Mitra Malek writes in the Herald Tribune that some scientists
think giant gas bubbles in the Bermuda Triangle could be what
is sucking ships down into the deep. Hollywood special
effects artist Phil Beck, of Awesome FX, has recreated the
phenomenon in order to test this theory.The Bermuda
Triangle stretches from Florida to Bermuda and Puerto Rico.
Many ships and airplanes have disappeared there, but no one
can figure out why.
Beck forced compressed air through an underwater grid in the
ocean, forcing bubbles to the surface. After five tries, he was
able to suck a Sea Ray cruiser under the water. "The bow
went up, the stern went down, and it went under," he
says. "I've sunk lots of boats, but I've always just blown
holes in them."
This experiment has been carried before out in tubs with tiny
boats, but never in the ocean with a life sized boat. "It was
doing it out on the ocean. That was the key," says Steve
Wilkinson of BBC, which, along with the Discovery Channel, is
filming the experiment. "It's one thing to test in a tank, but to
do it out in the water with currents?is another?We're looking
at the Bermuda Triangle mysteries with fresh eyes. There is
background to some of the myths."
The bubbles may come from methane gas frozen in the ocean
floor. If the floor becomes warmer or develops cracks, the
methane gas may be released, producing huge bubbles a mile
wide.
This explains why ships are lost in the Bermuda Triangle, but
it doesn't explain why planes are lost there as well. According
to the Navy, the Bermuda Triangle is one of two places on
earth where a magnetic compass points to true north instead
of magnetic north. A navigator who didn't compensate for
that "could find himself far off course and in deep trouble,"
according to the Navy website.
Planes could also be affected by the giant bubbles. If one
reached the surface, it could explode in the air, creating an
air current that would pull the plane down into the ocean.
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