Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
By the time author Vincent Gaddis coined the phrase Bermuda Triangle in a 1964 magazine article,
additional mysterious accidents had occurred in the area, including three passenger planes that went
down despite having just sent alls well messages. Charles Berlitz, whose grandfather founded the
Berlitz language schools, stoked the legend even further in 1974 with a sensational bestseller about the
legend. Since then, scores of fellow paranormal writers have blamed the triangles supposed lethalness
on everything from aliens, Atlantis and sea monsters to time warps and reverse gravity fields, whereas
more scientifically minded theorists have pointed to magnetic anomalies, waterspouts or huge eruptions
of methane gas from the ocean floor.
In all probability, however, there is no single theory that solves the mystery. As one skeptic put it, trying to
find a common cause for every Bermuda Triangle disappearance is no more logical than trying to find a
common cause for every automobile accident in Arizona. Moreover, although storms, reefs and the Gulf
Stream can cause navigational challenges there, maritime insurance leader Lloyds of London does not
recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an especially hazardous place. Neither does the U.S. Coast Guard,
which says: In a review of many aircraft and vessel losses in the area over the years, there has been
nothing discovered that would indicate that casualties were the result of anything other than physical
causes. No extraordinary factors have ever been identified.
Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt Disappears
Around 11:30 a.m. on December 17, 1967, Holt met four friends at a neighbor's house and then went with
them to the military Quarantine Station, where they were all waived through the security checkpoint.
After watching a ship pass through the Heads, Holt and his friends drove over to Cheviot Bay Beach, a
beach that Holt often frequented.
Stepping away from the others, Holt changed into a pair of dark swim trunks behind an outcropping of
rocks; he left on his sand shoes, which were missing laces. Despite the high tide and rough waters, Holt
went into the ocean for a swim.
Perhaps he had become complacent about the dangers of the ocean since he had a long history of
swimming at this location or perhaps he didn't realize quite how rough the water really was that day.
At first, his friends could see him swimming. As the waves grew more ferocious, his friends soon realized
that he was in trouble. They shouted at him to come back, but the waves kept him away from the shore. A
few minutes later, they had lost him. He was gone.
A monumental search and rescue attempt was launched, but the search was eventually called off without
ever having found Holt's body. Two days after he went missing, Holt was presumed dead and a funeral
service was held for him on December 22. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, U.S. President Lyndon B.
Johnson, and many other heads of state attended Holt's funeral.
Easter Island
The multiton behemoths traveled up to 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the quarry where most of
them were carved, without the benefit of wheels, cranes, or even large animals.Scientists have
tested many ideas in the past, figuring that the islanders must have used a combination of log
rollers, ropes, and wooden sledges. Now a pair of archaeologists have come up with a new theory:
Perhaps the statues, known as moai, were "engineered to move" upright in a rocking motion, using
only manpower and rope.
Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach have
worked closely with archaeologist Sergio Rapu, who's part of the South Pacific island's population
of indigenous Rapanui, to develop their idea. They've observed that fat bellies allowed the statues
to be tilted forward easily, and heavy, D-shaped bases could have allowed handlers to roll and rock
the moai side to side .Last year, in experiments funded by the National Geographic
Society's Expeditions Council, Hunt and Lipo showed that as few as 18 people could, with three
strong ropes and a bit of practice, easily and relatively quickly maneuver a ten -foot (three-meter),
five-ton moai replica a few hundred yards (a few hundred meters). No logs were required. (National
Geographic News is a division of the Society.
In previous efforts to solve the mystery, Czech engineer Pavel Pavel worked with Norwegian
explorer-adventurer Thor Heyerdahl and a team of 17 helpers to propel an upright, 13-foot (4-
meter), nine-ton moai forward with twisting motions, keeping the statue fully upright at all times.
That was in 1986. But Pavel's team damaged the moai's base and had to stop. A year later U.S.
archaeologist Charles Love and a team of 25 erected a 13-foot (4-meter), nine-ton model upright
on a wooden sledge and moved it over log rollers, advancing it 148 feet (45 meters) in two
minutes.Meanwhile, for many of Easter Island's 2,000 or so indigenous Rapanui, descended from
the original Polynesian settlers, the answer is simple. "We know the truth," says Suri Tuki, 25, a
tour guide. "The statues walked."
The Lost City of Atlantis
Atlantis was the domain of Poseidon, god of the sea. When Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman,
Cleito, he created a dwelling at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling
with rings of water and land to protect her.
Cleito gave birth to five sets of twin boys who became the first rulers of Atlantis. The island was divided
among the brothers with the eldest, Atlas, first King of Atlantis, being given control over the central hill
and surrounding areas.
At the top of the central hill, a temple was built to honor Poseidon which housed a giant gold statue of
Poseidon riding a chariot pulled by winged horses. It was here that the rulers of Atlantis would come to
discuss laws, pass judgments, and pay tribute to Poseidon..
To facilitate travel and trade, a water canal was cut through of the rings of land and water running south
for 5.5 miles (~9 km) to the sea.
The city of Atlantis sat just outside the outer ring of water and spread across the plain covering a circle of
11 miles (1.7 km). This was a densely populated area where the majority of the population lived.
Beyond the city lay a fertile plain 330 miles (530 km) long and 110 miles (190 km) wide surrounded by
another canal used to collect water from the rivers and streams of the mountains. The climate was such
that two harvests were possible each year. One in the winter fed by the rains and one in the summer fed
by irrigation from the canal.
Surrounding the plain to the north were mountains which soared to the skies. Villages, lakes, rivers, and
meadows dotted the mountains.
Besides the harvests, the island provided all kinds of herbs, fruits, and nuts. An abundance of animals,
including elephants, roamed the island.
For generations the Atlanteans lived simple, virtuous lives. But slowly they began to change. Greed and
power began to corrupt them. When Zeus saw the immorality of the Atlanteans he gathered the other
gods to determine a suitable punishment.
Soon, in one violent surge it was gone. The island of Atlantis, its people, and its memory were swallowed
by the sea.
The Mystery of Auroras
If you are standing in Alaska, Canada, or the Northern United States on a clear dark night and looking up
into the sky, you may see a bright greenish-white band of light that stretches across the sky from the East
to the West. You are seeing the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis. These types of lights
also occur near the South Pole, where they are known as the Southern Lights and Aurora Australis.
On a lucky night, you may watch this auroral band continue to brighten as it moves toward the South.
Then, within minutes, you may see the band of light break into many bands of light some of which will
move back overhead and to the North, dancing rapidly and turning red, purple, and white. If you've been
lucky to see this sequence of events, you have witnessed the beginning phases of an auroral substorm.
When we see these dancing auroral lights evolve suddenly from a slowly moving auroral arc across the
sky, we know that there are two distinct processes occurring in Earth's magnetosphere. But which one
triggered the abrupt change from a calm aurora to a dancing aurora?
Themis, the goddess of justice, wisdom and good counsel, the guardian of oaths in Greek mythology,
represents the THEMIS mission. She will confirm without prejudice, as implied by her fame, one of the
two competing theories for auroral eruptions. THEMIS, with her sword (representing instruments) and
scales (representing science discoveries), has both power and impartiality.
Nazca Lines
The purpose of the lines continues to elude researchers and remains a matter of conjecture. Ancient
Nazca culture was prehistoric, which means they left no written records.
One idea is that they are linked to the heavens with some of the lines representing constellations in the
night sky. Another idea is that the lines play a role in pilgrimage, with one walking across them to reach a
sacred place such as Cahuachi and its adobe pyramids. Yet another idea is that the lines are connected
with water, something vital to life yet hard to get in the desert, and may have played a part in water-based
rituals.
In the absence of a firm archaeological conclusion a number of fringe theories have popped up, such as
the idea that the Nazca people used balloons to observe the lines from up high, something which there is
no archaeological evidence for.
The Nodding Syndrome
Capable of causing both physical and mental disabilities, the nodding disease is a fearsome epidemic
characterized by the seizures suffered by its victims. They are forced to nod their heads convulsively, the
spasms so severe that it prevents the infected person from eating or sleeping.
First identified in 1962of coursethe syndrome is currently present in South Sudan, Tanzania, and
Uganda, where serious outbreaks have occurred as recently as 2012. Such was the extent of the problem
that Doctor Anthony Mbonye, Ugandas commissioner for health services, opened a series of clinics
designed specifically to deal with sufferers of this odd illness.
Though the seizures are uncomfortable and frightening, the true damage of nodding syndrome comes
from the stunting of growth. Once victims are infected, they are permanently and completely stunted, both
in body and mind. As the disease primarily affects children between the ages of five and 15, this can lead
to truly life-altering handicaps for the sufferers.
Though doctors are still far from understanding the cause of the disease, there is some hope. Scientists
believe that a link between the syndrome and a species of parasitic worm that is common in the affected
areas may provide a possible answer. For now, however, there is no real evidenceand no real cure.
The Tanganyika Laugther Epidemic
As it turned out, 1962 was a bad year for mystifying outbreaks. Months earlier, in the tiny village of
Kashasha in Tanzania (then known as Tanganyika), an epidemic of laughing attacks struck an all-girls
boarding school.
It started with just three people and seemed like an ordinary fit of giggling among teenagers. But by the
end of the day, a staggering 95 of the schools pupils were affected, more than half the entire student
body. It was January 30, the day the laughing started. By March 30, the school had been shut down
completely out of medical concern for its students.
The scariest part of the outbreak was that all of this was only the beginning. After the boarding school
was closed, the girls affected were sent away to be housed in different villages. Perhaps the staff thought
that by separating those suffering from the laughing attacks, they could stymie the spread of the
epidemic. Instead, it multiplied.
By May, 200 people in the nearby settlement of Nshamba were suffering from fits of hysterical laughter,
and in June, another 50 in a middle school near Bukoba were stricken. By the time the laughter died
downhaving infected some people for as long as 16 days1,000 people or more had been affected,
and a total of 14 schools had been closed down. To this day, no true explanation has been offered for this
unsettling series of events.
The Kolbigk Dance of Sin
Though many of the outbreaks on this list have been from the last few decades, the more distant past
was by no means free of strange and inexplicable epidemics. For example, you may have heard of the
Dancing Plague of 1518. The events took place in 16th-century Strasbourg, a French city then ruled by
the Roman Empire.
On a narrow city street, a woman known as Frau Troffea began to dance fervently and without pause.
She carried on for almost six days, unable to stop. But when she finally did, the dancing had spread.
Within a week, nearly 40 people were uncontrollably dancing in the street. By the end of the month, as
many as 400 people were taking part in this remarkable outbreak and dozens had died from exhaustion
or exposure.
However, what you may not have realized is that this famous incident is far from a unique case. Plagues
of this nature have been recorded as far back as 1021. Thats when a group of 18 people in the German
town of Kolbigk began to dance and chant uncontrollably outside of their church, preventing the local
priest from performing his duties.
Furious at their behavior, the priest reportedly cursed the afflicted villagers, claiming that they performed
the dance of sin. Though fewer people were affected by this outbreak, it lasted far longeralmost an
entire year! The scariest thing is that we still dont really know what caused these dancing plagues.
The Carancas Meteorite Sickness
Close to midnight on a September night in 2007, a meteorite crashed to Earth near the Peruvian border
with Bolivia. Named after the town of Carancas, the closest settlement to the impact site, the meteorite
terrified those who were close enough to see it.
One man was thrown from his bicycle by the impact, while those farther away witnessed a plume of fire
1,000 meters (3,300 ft) high that followed the meteorite down. But once the dust had settled and the
boiling water seeping from the crater had dried up, everyone nearby seemed to be unscathed. Nobody
had been truly injured in the impact. Little did they realize that the real hardship was yet to come.
In the aftermath of the crash, hundreds of locals traipsed out to witness the smoldering remains of the
meteorite. Within days, as many as 200 of those locals were sick. The symptoms of headaches, nausea
and vomiting, and diarrhea spread so fast that local doctors were forced to build makeshift tents around
the towns medical center to cope with the influx of suffering patients.
Working out of buildings whose windows had been shattered by the force of the falling meteorite, the
doctors toiled for days, trying to establish a cause or an origin for the mysterious plague. No clear answer
has ever presented itself. Some scientists, such as Luisa Macedo, have argued that the water unearthed
by the impact was contaminated with arsenic and that the steam rolling from the crater was actually
poisonous gas.
But others, such as the Peruvian Geophysics Institutes Jose Ishitsuka, have pointed out that it would be
highly unlikely that a meteorite would be hot enough to create such a large amount of boiling steam. As it
is, we may never know the truth of the Carancas meteorite sickness.
10 Unsolved
Mystery