What Can These Hexagonal Shapes Tell Us About the Bermuda Triangle?(http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9093197.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200/Hexagon-clouds-over-the-Bermuda-Triange.jpg)
Well actually the clouds are not hexagonal, just the hole
But THESE are
(http://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/59000/59758/SouthAtlantic.A2002157.1055.250m.jpg)
Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
HEXAGONAL CLOUD CELLS IN SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from June 6, 2002, shows the interesting clouds produced by an atmospheric phenomenon known as "closed Rayleigh-Binard convection cells." These cells, or parcels of air, often occur in roughly hexagonal arrays in a layer of fluid (the atmosphere often behaves like a fluid) that begins to "boil," or convect, due to heating at the base or cooling at the top of the layer. In this image, the convection is due to strong cooling of the cloud tops, which are radiating heat into space through the very dry air above the clouds.
The cells are named after the French scientist HenrC- BC)nard, who first described them in his doctoral thesis in 1900, and the Englishman Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt), who gave the first theoretical explanation in 1916. Rayleigh showed that convection occurs when the difference in temperature between the bottom of the cloud and the top-the vertical temperature gradient-exceeds a critical value determined by the ratio of buoyancy and friction. That threshold is called the "Rayleigh number." When the Rayleigh number is exceeded, the parcel of air becomes unstable, and the hottest parts of the parcel want to rise, while the coldest parts want to sink. Clouds are formed where the air rises.
In "closed" cells like those pictured here, air is rising in the center, andsinking around the edges, so clouds appear in cell centers, but evaporatearound cell edges. The reverse flow can also occur: air can sink in thecenter of the cell and rise at the edge. This process is called "open cell"convection, and clouds form around cell edges around open centers, whichcreates a lacy, interlocking pattern.
Closed and open cell convection represent two stable atmosphericconfigurations-two sides of the convection coin. Once the atmosphere hasadopted one of these configurations, it is fairly straightforward to predictthe resulting cloud pattern. But what determines which path the "boiling"atmosphere will take? Apparently the process is highly chaotic, and thereappears to be no way to predict whether convection will result in open orclosed cells. Indeed, the atmosphere will flip between one mode and anotherin no predictable pattern. This sort of unpredictability is the hallmark ofchaotic systems, an uncertainty that is not simply due to the limitations ofour models or shortcomings of our scientific techniques, but rather to aninherent randomness or unpredictability of the system itself. If chaos is atthe heart of the movements of the atmosphere, perhaps we should all beshowing our weather forecasters a little more understanding.
Thanks to Robert Cahalan, NASA-GSFC, for help with image interpretation.
Could mysterious hexagonal clouds in Bermuda Triangle caused by 170mph 'air bombs' be behind centuries of bizarre disappearances?QuoteIt is believed these deadly blasts of air that can flip over ships and bring planes crashing into the ocean could be behind the vanishing of at least 75 planes and hundreds of ships
QuoteThe mystery behind the Bermuda Triangle may have finally been cracked.
The 500,000km square stretch in the North Atlantic Ocean has been blamed for the disappearance of at least 75 planes and hundreds of ships over the centuries.
But scientists claim the truth behind the 'deadly triangle' is all down to hexagonal clouds that create terrifying 170mph winds air bombs.
It is believed these deadly blasts of air can flip over ships and bring planes crashing into the ocean.
Researchers also noted that massive clouds were appearing over the western tip of Bermuda Island – ranging from 20 to 55 miles across.
(http://i1.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9093198.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Hexagon-clouds-over-the-Bermuda-Triange.jpg)
Hexagon clouds over the Bermuda TriangleQuoteDr Steve Miller, satellite meteorologist at Colorado State University, told Science Channel's What on Earth: "You don't typically see straight edges with clouds.
Using radar satellites to measure what was happening beneath the clouds, they found that sea level winds were reaching almost 170mph.
(http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article6818068.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Bermuda-Triangle.jpg)
The winds are powerful enough to generate waves of more than 45ft high(http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9093199.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/The-Bermuda-Triange.jpg)
The Bermuda Triangle is situated roughly between The Bahamas and Bermuda IslandMORE HERE (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/mysterious-hexagonal-clouds-bermuda-triangle-9093365)
Some of the most mysterious disappearances blamed on the Bermuda Triangle:
Reports go back all the way to 1492 when Christopher Columbus reported strange lights and strange compass readings in the area.
The first logged shipwreck attributed to the triangle came in 1609 when English voyage The Sea Venture was destroyed on the eastern end of Bermuda Island, bringing the first human settlement in the island.
One of the spookier tales comes from The Ellen Austin voyage in 1881. The crew reportedly came across another ship that was sailing without a single soul on board, so transferred some of its crew and attempted to sail with it to New York. The other ship suddenly disappeared - only to then reappear without a person on board before disappearing without trace.
(http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article3226141.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/USS-Cyclops.jpg)
Boat USS Cyclops which disapeared in Bermuda when it came back from a trip to Brazil in march 1918
(http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article3219975.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Flight-19.jpg)
Portrait of legendary Lost Squadron and plane "Flight 19" that supposedly vanished into Bermuda Triangle shortly after WWII.
In 1918 the widely debated disappearance of the USS Cyclops and its 309 crew, was also attributed to the phenomenon. It was the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy after it went missing without a trace with a crew of 309 after leaving Barbados.
One of the most famous disappearances was in 1945 . Flight 19 vanished when five torpedo bombers lost contact during a US Navy training flight. All 14 airmen were lost, as were all 13 crew members of a flying boat that was on of two search planes sent out.
In 1991 the pilot of a Grumman Cougar jet made a routine radio request to increase altitude. While ascending, the aircraft gradually faded from radar and vanished.
The latest tragedy to be attributed is the cargo ship El Faro disaster in 2015 . The ship was reported missing, with all 33 crew on board, after being caught in a hurricane off the southern coast of the Bahamas in November.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/mysterious-hexagonal-clouds-bermuda-triangle-9093365