The Enigma of

The Bermuda Triangle Nearly a millennium ago,

Rashi described a locale in the sea where unusually strong magnetic forces present difficulties for ships that navigate its waters. Could this be an allusion to the same forces that operate in the “Bermuda Triangle,” an area in the Atlantic Ocean between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico famous for its mysterious and tragic history? Hundreds of ships and aircraft are said to have vanished in this region without leaving a trace, and compasses are known to fail there often. Of the survivors, many tell of frightening experiences they faced.

by Dov Levy

The Enigma of

The Bermuda Triangle

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The Gemara (Berachos 8b) says that there are 903 forms of death, the most painful of which is askara,

which the Rishonim translate as a disease that obstructs the throat, causing death by asphyxiation. Death by askara is described by the Gemara as an experience as unpleasant and difficult as passing a thick rope through the narrow esophagus.

On this Rashi expounds that there are places at sea where metal is not tolerated – on which the Rashash comments that this is due to strong magnetic forces created by stones found in the depths that draw all metal toward them.

Almost 1,000 years ago, Rashi described an incredible natural phenomenon that still befuddles modern science. This is the Bermuda Triangle, a region not far from the shores of America where ships mysteriously disappear and airplanes crash with no known cause. The Triangle stretches between Miami and Bermuda in the north to Puerto Rico in the south, encompassing an area of 500,000 square miles.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the strange stories that emanate from that region is that they often include the craft’s compass failing. If Rashi’s description does indeed refer to the Bermuda Triangle, this

would be quite plausible. The strong, local magnetic field would obviously disrupt the ability of the compass to point to magnetic north.

But the magnetic disturbances are only one aspect of the many strange tales that abound about the Bermuda Triangle. These include vanishing ships, strange storms, weird cloud formations, tidal waves, mysterious bubbles that surface from deep under the sea, electro-magnetic storms and bizarre fogs.

When it comes to the Bermuda Triangle, even the fiercest skeptics reluctantly admit that there are numerous recorded incidents that defy logical explanation.

Overview of the TragediesConsider two brief incidents typical of its

history:• January 5, 2000. It was a clear night

without a speck of cloud in the sky. A small aircraft approaches the airport in St. Augustine, Florida, and is picked up by the traffic controllers’ radar screens. The pilot suddenly calls in to report inexplicably losing sight of the Florida coast that had loomed before him so clearly just moments before. The plane disappears into the night and is never heard from again.

• An annual race is held in the region for sailing ships. Leaving from Puerto Rico, they must pass Bermuda and be the first to reach the port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 1984, a 120-foot ship named The Marquis took the lead early on. While the other craft were occupied with desperately trying to catch up, The Marquis was beset out of the clear blue by a 100-foot wave that caused it to capsize. A second monster wave followed, causing the ship to sink in less than a minute, taking all 19 sailors with it. What made the incident so odd is that the sea was completely calm at the time. Other than the two giant waves, not a ripple was to be seen on the surface of the ocean.

In most cases, no one knows how the ships or aircraft disappeared. The people

involved did not survive to tell their tale, or were themselves at a loss to describe what they experienced. But, in one startling incident, a clear description of the uncanny occurrence was recorded as the tragedy played itself out.

In June, 1980, a young pilot from Puerto Rico named Jose Santos flew with his best friend to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. After spending a week there, they headed back to San Jose, Puerto Rico, with Santos’ friend, Jose Maldonado Torres in the pilot’s seat. The flight was calm and pleasant and after two hours they found themselves some 35 miles from Puerto Rico.

Then the pair made contact with the air traffic controllers to inform them of a strange, frightening object that had appeared suddenly in front of their aircraft. The pilot never sent a clear description of what he was seeing, but it was obvious from his voice that it was extremely unnerving.

“Mayday! Mayday!” he shouted. “We’re lost… we’ve got a strange object heading in our direction.” The pilot’s terrified voice can be heard clearly on the recording, while in the background his passenger shouts, “Look! Look!”

Later, his now panic-stricken voice is heard again. “A strange object is heading toward us. We’ve already turned the plane three times but the object remains in front of us.” Torres was attempting to avoid the strange object but, regardless of which direction he headed, it followed them.

Shortly thereafter the pilot shouted one last time, “It is now directly in front of us… even as I talk to you. The object is once again in front of us. We are losing control of the plane. We do not know where we are anymore, we’ve become totally disoriented.” With that, the conversation was interrupted and the pair was never heard from again.

Santos’ father spearheaded a massive search to locate his son and the friend. They followed the plane’s path and searched the entire region… to no avail. There was absolutely no sign of the missing craft to be

found anywhere. Even the Coast Guard could offer no explanation of the event.

Bermuda Triangle fanatics insist that the plane was attacked by a UFO or overtaken by evil forces. Others, though, have advanced a slightly less sensational explanation.

Strange Features under the SeaWhen it comes to the Bermuda Triangle,

an attempt must be made to sift legend and fantasy from the truth. Fanatics are quick to offer supernatural explanations to these incidents, while skeptics go to the other extreme, proffering scientific explanations even when they fail to cover the facts.

A classic example of the clash between the two approaches involves a startling phenomenon observed underwater off the coast of Bimini, one of the smallest islands belonging to Bermuda, which some insist is the source of all the strange occurrences in the Triangle. A quarter mile out at sea, just A cruise ship on the shores of Bermuda.

Map of the Bermuda Triangle showing its three points at Miami and Bermuda in the north and Puerto Rico to the south.

Competing in an annual race of sailboats, one ship was swallowed in 1984 by a monstrous wave that sank it in less than a minute.

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