The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle could finally be solved thanks to one scientist's theory

One of the long-time mysteries that has left us all scratching our heads is the Bermuda Triangle, with reports of planes vanishing and ships disappearing over the stretch of ocean giving it a bad reputation.

But now the mystery could be solved, as one scientist reckons he's found the answer.

For those who aren't aware, the Bermuda Triangle is a region between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, where a number of strange vanishings of aircraft and ships have occurred, leading to theories that something supernatural is going on there.

iStockphoto by Getty Images

Why do so many planes and ships go missing in the Bermuda Triangle?

Alas, time travel or UFOs aren't the key to unlocking the enigma, according to Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton.

Rather, he believes it has something to do with "rogue waves" (large and unpredictable waves which can be double the height), as the conditions in the Bermuda Triangle are ideal for these to occur.

"There are storms to the south and north, which come together,” he explained. “And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.”

In fact, they can reach up to a massive 100 feet (30 metres) in the air, and their unpredictability is down to the fact they can hit unexpectedly from directions other than the prevailing wind.

Dr Boxall says that it would take "a matter of two or three minutes" for rogue waves to sink a large ship.

USS Cyclops

Historically, the Bermuda Triangle gained attention all the way back in 1918 when the USS Cyclops, an American ship carrying coal that helped fuel warships in World War I, disappeared without so much as a distress signal being sent.

The ship was travelling from Salvador, Brazil, to Baltimore and vanished as it was sailing through the Bermuda Triangle.

Although there was a big search effort, the 542-foot (165-metre) ship or its 306 crew members have never been discovered.

Over the years, disappearances like the USS Cyclops have been the subject of conspiracy theories ranging from UFOs to time travel, but Dr Boxall believes this is an example of a rogue wave.

"There are storms to the south and north, which come together," he explained on the Channel 5 documentary series, The Bermuda Triangle Enigma.

"And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves."

The USS Cyclops Bermuda Triangle test

To put this to the test, Dr Boxall and his colleagues created a scale model of the USS Cyclops in order to see how a rogue wave would impact the vessel.

They found that a rogue wave could swamp the ship due to its sheer size and flat base.

How exactly would this cause the ship to sink?

It can suspend a ship between its peaks, leaving the middle of the ship hanging over the trough, Dr Boxall detailed.

This spells bad news for big ships, because if they are suspended like this, the vessel can "snap in two"

"They are steep, they are high - we've measured waves in excess of 30 metres," explained Dr Boxall. "If that happens, it can sink in a matter of two or three minutes."

He added that "The bigger the ship, the more damage is done."

Therefore, if rogue waves can cause ships to sink this quickly, it could explain why the USS Cyclops was unable to make a distress call before vanishing.

Shooting down the conspiracies

Despite the Bermuda Triangle conspiracy being widely known within pop culture, some scientists believe there isn't a big mystery at all.

They highlight the stats that show the number of shipwrecks and aircraft crashes inside the Bermuda Triangle is a pretty average rate.

In 2017, Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki explained that human error may be the cause of these incidents occurring.

“According to Lloyds of London and the US Coast Guard, the number of planes that go missing in the Bermuda Triangle is the same as anywhere in the world on a percentage basis,” Dr Kruszelnicki said.

“It is close to the equator, near a wealthy part of the world, America, therefore, you have a lot of traffic.”

"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," as per the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

It notes how these incidents can happen due to the environment where rogue waves can occur, along with the difficulty of navigating in the Caribbean.

"Environmental considerations could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances.

"The large number of islands in the Caribbean Sea creates many areas of shallow water that can be treacherous to ship navigation."

So, while UFOs and time travel are fun to think about, it seems it's all down to the forces of Mother Earth.

Elsewhere from indy100, there's only one sea on Earth that doesn't touch land, and the truth behind ‘Alaska Triangle’ where more than 20,000 disappeared.

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