百慕大三角是怎么回事?
For decades, the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean has captured people's imagination with stories of ships, planes and people that disappeared without explanation.
Some people believe that mysterious forces are to blame. Ideas include aliens capturing humans to study them, the influence of the lost city of Atlantis, and whirlpools that pull objects into other dimensions. Other explanations sound more scientific, even if there is no evidence for them, such as bursts of methane gas from the seafloor or disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field.
In reality, the natural environment could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances. Most Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes pass through the Bermuda Triangle, and before modern weather forecasting, these dangerous storms sank many ships. The Gulf Stream can also cause sudden and sometimes violent changes in the weather. In addition, the many islands of the Caribbean create large areas of shallow water that can be dangerous for ships.
The US Navy and Coast Guard say there are no supernatural explanations for disasters at sea. In their experience, the forces of nature combined with human error are more powerful than even the wildest science fiction. They also point out that there are no official maps showing the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. In fact, the US government doesn't even recognize it as an official place name.
The ocean has always been a mysterious place, and when bad weather or poor navigation is involved, it can be a very dangerous one, all over the world. There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances happen more often in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, busy area of the ocean.
几十年来,大西洋上的百慕大三角一直吸引着人们的想象:那里流传着许多船只、飞机和人莫名其妙失踪的故事。
有些人认为,这是某种神秘力量在作怪。各种说法都有:外星人抓走人类做研究、失落的亚特兰蒂斯城在作祟、漩涡把东西吸进了另一个时空……还有一些解释听起来比较科学,尽管同样没有证据,比如海底喷出的甲烷气体,或者地球磁场的紊乱。
实际上,大部分失踪事件,就算不是全部,也可以用自然环境来解释。大西洋上的大多数热带风暴和飓风都会经过百慕大三角,在现代天气预报出现之前,这些危险的风暴让许多船只沉没。墨西哥湾流也会让天气突然发生变化,有时还非常剧烈。此外,加勒比海的众多岛屿形成了大片浅水区,对船只来说很危险。
美国海军和海岸警卫队表示,海难背后没有什么超自然的原因。根据他们的经验,大自然的力量加上人为的失误,比最离奇的科幻故事还要厉害。他们还指出,并没有哪张官方地图标出过百慕大三角的边界。事实上,美国政府甚至都不承认它是一个正式的地名。
海洋一直是个神秘的地方。一旦遇上恶劣天气或者导航失误,世界上任何一片海域都可能非常危险。没有证据表明,百慕大三角发生神秘失踪的频率比其他任何一片广阔、繁忙的海域更高。