Bermuda Triangle

[CaptainHaplo]

GR - I have to dispute this theory my friend - for a few reasons. Flight 19 took of at 2:10 pm - while the flight itself was scheduled to go no farther than 123 miles east (over the Bahamas - less than an hour flight at their 140mph cruise speed), all the birds were fully loaded with fuel. This gave them a range of over 1,000 miles. The group was scheduled to make practice attack runs at Chicken and Hen shoals near Bimini Island, and did in fact carry out this activity. At ~3:50, Charles Taylor, the flight leader, reported that his compasses were erratic. Edward Powers, another pilot, was consulted and all the pilots compared compass headings. There was no consensus - but the discussion was overheard by Lt Robert Cox, another flight instructor in the vicinity of Ft Lauderdale. He contacted the flight and spoke with Taylor - who stated he was sure he was in the Keys, but not sure how far down. Cox instructed Taylor to put the sun on his port wing (making him head generally north) and fly till he hit the coast. Once he did - he would find Miami, and further on about ~20 miles, Ft. Lauderdale. He also indicated he would fly south to come assist - Taylor replied that he knew where he was and there was no need. Cox turned south anyway, yet his radio reception with the flight got worse - not better as would have occured had he been heading toward them.

Flight 19 was next heard about 4:25 - by the Port Everglades Rescue Facility. Taylor at that time ordered Powers to lead the flight NE - apparently assuming that Powers' compasses were functional. The only explanation for this is that Taylor was thinking he had somehow flown into the Gulf west of Florida - when in fact it appears (as is seen later) that he in fact was East of Florida - and this move sent Flight 19 out into the Atlantic. At 5:11, Taylor and Powers have an arguement - apparently Powers had turned the flight west. Taylor wanted to go east. However it happened, the flight is then heard stating "We are now heading 270 West". At 5:15, Taylor is heard stating "We will head 270 until we hit the beach or run out of gas." Oddly - radio reception never improved. At 5:54 Taylor refuses a frequency change requested by land stations. At 6:05, still no land - and having headed west, Taylor again asserts they are in the Gulf. An HF fix at this time places them ~225 miles NE of Ft Lauderdale, between New Smyrna Beach and Jacksonville. This means that the whole time they THOUGHT they were heading west, they were heading N. Oddly, neither IFF nor the ZBX gear on any aircraft was ever picked up, though the flight did confirm their IFF equipment was on.

At 5:55 one pilot states "we may have to ditch at any minute" - but then nothing else is discussed for a while regarding fuel. Obviously whatever was going on was affecting the fuel gauges, because Taylow was heard at 6:37 asking Powers what their current course was. The final radio signal, was at 7:04, from Fox Tare 3.

Initial estimates of fuel had them out running out by 6:30, then 7, and later 8pm. Avenger pilots have claimed it could have been as late as even 10pm based on leaning back as much as possible, but given that would have been done from the outset, somewhere between 7-8 is a reasonable assumption.

Which brings us to the Mariner. It exploded at 7:50, and the freighter Gaines Mill reported that it was directly under the aircraft when it exploded. No other aircraft were noted in the vicinity, but that proves nothing.

What does raise a problem with the midair crash theory is the USS Solomon. The Solomon had the PBM on its radarscope at the time of the explosion, and no other objects were noted in the vicinity. Had Flight 19 been in the area - radar contact should have shown up, and that close radio contact would also have been clear. Also, no debris was found that places any Avenger as involved in the explosion. This would indicate that Flight 19 was not involved directly with the loss of the Mariner. What happened to it however is simply another mystery on its own.

Now - as to the triangle itself - there are lots of debate on its actual shape. It is however, not the only area in the world known for disappearances. Check the Devil's Sea off of Japan for example. Also - one of the great lakes - Michigan I think - is know for disappearances at a high and odd rate.

If you want real weirdness when looking at the Bermuda Triangle - do the research on Sting 27. An F4 Phantom II, piloted by a trainee under instruction of John Romero (holder of 2 DFC's), it was lost on September 10, 1971. The standard summary sheet on this incident is highly redacted, but does show a box labeled "suspected point of impact" followed by a later arrow showing "radar contact lost". The distance and verbage indicates SOMETHING hit Sting 27 in midair. Also according to the report - Sting 29 and 30 were in the area and noted an "object" in the area - though what that is - is not defined. The most we get out of it is that Sting 29 dropped to 1500 ft and noted an "area of disturbance" in the water - describing it as "an area of water discoloration, oblong in shape, approximately 100x200', with its axis running N/S, its southern tip appeared to be below the surface, and the northern tip appeared to be above. So basically the pilot saw something sticking up out of the water. Couldn't have been an oil slick. The Coast Guard Cutter Steadfast was less than 5nm away and began searching immediately. No trace of Sting 27 was ever found.

You can also research AB524, the loss of a KA-6 assigned to the USS Kennedy..... its also a rather odd incident.