Friday September 1, 2006
The Triangle mystery
By Niki Cheong
WHETHER we believe in it or not, many of us have had, at some point of our lives, discussed the Bermuda Triangle. Perhaps the average layman may not have debated it as intensely as the experts; nevertheless, this location has been a point of interest to many people since it was first “discovered”.
The question that begs to be asked, however, is if it was discovered in the first place.
Yes, people have been talking about it for years and most agree that it is located in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.
The Bermuda Triangle was first cited by Christopher Columbus who mentioned the sighting of dancing lights on the horizon where most people agree lies the Bermuda Triangle. This cannot be taken as fact because until today, studies of the Triangle indicate a variation in terms of its size – from 500,000 square miles (1.3 million sqkm) to three times that.
There is only one fact when it comes to the Bermuda Triangle and that is nobody really knows what to make of it.
Because most of the disappearances of ships or planes in that area have been labelled as “mysterious”, there is little evidence of its exact existence.
Co-producer of The Triangle Dean Devlin was a sceptic at first.
“But after hearing stories about things happening there ... I’m not sure what is causing this, but obviously something is happening there,” he said. “There is enough happening in a confined area that has to open your mind to the possibility that there might be something beyond your imagination.”
Of course, Devlin is also quick to attribute it to nature, stating that it could also be as simple an answer as rocky seas and big rocks.
Devlin’s co-producer on the miniseries Bryan Singer shared this opinion, but thinks that there might be something to the myth.
“Personally, I think that the more you investigate these things, there often is a tangible explanation. But when it comes to the ocean, there’s so much going on, in that unruly and unexplored part of our planet, that anything could happen,” said Singer.
Since the Bermuda Triangle was popularised by author Charles Berlitz in his book The Bermuda Triangle, which chronicles numerous mysterious disappearances, many people have come up with different answers.
One of the more prominent theories is that of the Lost City of Atlantis. It indicates that the mythological city sank where the Bermuda Triangle now lies, and that whatever is left of Atlantis is causing these disappearances. Two people have been noted to make these claims.
Dr Ray Brown claimed to have found a huge pyramid of a mysterious jewel held by two metallic hands while diving in the Bermuda Triangle.
Then psychic Edgar Cayce, who became the United States’ most prominent advocate of a factual Atlantis, claimed to be able to look into the future and identify hundreds of people who are reincarnated as Atlanteans.
His most interesting claim was that Atlantis was situated near the Bermuda island of Bimini, and that the city had “fire-crystals” that Atlanteans harnessed for energy.
Interestingly, Cayce once prophesised that “elements of Atlantis would rise in 1968 and 1969. The Bimimi wall was discovered off the coast of Bimimi in 1968.
There have been other such extraordinary claims, including that of time travel portals and aliens. But for every theory that sounds like science fiction, there are equally as many theories, which experts claim explain the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.
It must be noted that despite all these theories, the mystery remains unsolved. This has paved the way for many sceptics.
Then there is also the fact that another author, Kusche, revealed numerous inconsistencies and inaccuracies in Berlitz’s book.
In Kusche’s The Bermuda Triangle Mystery – Solved, he also made several conclusions such as how the number of ships and aircrafts reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, in proportion, than any other part of the ocean.
In Devlin and Singer’s The Triangle, which they co-produce with screenwriter/director Rockne S. O’Bannon, there is some sort of a conclusion to the phenomenon of disappearance at the Bermuda Triangle.
“We basically began with looking at the facts related to the disappearances and then the previous theories that had to do with the Bermuda Triangle,” Singer explained.
Devlin said: “So we came up with an answer that fit our story but left the possibility that there might be more than that ... It’s not fair to take them (the viewers) on a six-hour journey without a fulfilling conclusion.”
Singer, though, was quick to mention that the miniseries does not intend on giving the final answer to what causes the Bermuda Triangle.
“They (the viewers) get an answer to that particular phenomenon (in the show) but what’s also set up is the notion that this is a continual dilemma and that the threat of that area still exist after the resolution.”
Related Stories:
Offering one explanation
Dream come true
RSS
