Methane & Bermuda Triangle

Palomar · 2004-12-19 22:19:34

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/be … ]Discovery Channel Special

*My husband and I just finished watching this program. Is two hours long, excellent. I remember great amounts of speculation and fascination about the Bermuda Triangle (aka "The Devil's Triangle") in the late 1970s. Lots of airplanes and ships disappearing within this part of the ocean.

Discusses the famous 5 Avenger World War II airplanes which went missing in 1945. But that's only part of the mystery; one of the guys currently trying to figure this stuff out found 5 -other- WW II war planes 12 miles off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale...within a few miles of one another, but having crashed on different dates. How could 5 planes not in formation nor even joined in a mission with one of the others have all crashed so closely together?

And then, of course, are the ships (even huge ones like the Marine Sulphur Queen which vanished in 1963).

They suspect methane bubbles arising from the ocean bed are the culprit. There's enough methane off the coast of South Carolina (?? IIRC) which, if tapped, could provide energy for the entire U.S. for *70 years*.

They did experiments and found out only 1% of methane released into the air will kill a WW II type (piston) engine, quickly. In one of the tests the propeller's speed abruptly dropped from healthy and normal to 100 rpm's...and then wham-o, it was completely dead. :-\

Another way methane suddenly unleashed in the air could screw up an airplane (more modern ones) is to make the numbers on the altitude meter jump up dramatically, which of course makes it *seem* as though the airplane is suddenly rising swiftly, when in fact the airplane has actually lost altitude. A confused pilot, seeing the altometer numbers going up, would of course seek to correct it by pushing the nose of the plane downward -- and since in reality the plane IS already going downward, it crashes.

They did experiments with ship models in very controlled settings, referring to an incident in the 1980s(?) where an oil platform in the North Sea nearly collapsed and sank because of a huge exploding methane bubble beneath it. Anyway, they proved a ship can sink very swiftly -- in a matter of seconds -- if a big enough methane bubble beneath is unleashed. Everything was to scale, of course.

Really interesting, so if you get a chance to watch it, do.

--Cindy

P.S. They think they've figured out that the famous 5 Avenger pilots who went down in 1945 weren't victims of methane, but rather the leader of the squad had a mental breakdown at some point after they got lost; he fell victim to spatial disorientation. He thought they were over the Keys, with of course the southern tip of mainland Florida to the northeast. He instructed his men to fly in that direction, when actually those poor souls were dozens of miles east of Daytona Beach and flying northeast alright -- deeper over the Atlantic. They ran out of gas, of course, and crashed.

SpaceNut · 2004-12-20 06:44:52

Have watched similar shows in the past: but there are also the unexplained bright lights, magnetic compasses that do not work and a few other items that can not be explained away.

Shaun Barrett · 2004-12-20 07:40:59

Cindy:-

They did experiments and found out only 1% of methane released into the air will kill a WW II type (piston) engine, quickly. In one of the tests the propeller's speed abruptly dropped from healthy and normal to 100 rpm's...and then wham-o, it was completely dead.
Another way methane suddenly unleashed in the air could screw up an airplane (more modern ones) is to make the numbers on the altitude meter jump up dramatically, which of course makes it *seem* as though the airplane is suddenly rising swiftly, when in fact the airplane has actually lost altitude. A confused pilot, seeing the altometer numbers going up, would of course seek to correct it by pushing the nose of the plane downward -- and since in reality the plane IS already going downward, it crashes.

Fascinating stuff!
I'd love to see the program if I ever get the chance. I've heard about the drastic effect of a methane bubble on a ship's buoyancy but the effect on altimeters and piston engines is new to me.

Maybe it's not as exotic as still-functioning Atlantean super-weapons, intermittently sending out energy from their resting places in the mud on the ocean floor (*), but fascinating just the same!

[ (*) I read this explanation in some hare-brained magazine many years ago. ]

Cobra Commander · 2004-12-20 08:34:05

And the moral of the story:
Sometimes you have to ignore your intruments, no matter how many times your flight instructor has told you about "smoking holes" and other tales of preventable mishaps.

I seem to recall something about the methane effects as well as the navigation error with the Avengers, possibly from that very program. Probably had it on in the background while working on something else, it seems very familiar.

Maybe it's not as exotic as still-functioning Atlantean super-weapons, intermittently sending out energy from their resting places in the mud on the ocean floor (*), but fascinating just the same!

:laugh: Surely the advanced, enlightened Atlanteans wouldn't be hiding super weapons. It could only be the reptiloids from Alpha Draconis screwing with pilots trained to place undue faith in their gauges and dials.

Grypd · 2004-12-20 09:54:54

I was on a supply boat off Norway 10 years ago when Gas Hydrates where disloged probably by the ROV we had been towing. Thankfully we where not close to the place the Gas came up as it would probably have sunk us. But the sea was aboil and it glowed red and green and the sea was on fire. I can understand how the norse vikings believed there where sea monsters when this happened.

Another thing about the Bermuda area of the triangle is there are sinkholes in the sea about there. These sometimes are filled with water that has come from rivers and is therefore non salty. Frankly sea water being salty is more bouyant than river water and a ship going across one of these regions could simply slide straight down in certain examples. It has happened before and probably happens a lot more often than we really know. Add freak waves called atlantic rollers and its not a surprise we lose so many ships and planes.

Palomar · 2004-12-20 17:51:11

Another thing about the Bermuda area of the triangle is there are sinkholes in the sea about there.

*Yes, they mentioned two colossal sink holes in that area, which they theorize were caused by gasses (likely methane again) exploding up from the ocean floor. Another hazard are underwater land slides, etc.

One thing surprised me, though. When one of the controllers (who stayed by the radio for hours) was trying to guide those 5 Avenger pilots back, he had to rely on the voice quality coming over the radio to try and determine distance (static, faintness or strongness of voice, etc.), and had hand-written charts he was trying to create to help figure out where the planes might be. The program's narrator said radar was in its infancy yet during WW II... ??? I thought it was already rather well developed by then. :hm:

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-01-20 06:38:55

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap0501 … aterspouts the culprit?

*Thought of this thread when I saw today's offering at Astropix.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2005-01-20 06:58:41

That's easily the best picture of a water spout I've ever seen. :up:
It looks almost eerie.

ERRORIST · 2005-01-20 16:17:29

I used to live down there in the Cutler Ridge area and have seen many of them in Biscayne Bay.There are stories of them sucking up huge amounts of water and fish then dumping it all back into the ocean. Once I saw three of them right next to each other.

Palomar · 2005-01-21 06:50:50

I used to live down there in the Cutler Ridge area and have seen many of them in Biscayne Bay.There are stories of them sucking up huge amounts of water and fish then dumping it all back into the ocean. Once I saw three of them right next to each other.

*Eerie is right, Shaun. But it is strangely beautiful, too. Would be interesting to hear what sort of sounds they might make, too; perhaps a high shrieking whistle? Or just a burring of wind and water?

ERRORIST, would you care to describe what you saw (and heard possibly) in more detail? Did they all 3 form at the same time, approximately how far apart were they, did they disappear at the same time? Did any of them stand in the same spot for the most part, or did they move -- if so, how fast? Thanks (I'm insatiably curious).

I've heard about fish and other ocean critters getting sucked up; sometimes people on land have gotten "rains" of fish. :laugh:

Anyway, this is interesting to consider with the Bermuda mystery (and otherwise!).

--Cindy

ERRORIST · 2005-01-21 08:04:27

ERRORIST, would you care to describe what you saw (and heard possibly) in more detail? Did they all 3 form at the same time, approximately how far apart were they, did they disappear at the same time? Did any of them stand in the same spot for the most part, or did they move -- if so, how fast? Thanks (I'm insatiably curious).

About 15 years ago while at work a few co workers and I were on top of the 120" platform. The south side of this boiler faces Biscayne Bay. It was an overcast morning and a low lying trough was over the bay towards the south. It was moving SW to NE when one of the water spouts formed. It was the largest of the three. The other two formed at about the same time and were about the same size.All three of them were moving towards the NE but not very fast.
The neat thing about them was the power they have. They were sucking up water like there was giant sucking on a straw.
They lasted about 15 minutes and then they dissappeard as quick as they formed and then unleashed all the water back into the bay with a BIG splash.I can tell you the water was sucked up higher than a hundred feet. It was a sight to behold. I turned to my buddy and said to him imagine if you could capture the energy in that thing. He just laughed but I was serious. They were about 2 miles from us and we could not see if any fish were being sucked up but I am sure there were some.

Palomar · 2005-01-21 08:28:38

It was moving SW to NE when one of the water spouts formed. It was the largest of the three. The other two formed at about the same time and were about the same size.All three of them were moving towards the NE but not very fast.

*Thanks! Wow. I wonder if waterspouts generally move SW to NE? That is usually (most always) the direction land tornadoes move. Time to Google. Perhaps another similarity as well: It seems -- based on what I've seen (videos/photos) and read -- if a couple of land tornadoes form close to one another, the first is the largest (primary) and the other (or others) are smaller.

They lasted about 15 minutes

Another similarity to land tornadoes...

and then they dissappeard as quick as they formed and then unleashed all the water back into the bay with a BIG splash.

Cool! Would like to have seen that myself.

Too bad they were a couple of miles away. Would have been interesting to know about the sounds.

--Cindy

ERRORIST · 2005-01-21 12:56:03

Oh the sounds! Well there were no sounds that I remember. However, hurricane Andrew was another story. Very loud whisling sounds start of off low then as the wind gusted to over 200MPH it was houling just like in the movies. But to be there in the middle of that monster was a sight to behold and hear. They say 175 mph but that is when the last reading was taken at the Hurricane center in Coral Gables far north of the center when the wind guage flew off the top of the building.At the cutler ridge power plant It was much worse that that because we were in the north eye wall no wind guage though. At Turkey Point Nuclear Power plant they were in the South eye wall and the wind guage registered a wind gust of 225 mph and also at the Homestead airforce base which was obliterated. BTW the storm was elevated to a cat five ten years later but I say it was worse than that.

Mars_B4_Moon · 2024-03-03 09:42:18

Flight MH370 relatives call for new search 10 years after disappearance
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ … appearance

Boeing And Alaska Airlines Hit With $1 Billion Lawsuit By 3 Passengers After 737 MAX 9 Door Blowout
https://simpleflying.com/boeing-and-ala … r-blowout/

"Devil's Sea": three eerie secrets of the Bermuda Triangle that puzzled the world
https://eng.obozrevatel.com/section-new … -2024.html

Mars_B4_Moon · 2024-03-06 17:54:28

MH370 mystery continues: Will the doomed plane ever be found?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y4OqwBLzog
60 Minutes Australia

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#1 2004-12-19 22:19:34

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#2 2004-12-20 06:44:52

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#3 2004-12-20 07:40:59

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#4 2004-12-20 08:34:05

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#5 2004-12-20 09:54:54

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#6 2004-12-20 17:51:11

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#7 2005-01-20 06:38:55

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#8 2005-01-20 06:58:41

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#9 2005-01-20 16:17:29

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#10 2005-01-21 06:50:50

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#11 2005-01-21 08:04:27

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#12 2005-01-21 08:28:38

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#13 2005-01-21 12:56:03

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#14 2024-03-03 09:42:18

Re: Methane & Bermuda Triangle

#15 2024-03-06 17:54:28

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