The Infamous Bermuda Triangle; Theories to Unravel the Mystery
As popular in cartoons as it is to scientists, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle (also known as the “Devil’s Triangle” or “Hurricane Alley”) has been the subject of both entertainment and profound fear. Covering a triangular area of approximately 500,000 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bermuda Triangle sits off the coast of Florida, with its corners found at Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. At least 75 planes and hundreds of ships have entered this infamous Atlantic region and never emerged, yet no one knows why.
Over the centuries, numerous legends have been told about the region, and countless theories have been postulated — ranging from disturbing weather patterns to paranormal events — but none have, thus far, been confirmed as fact. Backed by modern technology and the experiences of their predecessors, scientists and explorers hone theories, both old and new, to answer the nagging question: What accounts for these mysterious Bermuda Triangle disappearances?
History of the Devil’s Triangle
Legends of the Bermuda Triangle can be traced back as far as Christopher Columbus’s first expedition to the New World. In one instance, Columbus noted a giant flame that plummeted into the sea; a few weeks later, he noted that a strange light appeared far into the distance. Not long after, Shakespeare wrote his play, “The Tempest,” which many believe to be based on an actual shipwreck within the Bermuda Triangle.
But it wasn’t until the 20th century that the mystery began to garner more attention, especially due to the number of Bermuda Triangle accounts that surfaced. The incident that seems to have tipped the scales occurred in 1918. That year, the U.S.S. Cyclops, a vessel carrying 309 sailors, not only disappeared without a trace, but was said to have disappeared without any plausible reason. No storms had been reported the day the 540-foot-long cargo ship vanished and there were no records of the crew radioing in distress. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
As it was still months before the end of World War I, there was some speculation as to whether German U-boats destroyed the vessel. But there was no evidence of such an attack. Even if that story did check out, there is nothing to explain the other 74 disappearances that followed — including the 2015 disappearance of El Faro, another cargo ship with a crew of 33.
Bermuda Triangle Theories
Atlantis
Some investigators claim the lost city of Atlantis lies within the confines of the Bermuda Triangle, sunken but still very much present on the ocean floor. While many theories revolve around the existence of Atlantis itself — and how the civilization functioned — many believe the ancient civilization was home to numerous advanced technologies. It has been suggested that certain devices, whatever these may be, are somehow still active and powerful enough to take down ships and aircraft entering into this mysterious vortex in the Atlantic.
Hexagonal Cloud Formation
Meteorologists recently posed a new theory involving the formation of gigantic hexagonal clouds, which create 170mph “air bombs.” Big Think explains, “By studying imagery from a NASA satellite, the scientists concluded that some of these clouds reach 20 to 55 miles across. Waves inside these wind monsters can reach as high as 45 feet. What’s more – the clouds have straight edges.” Not only would these clouds be capable of swatting a plane out of the sky, but they could also create colossal waves to sink ships in a single gulp.
Electronic Fog
One of the Bermuda Triangle’s survivors, pilot Bruce Gernon, presented his theory on the phenomenon through what he calls an “Electronic Fog.” In 1970, he was flying with two passengers when his aircraft was swallowed up by two massive, ominous clouds that formed a vortex and spiraled. Gernon found that his navigational devices were malfunctioning and that they were not perceivable on radar. When they emerged, they found their trip had only taken them 35 minutes, rather than the 75 minutes it should have, and he concluded that his aircraft had somehow been pushed forward in time.
Rogue Waves
Oceanographers have recently circled back to an old theory, that vanishing ships and planes can be attributed to rogue waves. These are monstrous walls of water that are prone to emerging suddenly — anywhere that storms from all directions can converge. According to LiveScience, “If each wave can reach over 30 feet (10 meters) tall, occasionally they can coincide at the right moment and create a rogue, or ‘freak,’ wave that can be over 100 feet (30 m) high.” Such waves can easily overtake ships — especially larger ships, which have a higher likelihood of capsizing and even snapping in two.
UFOs
For decades, UFOs have been spotted and recorded in the Bermuda Triangle and off the coast of Florida. Military pilots have reported seeing mysterious objects that could reach “hypersonic speeds,” five times the speed of sound, and maneuver in ways that are beyond the capability of advanced military aircraft.
With this sort of technology, any human-made aircraft would be defenseless in a confrontation with UFOs over the waters of the Atlantic. The New York Times reported, “In late 2014, a Super Hornet pilot had a near collision with one of the objects… Some of the incidents were videotaped, including one taken by a plane’s camera in early 2015 that shows an object zooming over the ocean waves as pilots question what they are watching.”
Theories surrounding the Bermuda Triangle are seemingly inexhaustible, and official explanations usually fail to cover all the bases or they leave out important information, such as the plethora of UFOs reports in the area. And while some claim the eerie occurrences are nothing short of fictitious, sailors and pilots alike often think twice before charting routes through these waters that are said to be haunted by thousands of lost souls.
In the final analysis, a mystery as old and alarming as the Devil’s Triangle demands the kind of investigation that has yet to be made by any government thus far. Incomplete or terse explanations about the disappearances of ships and planes in the area are, in the least, perpetually unsatisfying to the most curious.
Did Nixon Leave Behind Evidence of Aliens in the White House?
If there’s anyone with insight into the existence of extraterrestrials, it’s the President of the United States. But when the topic of disclosure comes up, Richard Nixon’s name appears infrequently compared to other presidents tied to the government’s ufological secrets. But according to the testimony of one confidential informant, not only has the government made contact, but Nixon left evidence of the existence of aliens in the White House.
And it remains there to this day, he says, hidden in a time capsule – its location known only to a handful of people. Though, Nixon claimed it would surface when the time was right.
That informant is Earl Robert “Butch” Merritt, a man with a storied career as a confidential agent for the Nixon administration. A man who participated in a variety of intelligence operations in the nascent years of what would later become the NSA’s COINTEL program used to surveil, infiltrate, and disrupt various organizations and target groups even before Watergate.
And while Merritt’s credibility might seem questionable when discussing alien disclosure, his career as an informant is well documented, as are his high-level government connections. Which is why his revelation of a clandestine conversation with Nixon regarding the existence of alien technology and a living extraterrestrial entity is hard to immediately dismiss.
Evidence of Aliens in the White House?
President Eisenhower is usually the first name that comes to mind when discussing the White House’s knowledge of an alien presence, particularly in regard to an apocryphal program known as MJ-12, or Majestic 12.
Essentially, MJ-12 was an alleged group of high brass military and government officials organized after the Roswell UFO incident to deal with the implications of an alien presence and its subsequent technology.
And it was that technology recovered from the Roswell crash that is believed to have led to exponential leaps in our technological advancements, many of which have been used to bolster the military industrial complex – an industry Ike so famously warned the world about before leaving office.
Though he didn’t immediately succeed him, Nixon was Eisenhower’s Vice President, making the ufological connection all the more intriguing. It was also relatively well known that Nixon believed in the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrials, despite his release of Project Bluebook’s conclusive analysis; an Air Force study known as the Condon Report, which allegedly put the existence of UFOs to rest.
But according to his testimony, Nixon divulged his knowledge of a “sophisticated intelligent being” to Merritt toward the end of his presidency when he realized the Watergate scandal was becoming an imminent threat. According to Merritt, Nixon claimed the being was alive and in government protection.
He says Nixon entrusted this information to him as he considered Merritt one of his only confidantes, asking him to personally deliver a letter on the subject to Henry Kissinger – a copy of which allegedly remains hidden today somewhere in the White House.
A Dark Journalist’s Disclosure
Merritt’s testimony is corroborated by Douglas Caddy, a man who acted as a defense attorney for the parties convicted in the Watergate scandal and who claims he knows where Nixon’s ET disclosure letter is hidden in the White House. The two published a book titled, Watergate Exposed: How the President of the United States and the Watergate Burglars Were Set Up as told to Douglas Caddy.
Interviews with both men, including Merritt’s accounts of meeting Nixon, and his subsequent mission as letter courier to Kissinger, can be found on the website of Daniel Liszt, an investigative reporter on government and alien conspiracies, who goes by the alias “Dark Journalist.”
Liszt’s interview with Merritt is fascinating in that it delves into his history as one of the most notorious informants for the president and for other city, state, and federal government entities, due to his cutthroat and non-conventional tactics.
In fact, a New York Times profile piece on Merritt confirms this history, focusing specifically on his role helping New York authorities reclaim the Kenmore Hotel – a drug-addled building in Manhattan that was one of the epicenters of the city’s criminal activity in the ’90s.
Merritt was an indispensable tool for Nixon’s Huston Plan – the aforementioned intelligence program to infiltrate and disrupt parties he felt threatened by, particularly political opponents and anti-war groups.
While serving as an informant under the Huston plan, Merritt says he was warned by one of his sources, a switchboard operator next to the Watergate Hotel named Rhita Reid, of the impending investigation into the administration. Merritt said he tried to warn Nixon, but that he wasn’t concerned at the time and didn’t foresee it’s major implications.
Despite this dismissal, Merritt claims he was one of Nixon’s most trusted sources and was even given nicknames including “003” – an obvious James Bond reference. So, when the Watergate scandal played out and the days of the administration waned, Merritt claims he was brought into a secret underground room beneath the White House where Nixon revealed the existence of an alien entity and technology housed at the infamous Nevada military base, Area 51.
“We have possessed knowledge and we have in our protection subjects from a planet X,” Nixon supposedly told Merritt. “Knowledge we obtained so vast and powerful, whoever possesses this knowledge would be the most powerful person in the world,” Merritt recounted.
Merritt claims Nixon then wrote out a lengthy letter that included encrypted formulae to be delivered to Kissinger. He also included two cassette tapes, before sealing the letter and writing something on its outer flap, omitting his normal signature. Nixon then strapped the letter to Merritt’s stomach and sent him to deliver it to its intended recipient for unknown reasons.
Now, he claims that letter remains hidden somewhere in the White House, its location known to he and Caddy who say they will only reveal its location if the National Archives allows one of them to be present to read the letter publicly.
What is there to make of this testimony? While incredibly intriguing at first, there are some pretty farfetched and bizarre aspects to Merritt and Caddy’s story that might be questionable.
It seems if Nixon wanted to clear his name in the annals of history, he would have released this information himself, whether at that moment or before his death. Though in every instance of a president’s alleged attempt at disclosure, the truth always seems to be stranger than fiction.
For more on a U.S. President’s attempt at disclosure check out this episode of Deep Space:
