A team of scientists believes they know what makes the Bermuda Triangle so dangerous. According to Fox News, researchers from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom claim that "rogue waves" are responsible for sinking hundreds of ships and ending thousands of lives in the 270,000 square mile section of the Atlantic Ocean.
To test their theory, the researchers built a model of the USS Cyclops, which went missing in 1918 and claimed the lives of 300 sailors on board, and put it to the test against rogue waves in an indoor simulation. The test found that the waves, which can grow to be over 100 feet high on the open ocean, quickly inundated the boat and caused it to sink.
Dr. Simon Boxall, an ocean and earth scientist, explained that the Bermuda Triangle is an area where storms and currents from three different directions can converge and create the perfect conditions for rogue waves to form.
“There are storms to the south and north, which come together. And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves."
He explained that the larger the ship, the more likely it is to be destroyed by a massive wave, some of which are capable of snapping a boat in half.
“The bigger the boat gets, the more damage is done. If you can imagine a rogue wave with peaks at either end, there’s nothing below the boat, so it snaps in two. If it happens, it can sink in two to three minutes.”
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