Checkmite
Skepticifimisticalationist
I was perusing the shelves of the local Waldenbooks about a week ago, looking for a book about the infamous Captain Kidd, when another book caught my attention. The title of the book was Into the Bermuda Triangle, by Gian J. Quasar. The book claims to be the culmination of an investigation into “over 1,000” disappearances that have occurred in the area over the past 25 years.
I was convinced that the Bermuda Triangle horse had been dead since the 70’s, with only the occasional twitch now and then in a Discovery Channel “documentary” about Atlantis or something similar. Quasar applies the defrib paddles and shocks this beast back to life with a book that starts as a roll of missing ships and planes and ends up taking us to Peru, Atlantis, Mars, and the labs of a Canadian “mad scientist” named John Hutchison. Mr. Quasar has also tirelessly compiled an army of strawmen to attack us crotchety old “skeptical types” and “debunkers”, including the fact that were are “closed-minded”, whereas his refusal to accept any explanation other than a supernatural one is “exploration of the mysteries of nature”.
Over the next few weeks, I will be explaining and dissecting many of the concepts, events, and conclusions recorded by Quasar in his book. They are mostly the same ones that have been recorded by everyone that has ever written a book on the “mystery” of the Triangle. They have been thoroughly dealt with elsewhere, probably a few times; yet this is a new book, with a couple of new theories, and it begs an answer.
***
To begin the excellent odyssey, I think it proper to begin with a general treatment of the Triangle legend, so we can all make sure we’re on the same page.
Traditionally, the Bermuda Triangle is an area in the North Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the North American continent and the Caribbean Sea. Its vertices are commonly considered to be San Juan in Puerto Rico, Miami, and the island of Bermuda. Most reports discussed by early Triangle authors tended to originate from this area or the immediate vicinity; however, as the same stories became used up, authors were forced to venture outside the boundaries of the Triangle proper in search of new unexplained phenomenon. A couple of times, authors were bold enough to redraw the boundaries of the “Devil’s Sea”, each time making the area greater. The Triangle eventually grew to include the Windward and Leeward Islands, crawled up the coast of the United States as far as Norfolk, and eventually clambered across the ocean to encompass the Azores.
The map above illustrates this perfectly. The green lines indicate the traditional Bermuda Triangle; the red line indicates the nebulous “Limbo of the Lost”, described by John Spencer in his book of the same name; and the blue trapezium indicates the newest incarnation, the one apparently subscribed to by Quasar. A map similar to the one drawn above can be found on page 85 of his book. Interestingly, on the next page, 86, a second map can be found plotting many of the different “points” at which particular craft are estimated to have disappeared. Interestingly, all the “points” fall neatly within the Trapezium area defined on the preceding page. However, many incidents – including some mentioned in Quasar’s own book – take place well outside.
Quasar complains that arguments as to whether incidents happen “inside” this or that geometric shape are missing the point, and are attempts to bog the issue down in semantics. Perhaps he has a point – what does it matter whether this incident happened exactly inside the Triangle? What’s the point?
The point is that, as an area, there is simply nothing special about the “Bermuda Triangle/Nebula/Trapezium”. Unexplained disappearances of ships and planes have happened and will continue to happen all over the Atlantic (as the page 86 map suggests), and anywhere else there’s an ocean. Places where travel is more frequent, such as The Bahamas, will experience more losses than other areas simply by virtue of the fact that there are more planes and ships to get lost there.
As for the planes and ships themselves, there are admittedly unexplained disappearances. They are unexplained because no distress call is sent, no debris is found, or what have you. According to Quasar’s book, over 75 aircraft and over a thousand ocean vessels of varying sizes have vanished in the Triangle area; however, it is extremely important to recognize that the “unexplained” disappearances comprise the extreme minority of accidents and incidents that occur every year in this zone. These cases, of unexplained disappearances, stand out because they are so rare. An innocent reader taking in the flap description of Quasar’s book will get the impression something odd is afoot – over a thousand yachts and boats? – and without the “big picture” perspective that there are countless more vessels involved in accidents, and in which something is recovered, that don’t make the book.
That so many accidents occur here isn’t such a mystery, either. While there may be specific localities in other places in the world more dangerous than any specific locality within this area, it is an unavoidable fact that the West Indies – the Bermuda Triangle – is the most naturally treacherous and hazardous region on earth for both sea and air travel. The water ranges from a dozen feet to a mile deep and back within a few hours’ sail; coral reefs, shoals, and other such problems abound here. The thick seafloor mud on the Bahama Banks can swallow debris and regurgitate it once disturbed by current changes. The weather isn’t much better; The Bahamas is caught between the moist tropical air flow coming from the east and the dry, cool continental flow coming from the west, which creates an unstable atmosphere capable of whipping a severe thunderstorm out of almost literally nowhere. Water temperature variations can lead to sudden changes in local wind patterns. The Vacationer’s paradise is the Traveler’s hell.
Quasar begins his book with a stereotypical introduction to the Bermuda Triangle: Flight 19. For the real scoop on Flight 19, check out my thread The Truth About Flight 19.
With that, I’ll close this (brief) first segment. In the next segment, look forward to a discussion of Atlantis as presented in Quasar’s book.
I was convinced that the Bermuda Triangle horse had been dead since the 70’s, with only the occasional twitch now and then in a Discovery Channel “documentary” about Atlantis or something similar. Quasar applies the defrib paddles and shocks this beast back to life with a book that starts as a roll of missing ships and planes and ends up taking us to Peru, Atlantis, Mars, and the labs of a Canadian “mad scientist” named John Hutchison. Mr. Quasar has also tirelessly compiled an army of strawmen to attack us crotchety old “skeptical types” and “debunkers”, including the fact that were are “closed-minded”, whereas his refusal to accept any explanation other than a supernatural one is “exploration of the mysteries of nature”.
Over the next few weeks, I will be explaining and dissecting many of the concepts, events, and conclusions recorded by Quasar in his book. They are mostly the same ones that have been recorded by everyone that has ever written a book on the “mystery” of the Triangle. They have been thoroughly dealt with elsewhere, probably a few times; yet this is a new book, with a couple of new theories, and it begs an answer.
***
To begin the excellent odyssey, I think it proper to begin with a general treatment of the Triangle legend, so we can all make sure we’re on the same page.
Traditionally, the Bermuda Triangle is an area in the North Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the North American continent and the Caribbean Sea. Its vertices are commonly considered to be San Juan in Puerto Rico, Miami, and the island of Bermuda. Most reports discussed by early Triangle authors tended to originate from this area or the immediate vicinity; however, as the same stories became used up, authors were forced to venture outside the boundaries of the Triangle proper in search of new unexplained phenomenon. A couple of times, authors were bold enough to redraw the boundaries of the “Devil’s Sea”, each time making the area greater. The Triangle eventually grew to include the Windward and Leeward Islands, crawled up the coast of the United States as far as Norfolk, and eventually clambered across the ocean to encompass the Azores.
The map above illustrates this perfectly. The green lines indicate the traditional Bermuda Triangle; the red line indicates the nebulous “Limbo of the Lost”, described by John Spencer in his book of the same name; and the blue trapezium indicates the newest incarnation, the one apparently subscribed to by Quasar. A map similar to the one drawn above can be found on page 85 of his book. Interestingly, on the next page, 86, a second map can be found plotting many of the different “points” at which particular craft are estimated to have disappeared. Interestingly, all the “points” fall neatly within the Trapezium area defined on the preceding page. However, many incidents – including some mentioned in Quasar’s own book – take place well outside.
Quasar complains that arguments as to whether incidents happen “inside” this or that geometric shape are missing the point, and are attempts to bog the issue down in semantics. Perhaps he has a point – what does it matter whether this incident happened exactly inside the Triangle? What’s the point?
The point is that, as an area, there is simply nothing special about the “Bermuda Triangle/Nebula/Trapezium”. Unexplained disappearances of ships and planes have happened and will continue to happen all over the Atlantic (as the page 86 map suggests), and anywhere else there’s an ocean. Places where travel is more frequent, such as The Bahamas, will experience more losses than other areas simply by virtue of the fact that there are more planes and ships to get lost there.
As for the planes and ships themselves, there are admittedly unexplained disappearances. They are unexplained because no distress call is sent, no debris is found, or what have you. According to Quasar’s book, over 75 aircraft and over a thousand ocean vessels of varying sizes have vanished in the Triangle area; however, it is extremely important to recognize that the “unexplained” disappearances comprise the extreme minority of accidents and incidents that occur every year in this zone. These cases, of unexplained disappearances, stand out because they are so rare. An innocent reader taking in the flap description of Quasar’s book will get the impression something odd is afoot – over a thousand yachts and boats? – and without the “big picture” perspective that there are countless more vessels involved in accidents, and in which something is recovered, that don’t make the book.
That so many accidents occur here isn’t such a mystery, either. While there may be specific localities in other places in the world more dangerous than any specific locality within this area, it is an unavoidable fact that the West Indies – the Bermuda Triangle – is the most naturally treacherous and hazardous region on earth for both sea and air travel. The water ranges from a dozen feet to a mile deep and back within a few hours’ sail; coral reefs, shoals, and other such problems abound here. The thick seafloor mud on the Bahama Banks can swallow debris and regurgitate it once disturbed by current changes. The weather isn’t much better; The Bahamas is caught between the moist tropical air flow coming from the east and the dry, cool continental flow coming from the west, which creates an unstable atmosphere capable of whipping a severe thunderstorm out of almost literally nowhere. Water temperature variations can lead to sudden changes in local wind patterns. The Vacationer’s paradise is the Traveler’s hell.
Quasar begins his book with a stereotypical introduction to the Bermuda Triangle: Flight 19. For the real scoop on Flight 19, check out my thread The Truth About Flight 19.
With that, I’ll close this (brief) first segment. In the next segment, look forward to a discussion of Atlantis as presented in Quasar’s book.
