I've read about the same theory, and I agree that it would explain some of the accidents, but I fail to see how does it explain about the electronic anomalies so common with the disappearences. Also, the methane bubbles theory assumes that whatever happened, happened within seconds. Which is not the case with many of the disappearences, like flight 19, in which the planes were facing troubles for many hours

I know, some of the stuff just doesn't fit. Which is good, cause I always hoped it was something mystical like aliens or portholes, something unexplainable, not boring like bubbles.

You definately should.. It was very well written and concise..... I dig it...

I also happen to lean towards the methane theories...



Reese

I agree on the conlusion, that the planes were lost due to navigational error and eventually crashed in the ocean (some ppl believe that they crashed in the Florida swamps). But still, there are some questions left unanswered. For example, how did the flight leader, Charles Taylor, such an experienced airman, with 2500+ hours in his log, many of them in the area, made so many mistakes. Rookie-like mistakes. Not only he lost his way, in a clear day, when even if all compasses and gyros were out, he could still find his way westwards following the sun, but he repeatedly refused any help he was given. He also did not change frequencies according to the instructions given to him.

So, even if there is no mystery (aliens/atlantians/magic holes) regarding the flight's resulting situation, there are still many questions to be answered regarding the actual reasons.

Well, this is all speculation on my part, with a little investigation thrown in. I base the speculation on my two years as a Naval Aviation Maintanence Officer aboard the G.W. and the Kennedy.

Pilots...are a proud breed. Even more so in the past. While the modern pilot will admit his mistakes (at least, to his fellow pilots), leadership in the past was a bit more absolute, in that the leader made the choices and the rest followed without comment. Now, as for Taylor, most of those 2500 hours were not in the area. In fact, he had very little experience in that area, the majority of his time having been spent in the Bahamas region. Also, add to that an additional stressor: The pilots flying with him were students! This is something that is usually left out of the stories. Student pilots, even more than regular pilots, would be less likely to contradict their flight leader.

Now, you stated that he lost his way in a clear day. He did not. Visibility on that day was cloudy. In fact, you probably recall one of his transmissions stating that he saw the Florida keys through a gap in the clouds. Let's be very clear about this. It was not a perfect day when Flight 19 disappeared. It was cloudy, it was overcast, and a few hours later, a storm set in that produced fifty foot waves in the area the planes (including one of the rescue crafts) went down.

So, let's get back to Taylor. He was lost. He knew he was lost. He had the lives of students in his hands and he didn't know where he was going. The only thing he knew was that he had spotted the Florida Keys underneath him (he had spent the majority of his flight time in that area right? He would certainly be able to recognize these islands, right?). Unfortunetely, that quick glimpse through the clouds wasn't enough. He saw a series of islands and assumed they were the Keys. From here, everything fell apart.

Because he though that the islands were the Keys, he assumed, incorrectly, that they had flown South instead of East. To his mind, then, it meant that Florida had to be to the East. His pilot's pride, his confusion, his mistaken location, all this added together made up his decision to fly East. He wasn't flying that way because he didn't know what direction he was going. He was flying East because he though that was where land was. He was convinced that the ground operator that he was speaking to was incorrect (had he been in greater contact with them, as pilots today are, he might have had more confidence in the lad) and did almost a 180 degree turn away from the instructed plan, all based on what he thought was correct. Pilot error, all the way.

As you see, there is really no mystery here. Just the sad, sad, proof of what happens when a pilot's pride and self-confidence exceeds his abilities, and when he decides that he has a better sense of direction than his equipment.

One last thing. Is it your opinion/information that what happened with the compasses is that only Taylor's malfunctioned but the rest of the crew, even if their compasses worked OK, didn't contradict their leader's instructions? Coz this is another known issue with this story, that it's really strange for all 5 compasses to stop working at the same time.

The documentary about the methane, that premiered on the History Channel was called "Dive to the Bermuda Triangle" and I just check their website, and it's supposed to air again on August 1st, but I'd check your local listings first. If you beleive it or not, it's still pretty interesting to watch!

Okay, this is another example of Berlitz's imaginative approach to research. While he did start the story of the clear day, and all the compasses malfunctioning, we actually only have Taylor stating his compass wasn't working properly, for a short period during the flight. Now, the implication, and what I believe as well, is that some of the other compasses were not working as well (I'll get to that in a minute), but as far as facts go, we really have no idea how many malfunctions there were.

Now, modern strike fighter craft have, at a minimum, two compasses: and electric one, and a magnetic one. Most pilots also carry one in their bag, though we would like to discourage that. The reason for this is because standard compasses, for some reason, ocassionaly give a false reading or an undecipherable reading. There is a current theory that this is caused by the electric field created by the stressed metal portions of the craft. In the old aircraft, the "Iron Birds", this effect was much greater than in today's composite aircraft, but electric compasses were not available in those days. Considering that all of Flight 19 was practicing aerial maneuvers, it is entirely likely that each plane went through the same movements, and the stresses of those movements produced enough field to confuse the compasses. Taylor should have had experience with this, even if he didn't understand the science behind it. Compasses simply failed on occasion, and given a little time, they would return to normal (which the one on Flight 19 eventually did). There is no doubt in my mind that he confirmed with the other pilots what was going on, and didn't worry too much more about it. The other pilots may or may not have understood why the compasses didn't work, but I do not believe this created any sort of panic.

The problem lay when Taylor saw the islands. By assuming they were the Keys, he was unable to calculate his location. GPS wasn't around back then, and the only thing that pilots could rely on was dead reckoning and landmarks. With the compass out of commision, the landmarks not making sense, along with diminishing fuel (they had been flying for a while now), that is what I believe caused Taylor to react instinctively instead of logically.