Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World: The Ultimate A–Z of Spirits, Mysteries and the Paranormal - Theresa Cheung, Theresa Cheung - Страница 102

Reports indicate that dozens of ships, twenty or so aeroplanes and a thousand people have mysteriously vanished in this restricted wedge of the ocean just east of Florida in the United States. The ocean region was named the Bermuda Triangle in 1945, after six airforce planes and their crews disappeared on a calm day in good flying conditions.

Although accidents and mysterious disappearances are to be expected at sea, the ones in this area are unusual because they often occur in good weather and no traces of wreckage or survivors are found. Just before disappearing, crews often report that nothing is amiss, and in rare instances ships have been found days later with their entire crews missing. The area is policed by the US government, but despite this the number of disappearances far exceeds the law of chance for such a relatively small area. This had led many investigators to believe that the ‘vanishments’ in this area are caused by some sort of paranormal force.

The mysterious history of the Bermuda Triangle reaches as far back as its first recorded traveller, Christopher Columbus. While sailing into the area, Columbus and his men were unnerved by bolts of lightning, strange lights and the erratic action of the compass spinning wildly.

Over the years the area became notorious for strange occurrences. Until World War II only ships were thought to be affected, but since then aeroplanes have also disappeared. All the most obvious causes - human error, weather and so forth - have been investigated, and by the mid-1970s logical explanations for virtually all the reported mysterious incidents had been uncovered. Despite this, the Bermuda Triangle - also known as the Devil’s Triangle and the Limbo of the Lost - continues to intrigue and defy rational explanation. Various incredible theories have been put forward to explain the disappearances, such as time warps, black holes, atmospheric aberrations, magnetic anomalies, alignments of the planets, tidal waves, earthquakes, hidden sea beings, death rays from outer space, forces emanating from Atlantis and alien abduction.