disappearances.
Event Playback (1)
The mysterious disappearance of the 19th Flying Squad
A disappearance can best add to the mystery of the Bermuda Delta. One day after the end of the Second World War, the wind and the sun were beautiful. Five Naval planes carrying 14 young Air Force soldiers disappeared out of thin air. The mysterious disappearance of the 19th Flying Squadron of the U.S. Navy stirred up people's imagination and became the number one mystery in the Bermuda Delta. There are many bizarre accounts about the mysterious disappearance of the 19th Flying Squad. But what exactly is the truth?
Both compasses failed, and the pilot lost his bearing
No one knows more about this tragedy in the Bermuda Delta than Gian Cussa, an expert in bermuda and the author of the book Bermuda Delta. Kusa had studied all the historical material about The 19th Flying Squad and had heard from eyewitnesses.
Under the leadership of experienced veteran pilot Charles Taylor, Flying Squad 19 took off from Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Four of the aircraft, with three people each and the other with only two pilots on board, are expected to fly four segments from Fort Lauderdale to the Bimeny Islands, Grand Harbor Reef, Grand Bahamas and then back to base.
The first trouble the 19th Flying Squad had 60 years ago was when Captain Charles Taylor reported over the radio that he had not been able to locate it. Wireless telegraph operator Jim Wadd was on a nearby naval vessel when he overheard radio communications between Flying Squad 19. Jim Wade said: "We heard the flight squad leader call the tower and ask if the other side could use the radio to determine the orientation of the fleet, because he could not determine his position. ”
Accurate records of radio communications show that Taylor was in trouble. Taylor said, "Both compasses are malfunctioning. I'm looking for Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Below me was scattered land, and I was sure it was the Florida Keys, but I didn't know how far it was or how to fly to Fort Lauderdale. ”
Fuel is in a hurry, followed by night
Three hours have passed since takeoff, and there is at least enough fuel to fly for another 3 hours, and the crew members have begun to argue endlessly. At this point, the 19th Flying Squad may have been unable to distinguish its direction. Fuel is in a hurry, and night is coming.
In the end, the 19th Flying Squad never turned west. The five planes continued to fly, and seeing that the fuel was about to run out, they continued to fly eastward, into the open ocean and the increasing darkness.
"We're going to fly 270-degree until we see land or running out of fuel," Taylor said. From the time an airplane had 10 gallons of fuel left, we landed together on the surface of the sea. Is it clear to everyone? ”
Jim Wade said: "That was their last radio call. The tower asked him how much oil he had left, and he said he could fly for about twenty or thirty minutes. We waited for half an hour and the radio stopped moving. We knew they had crashed, but we didn't know exactly where, so we sent all the ships and planes to search for them. ”
The Navy stipulates that in the event of a similar crisis, all aircraft in the formation must be forced to land. No one knows what happened to The 19th Flying Squad, why can't even find a crew member, a life jacket or a piece of debris?
Flying over the ocean, it's easy for pilots to lose their sense of direction.
After a re-flight 60 years later, two planes failed twice
If we fly again along the route at that time, will we be able to get new information?
Obi O'Brien (retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Colonel) said: "We have decided to take this unprecedented re-flight in the 'Avengers' aircraft that served during World War II, crossing the Bermuda Delta exactly according to the flight route of The 19th Flying Group. ”
Obi-Brien is a former naval pilot and combat hero. He will be responsible for flying the same Avengers torpedo bombers as the 5 aircraft of the 19th Flying Squad.
Obi O'Brien said: "The pilots and other pilots of the 19th Flying Squad have used the basic way of navigation for many years, relying on compasses and the islands below to determine orientation. To make this flight more convincing, our aircraft will use the same method. We took off from the same runway in Fort Lauderdale, just like The 19th Flying Squad that year. It was 2:10 p.m., but the weather was better than it was. After a period of smooth flight, our plane also had problems. Amazingly, the downtime was almost the same as the time Taylor reported the meter failure, both around 3:50. The turning flair of our 'Avenger' torpedo bombers began to malfunction, which made it difficult for pilots to turn smoothly and efficiently. ”
Obi-Brien's imitation flight went through another hour. The Grand Harbor Reef below is safe in sight. Obi O'Brien said: "We turn left and head north to Grand Bahamas. It was the northernmost part of our flight and still had an hour's flight. The 19th Flying Squad was supposed to turn west here and return, but in the end they didn't turn west. Instead, it continued to fly eastward, all the way into the open ocean and the growing darkness. ”
Incredibly, another problem occurred during this imitation flight. The turning glider on the plane that followed the Avengers bomber also malfunctioned and has completely failed.
Simulated 19th Flying Squad flew for nearly two hours, two planes, and two instrument failures. For these two strange instrument failures, no one knows why. The pilot said, maybe the instrumentation of our two planes was already faulty?
Event Playback (2)
Several other mysterious disappearances
The mysterious disappearance of The 19th Flying Squad and the media frenzy that followed made the legend of the Bermuda Delta even more unbreakable.
On December 27, 1948, a McDonnell Douglas DC3 airliner took off from San Juan, Puerto Rico, expected to fly to Miami, but mysteriously disappeared en route.
On August 28, 1963, two giant KC-135 military aerial refueling tankers crashed on their way back to Homestead Air Force Base near Miami. The two planes, which were 500 feet apart, crashed at the same time at an altitude of about 36,000 feet. But the two planes didn't disappear out of thin air, and their wreckage was eventually found. But did these two planes collide in the air? Is it just a pilot's fault? We will never know the truth of the events. The truth is easily shrouded in fog, and the flight became part of the bermuda delta legend.
Explanation of terms
Origin of the "Bermuda Delta"
In 1918, the American supply ship Cyclops could no longer be contacted shortly after leaving Barbados. In 1963, the U.S. Maritime Queen made a routine call from near Key West and has not been heard from since. Scientists believe that there is nothing peculiar about Bermuda. However, as time went on, stories and legends grew.
After the end of World War II, the Cold War began. The possibility of nuclear war is frightening. This sense of doubt and fear has also spawned many mysterious mysteries that pervade movies and popular culture. At the same time, with the growth of sea and air transportation, casualties are also increasing significantly.
In the mid-1960s, an author of The Great Merchant Fleet magazine coined the term "Bermuda Delta", adding to the mystery.
The Bermuda Delta remains a magical area to this day.
hurricane
Science offers some plausible explanations for the bermuda delta mystery. The most common explanations are related to the weather. Extreme weather around the world can bring great disasters to shipping and air transport, and the Bermuda Delta is no exception.
The massive cloud-rain air mass will evolve into the most violent storm on Earth, reaching a width of up to 100 miles and wind speeds of up to 200 miles per hour. Wherever hurricanes go, none of the planes or ships can escape their doom. Hurricanes are so destructive that they become one of the most studied weather phenomena. Perhaps, it is the most reasonable explanation for the tragedy that occurred in the Bermuda Delta.
Today, satellite technology can warn people located in the Bermuda region in advance that a hurricane is coming. Satellite technology, combined with more advanced navigation systems, may be responsible for the decline in casualties and disappearances year on year.
But this explanation is not comprehensive. The hurricane season is only 6 months, from June to November, but many disappearances occur outside of those 6 months. So, are there other natural phenomena that can explain the mystery?
Sea tornadoes, thunderstorms and lightning
Sea tornadoes, which form at sea, are tornadoes that often occur off the southern coast of Florida. It is equally deadly. Sometimes, sea tornadoes, winds as high as 110 miles per hour. Robert Rogers, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration, said, "There are often sea tornadoes in South Florida. This is a very interesting phenomenon, there are often several sea tornadoes, one after another, which can last about 5 to 10 minutes. ”
As dangerous and elusive as it is, the Sea Tornado is weak enough to overturn a large ship or shoot down a plane at high altitude.
What about the more familiar phenomena, such as thunderstorms? Is the Bermuda mystery related to it?
When warm and humid air currents rise and cold air flow meet, thunderstorms can form, and because there is always a rising heating current, areas such as the Bermuda Delta are excellent locations for thunderstorms. Thunderstorms can quickly form on the surface of the sea, unleashing enormous destructive forces and attacking planes and ships that are still unknown. Thunderstorms are often accompanied by lightning, which is an ever-present threat in the region.
Lightning can make people lose their sense of direction and even lose their lives. But larger ships and planes are usually equipped with protective devices that can withstand a single lightning strike.
Like sea tornadoes and thunderstorms, lightning can only provide part of the explanation.
Human causes
The pilot loses his sense of direction
To unravel the mystery of the Bermuda Delta, no small clue can be missed. The researchers first looked at the possibility of mechanical failure or pilot error. Is human error and space disorientation the cause of the disappearance of some aircraft?
When flying over the ocean, pilots can easily lose their sense of direction, sometimes even up and down, left and right. Humans are not suitable for moving quickly in three-dimensional space in the air, and even on a clear day, they may mistake the ocean for the sky, especially when there is a reflection of sunlight on the surface. This phenomenon is common in this area, and the problem is even worse when there is fog. If you can't tell the difference between up and down, it's easy to fly into the sea.
Carol Collins, a flight instructor in Florida, was well aware of the dangers of pilots losing their sense of direction. She believes that the reason for the frequent accidents in the Bermuda Delta may be simple.
Collins said: "During the day, if visibility is low, the horizon becomes very inconspicuous. The horizon can still be seen from this direction, but when you look at the other side, it is not so clear. I'm going to tilt the plane slightly. If we are slowly entering a climb turn. You will find that in fact you do not feel any change. I can make the plane descend very slowly, and if the descent is not very fast, then your ears will not feel swollen, and you will not know that you are descending. ”
Apparently, she didn't believe those Bermuda legends. In Collins's view, many of the air disasters in the Bermuda Delta can be attributed to too much stress, excessive fatigue, or loss of spatial orientation.
Unusual weather, human error or simple mechanical failure
But what about the missing ships? Could it also be due to human error? Chris Lency, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration, believes that most events have the same explanation. Chris Lancy said: "If not as a scientist but as an ordinary person, I would say that many of the accidents in the Bermuda Delta are caused by human error. Many people have done stupid things, are trapped in stupid places, and have to push the responsibility to others. ”
Regarding those large and small ships that crashed in Bermuda, there is an organization that has exclusive first-hand information. It's the U.S. Coast Guard. In accidents that occur along the coast across the United States, they are involved in the rescue. John Guthrie, a third-class sergeant major and a helicopter crew member at the Miami Coast Guard Station, is proud to be on duty in the busiest area of the world's maritime rescue mission. He knew exactly how easy it was to lose his sense of direction in the air.
John Gusley said: "Sometimes there is a mist in the air. If the wind and waves are calm again, you may not be able to tell where the sea is and where the sky is. ”
The U.S. Coast Guard analyzed 60 years of boat and aircraft accidents in the region and found that casualties were almost entirely human error or mechanical failure. The U.S. Coast Guard saves an average of 11 people a day and assists more than 130 people in distress.
In recent years, the proportion of those in urgent need of assistance being safely rescued has increased. This is thanks to a newer, more precise rescue device known as emergency positioning radio beacons. Since its introduction in 1982, the device has helped save more than 14,000 people. There are thousands of rescue operations in the Bermuda Delta every year, with emergency locator radio beacons playing an important role in determining the location of ships shipwrecked.
The U.S. Coast Guard does not publicly acknowledge the existence of the Bermuda Delta. But sometimes, even with emergency locator radio beacons on board, the Coast Guard still can't find a trace of the vessel.
Magnetic field anomalies
With regard to the Bermuda Delta, we have long known the fact that some believe that perhaps it is causing navigation problems in the region——— because this is one of the few places on Earth where the magnetic north pole and the geographical north pole coincide. Another similar area is off the coast of Japan, where mysterious disappearances of ships have also occurred.
One finding pointed out that the magnetosphere above the Bermuda Delta is changing faster than anywhere else on Earth. In this sense, the Bermuda Delta is unlike any other place in the world.
The evidence came from space 400 miles away. In 1999, NASA launched a small 132-pound satellite made by Danish scientists. Since then, the Auster satellite has passed more than 25,000 times over the waters of the Bermuda Delta to measure the strength of the Earth's magnetic field.
"We found that the main magnetic field, the magnetic field from the Earth's liquid core, varies particularly much in bermuda," said Staunin, the Danish Institute of Meteorology. ”
A group of Danish scientists compared their data with those obtained by U.S. magnetic field satellites 20 years ago. It was the first time they had specifically studied the Bermuda Delta region and achieved amazing results.
"We compared the magnetic field data obtained by the magnetic field satellite and the Oster satellite," Stauni said. They show that the magnetic field in Bermuda has weakened by about 6% over the past 20 years. ”
The Magnetic Field in the Bermuda Delta is weakening faster than anywhere else in the world. This is an important finding. But what exactly has caused these changes in the past 20 years?
Scientists speculate that the change in the magnetic field may have come from a strong turbulence, like a storm. It originated in liquid iron in the Earth's core, just below the Bermuda Delta.
But the researchers add that it's hard to imagine that a little faster the rate of change in bermuda's magnetic field could affect navigation, ships and planes, or ships and people on board. While this is logical, those who believe in the Bermuda mystery have other doubts.