The Bermuda Triangle has fascinated people for years, with plenty of conspiracy theories and horror stories keeping people on their toes.
Now after decades, a scientist claims to have finally solved the mystery surrounding the region.
The Bermuda Triangle is an area located in the Atlantic Ocean where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared in mysterious circumstances.
Fans of the TV show Lost long believed it was inspired by the region.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these incidents, however many ships, vessels and planes travel through and over the area daily without issue.
The Triangle is situated between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, and has regularly been regarded as a place of supernatural interest.
Rumours about the Triangle began way back in 1918, when the USS Cyclops went missing.
In March of that year, the ship was travelling from Salvador in Brazil, to Baltimore, when it disappeared without trace.
The huge coal-carrying ship didn’t even send a distress signal, and the 542-foot long vessel was never seen again, complete with 306 missing crew members.
Then, in 1945, five US Navy planes vanished over the area while on a training mission,
There have been many creepy theories over the years, but Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, thinks none of them are true.
He believes he’s finally cracked the case of what has caused all of these mysterious disappearances, and we’re sorry to say it doesn’t sound very spooky at all.
Dr Boxall says the disappearances are all down to ‘rogue waves’, rather than aliens or monsters.
The expert explained that these waves can reach up to a staggering 100 feet (30 meters) in the air, and can hit from unexpected directions.
Any ship struck by one of these monster waves could ‘sink in a matter of two or three minutes’, says Dr Boxall.
There is a Channel 5 documentary series, The Bermuda Triangle Enigma.
In it, Dr Boxall said he believes the Triangle is prone to these terrifying rogue waves due to a perfect storm of conditions.
He said: “There are storms to the south and north, which come together. If there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.”
He constructed a scale model of the mysterious USS Cyclops to recreate what could have happened if it was struck by one of the massive waves.
Boxall said it is entirely possible for a ship of this size, if struck by a wave of such a magnitude, to split into two.
He said the lack of a distress signal also suggests they were overwhelmed quickly.
Not everyone believes the Bermuda Triangle is actually anything unusual.
The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says: “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.”
The NOAA does back up Dr Boxall’s claims though, saying it could be due to natural causes: “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.”
Source: unilad.com