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A scientist from the University of Southampton claims to have solved the notorious Bermuda Triangle mystery.
Situated between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, this precarious stretch of sea is known for its quickly changing weather patterns, varying sea levels and complicated navigational realities.
The area’s storied ship and plane disappearances have sparked urban legends, earning it the ominous nickname of the Devil’s Triangle.
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Oceanographer Dr. Simon Boxall says the disappearances are due to “rough waters,” as he told the Daily Mail.
“There are storms to the south and north, which come together,” he said in a British documentary, Channel 5’s “The Bermuda Triangle Enigma,” which is not available outside the U.K.
Boxall, along with other researchers, reconstructed a scale model of one of the ships that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.
During World War I, the USS Cyclops supported warships in European waters as a unit of the Naval Auxiliary Force, according to the National Museum of the United States Navy (NMUSN).
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The ship disappeared in March 1918 while returning from Brazil.
“Numerous ships sailed to locate the collier, as she was thought to have been sunk by a German submarine,” states the NMUSN website. “Her wreck has never been found, and the cause of her loss remains unknown.”
Boxall tested the replica to see how it would fare with rouge waves.
Researchers determined the waves could quickly overwhelm the ship due to the vessel’s flat base and large size.
Since large ships need water to stay afloat, if the boat became suspended in such a way, it could “snap in two.”
“[The waves] are steep, they are high — we’ve measured waves in excess of 30 met[ers],” said Boxall in the documentary.
He added, “If that happens, it can sink in a matter of two or three minutes.”
Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki has echoed Boxall’s theory.
“The number [of ships and planes] that go missing in the Bermuda Triangle is the same as anywhere in the world on a percentage basis,” he told The Independent in 2017.
He says that human error and poor weather conditions are likely behind the disappearances that have contributed to the superstition associated with the Bermuda Triangle, Fox News Digital previously reported.
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) stated in a 2010 report, “There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-traveled area of the ocean.”
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“The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard contend that there are no supernatural explanations for disasters at sea,” NOAA also noted.
“Their experience suggests that the combined forces of nature and human fallibility outdo even the most incredulous science fiction.”
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