Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 

In the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean lies a region where numerous ships and airplanes have inexplicably disappeared. Although this notorious area cannot be found on any official map, it has come to be known all over the world as the Bermuda Triangle.

Mike Ricksecker, Author, Alaska’s Myterious Triangle: “The Bermuda Triangle is approximately 500,000 square miles (about 1.3 million km²) of water between Bermuda, Miami, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In the area, planes will crash, ships will go missing. It’s just absolute bedlam.”

Michael Tuttle, Ph.D. Maritime Archaeologist: “The Bermuda Triangle is seen as a mysterious place just because it’s so big and vast, and lots of interesting things happen there.

It is very strange that you have many ships lost there, and airplanes just went missing with no explanation for it. Is that a coincidence, or is there something nefarious at work?”

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One of the noteworthy incidents that took place in the Bermuda Triangle was the disappearance of the USS Cyclops. In March of 1917, the massive cargo vessel, which had a crew of 306 seamen, was navigating through the triangle when it mysteriously went missing.

No wreckage or bodies were ever found. And over the years, there have been hundreds of other seemingly bizarre vanishings in this area that have baffled experts.

Micho Kaku, Ph.D. Physicist, CUNY: “The Bermuda Triangle is one of the great mysteries in modern history. Now, of course, hundreds of theories have been proposed.

The first logical theory is the weather. Maybe there was a sudden hurricane that came out of nowhere. Perhaps these jets and these ships lost their way, and perhaps that’s the reason why all hands were lost. That’s a possibility.

But when there are things that are difficult to solve, at that point, people say, a-ha, there must be something there beyond science that’s making this happen.”

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Is it possible that science cannot explain some of the disappearances that have taken place within the Bermuda Triangle? There are those who believe that the answer is yes.

And as evidence, they point to perhaps the most infamous mass disappearance that has taken place there to date.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, December 5, 1945. Five Navy torpedo bombers, collectively known as Flight 19, take off for what is supposed to be a routine training mission over the Atlantic Ocean.

Mike Ricksecker, Author: “They took off due east from Fort Lauderdale into the Bermuda Triangle. After they reached their first stop on the run, they turned north. And that’s when things started to get crazy.

Their compasses started acting strange, and the crew started getting really confused about what was going on. One of the pilots actually thought that they may have been over the Florida Keys, which was nowhere near where they were supposed to be.”

For over four hours, ground control stayed in close radio contact with the pilots as they tried to find their bearings.

Benjamin Radford, Folklorist: “Flight 19 was led by Commander Charles Taylor, and the problem was that Taylor didn’t know where he was. And not only was his compass malfunctioning. It was getting dark.

And so you can look at Flight 19 as sort of the perfect storm of bad things happening.”

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At about 6:30 PM, the planes ominously dropped off radar. The Navy immediately launched a search and rescue operation. But curiously, no wreckage was ever found. All five planes . . . vanished . . . without a trace.

Mike Ricksecker, Author: “The pilots were never heard from again. Nothing has ever been found. They’ve been lost.

Almost equally bizarre was that one of the search and rescue planes went missing as well. About two hours after takeoff, a Mariner floating plane lost contact with the base.

Another one of the search and rescue planes came to take a look at the area and found nothing. This search and rescue plane was completely missing.”

All told, 27 airmen disappeared in the Flight 19 incident.

But how is it possible that so many Navy pilots experienced malfunctions with their compasses that caused them to become lost — and ultimately crash?

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Perhaps the answer can be found by examining reports of not only bizarre vanishings, but also other kinds of strange occurrences that have taken place in the Bermuda Triangle for centuries.

Mike Ricksecker, Author: “Our first reports of strange phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle actually came from Christopher Columbus in 1492.

One night when they were journeying through the area, he noticed these unusual dancing lights across the water that he described as small wax candles that would rise and lower across the night sky.

Andrew Collins, Author, Looking for the Fifth Dimension: “Columbus kept copious diary notes. And these state that he couldn’t understand the strange lights going up and down.

But beyond that, he reported that his compass started spinning wildly. This was something extremely unusual.”

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Questions

 

North, South. The Bermuda Triangle is located in a desert in Egypt. True or false? Is the Bermuda Triangle tiny, small, medium, large, or gigantic?

East, West. Is the Bermuda Triangle famous as a tourist resort area? Do people love to go sailing, swimming, diving, and boating there?

Sea, Ocean. Only small boats with a few people disappear in the Bermuda Triangle. Is this right or wrong?

Stream, River. The main explanation for the disappearance of aircraft and ships is alien abduction or attack. Do you agree? Are researchers 100% certain? Are scientists 100% they know?

Pond, Lake. On the fifth of December, 1945, Did five airplanes go on a tour of the area?

Island, Mainland. After the navy planes turned north, did they experience engine or mechanical problems? What happened?

Storm, Hurricane. Were the disappearances of the Navy planes (entirely) the fault of Commander Charles Taylor?

Cloud, Sky. Did strange phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle began in the 1900s?
 
 
 
Sun, Moon. How do you explain the disappearances of ships and airplanes in the Bermuda Triangle? What are some possible explanations?

Wind, Rain, Drizzle. You you like to have a vacation in the Bermuda Triangle or the Caribbean?

Radar, Radio. What are some other famous or well-known mysterious phenomena?

Airplane, Ship, Boat. My friends and I would be to investigate mysterious phenomena.

Mystery. What might happen in the future?