Blog claims Air France Flight 447 went down near the Bermuda Triangle.

[Towlie]

This blog (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1803340/air_france_plane_missing_near_bermuda.html?cat=62) features the headline, "Air France Plane Missing Near Bermuda Triangle", and includes links on the same page to several other "Bermuda Triangle" articles. Of the four comments so far, none have objected to the implied connection.

This blog (http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/2/9550/81880/travel/Is+Air+France+Flight+447+To+Be+Found+In+the+Bermud a+Triangle%3F) refutes and ridicules the claim made by the first blog, but, unfortunately, the link it provides to the first blog labels it as "the skeptics (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1803340/air_france_plane_missing_near_bermuda.html?cat=62)":
Still the skeptics (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1803340/air_france_plane_missing_near_bermuda.html?cat=62) would like to heighten the drama by associating the Bermuda Triangle with this recent mystery. What's next—asserting that the Triangle is now some sort of giant trapezoid? Perhaps the mysterious area got bored with hanging out off the US coast and decided to journey to Brazil for some caipirinhas?

I find that rather annoying.

[ExMinister]

Interesting, though the two areas appear not to have been close enough to really catch on among the Bermuda Triangle believers. Hopefully, anyway.

Yes, it's kind of an annoying use of the word skeptic, but the word is kind of relative. Anyone can call themselves a skeptic. Case in point: Sylvia Browne has for years been calling herself an "open-minded skeptic." :rolleyes: Based on that, one can be skeptical of the scientific method or skeptical of skepticism, so just saying someone is a skeptic doesn't mean much.

[runnah]

Trying to put a square peg into a triangle hole.

[Safe-Keeper]

Anyone can draw a triangle somewhere, claim that lots of ships and planes have gone missing there, and bring in explanations of UFOs and strange natural phenomenon to explain these events. I'm not impressed.

[desertgal]

Anyone can draw a triangle somewhere, claim that lots of ships and planes have gone missing there, and bring in explanations of UFOs and strange natural phenomenon to explain these events. I'm not impressed.

Like Dallas/Fort Worth airport. I couldn't find my plane there a couple of times. Last time I was there, I also lost my car. :D

[jhunter1163]

If you define "near" as "within 2,000 miles", yes.

[Towlie]

Anyone can draw a triangle somewhere, claim that lots of ships and planes have gone missing there, and bring in explanations of UFOs and strange natural phenomenon to explain these events. I'm not impressed.Yes, but a while back I did discover one strange and apparently inexplicable property of the Bermuda Triangle:

I remember back in my High School Plane Geometry class, our teacher assured us that the three angles of any triangle must always add to exactly 180 degrees. As I was playing around with Google Earth not too long ago, it occurred to me to see if this ironclad mathematical principle applied to the Bermuda Triangle.

The angular measurements I got using the "ruler" function were:

From Miami, the angle between Hamilton and San Juan is about 56.22 degrees.
From Hamilton, the angle between San Juan and Miami is about 62.66 degrees.
From San Juan, the angle between Miami and Hamilton is also about 62.73 degrees.

The sum of those angles is 181.61 degrees, which is 1.61 degrees more than it should be.

Is that strange, or what? :eek:

[dropzone]

I have seen claims (none handy at the moment) of things lost in the Bermuda Triangle that, were they mapped out, would include most of the North Atlantic and much of the Eastern Seaboard of the US.

But yeah, I'd been waiting DAYS for a claim like that to surface.

[TSR]

Like Dallas/Fort Worth airport. I couldn't find my plane there a couple of times. Last time I was there, I also lost my car. :D

.
Oops! Forgot to tell you -- we found it under the couch while vacuuming.

Weird thing was, Jimmy Hoffa was behind the wheel with Jim Morrison riding shotgun...
.

[Little 10 Toes]

Towlie, I can make a triangle with 270 degrees. Start from either the North or South Pole. Draw a line from there to 0N 90W. Return to the starting pole. There you go, a triangle with three right angles. You're math teacher was talking about triangles on a plane.

*(p.s. It's late and I'm tired, so please forgive me if I sound cranky.)

[shadron]

Yes, but a while back I did discover one strange and apparently inexplicable property of the Bermuda Triangle:

I remember back in my High School Plane Geometry class, our teacher assured us that the three angles of any triangle must always add to exactly 180 degrees. As I was playing around with Google Earth not too long ago, it occurred to me to see if this ironclad mathematical principle applied to the Bermuda Triangle.

The angular measurements I got using the "ruler" function were:

From Miami, the angle between Hamilton and San Juan is about 56.22 degrees.
From Hamilton, the angle between San Juan and Miami is about 62.66 degrees.
From San Juan, the angle between Miami and Hamilton is also about 62.73 degrees.

The sum of those angles is 181.61 degrees, which is 1.61 degrees more than it should be.

Is that strange, or what? :eek:

Not a mystery, I'm afraid. It's called spherical geometry, geometry laid out on the surface of a sphere. The rule you cite about summing angles to get 180 degrees is a theorem of plane geometry. The equivalent in spherical geometry is that the sum of the three angles of a triangle is > 180; obviously it's < 180 when the triangle is laid out on a saddle shaped surface, a "negatively curved" surface.

[fromdownunder]

I have seen claims (none handy at the moment) of things lost in the Bermuda Triangle that, were they mapped out, would include most of the North Atlantic and much of the Eastern Seaboard of the US.


You mean missing things like car keys and odd socks?

Seriously, I believe that Lawrence David Kusche does exactly that in his book The Bermuda Triangle - Mystery Solved I was also under the impression that the Bermuda Triangle was dead, dead, dead - murdered by Kusche's superb research. .

Doesn't any woo go away forever these days?

Norm

[Skeptic]

Tould you so...

I haven't checked the internet, but I'll bet good money there are already those who claim the crash was the fault of (a) Islamic terrorists, (b) "Zionists", (c) the New World Order, (d) Reptilians, (e) aliens, (f) the Bermuda triangle.

Where's Randi's million? I can predict the future!

I know, I know -- no fair predicting the obvious.

[Skeptic]

Not a mystery, I'm afraid. It's called spherical geometry

For most conspiracy theorists, spherical geometry IS a mystery. Secret alien reptilians are much easier to understand, as far as they're concerned.

[dropzone]

Seriously, I believe that Lawrence David Kusche does exactly that in his book The Bermuda Triangle - Mystery Solved I was also under the impression that the Bermuda Triangle was dead, dead, dead - murdered by Kusche's superb research.It's what killed it for me. I was left asking myself to believe obvious BS or to become skeptical of woo. At that point I was in my 20s and the earlier desires that LOVED woo were fading. Today they seem pathetic and embarrassing, except nobody knows me here so the embarrassment is minimized.

Am I wrong recalling Charles Berlitz did time for embezzlement? Or was it someone else?

[LTC8K6]

No one knows where AF447 went down. None of the recovered debris so far was actually from AF447, so it remains missing.

[dropzone]

There is a difference between "None of the recovered debris so far was actually from AF447" and "None of the recovered debris so far has actually been proven to be from AF447, but it's far too early to tell." Look at how long it takes to make this determination and call back in a month.

[LTC8K6]

It's already been determined, actually. The debris was not from AF447, and obviously so even to a layman. One item was a bright yellow fishing buoy with rope attached. The large 7 meter piece was from a boat, although this article lacks that info. The wooden pallet was not onboard AF447. The fuel slick was not even jet fuel.

The Brazilian authorities are embarrassed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1190760/Debris-Atlantic-NOT-Air-France-jet-say-red-faced-investigators.html

[LTC8K6]

http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2009/06/05/air-france-flight-af447-search-setback/atlantic-debris-just-rubbish-not-airbus-wreckage.html

[quadraginta]

Like Dallas/Fort Worth airport. I couldn't find my plane there a couple of times. Last time I was there, I also lost my car. :D
How did your luggage make out.

I seem to have lots of trouble with that. Although, to be fair, so far it has made it home on some later flight.

[Towlie]

Towlie, I can make a triangle with 270 degrees. Start from either the North or South Pole. Draw a line from there to 0N 90W. Return to the starting pole. There you go, a triangle with three right angles.No, that would be a second line drawn over the top of the first line. To get the triangle, you'd have to draw a line along 1/4 of the Equator before returning to the pole.

Anyway, a real skeptic would have been skeptical about whether or not I was serious. ;)

[Little 10 Toes]

No, that would be a second line drawn over the top of the first line. To get the triangle, you'd have to draw a line along 1/4 of the Equator before returning to the pole.

Anyway, a real skeptic would have been skeptical about whether or not I was serious. ;)

Well, like I already "disclaimed", I was tired. :D

[Gord_in_Toronto]

You mean missing things like car keys and odd socks?

Seriously, I believe that Lawrence David Kusche does exactly that in his book The Bermuda Triangle - Mystery Solved I was also under the impression that the Bermuda Triangle was dead, dead, dead - murdered by Kusche's superb research. .

Doesn't any woo go away forever these days?

Norm

The Bermuda Triangle - Mystery Solved, one of my favourite books on my road to skepticism.

"A lie is halfway around the World before Truth gets its boots on." -- Mark Twain

[ExMinister]

Sylvia Browne says it's an intergalactic highway where people can transport themselves from one planet to another.

It's TRUE!



ETA: It's TRUE Sylvia Browne says that at any rate. :)

Which reminds me - what ever happened to Amy Wilson? Is she still around?

[I Ratant]

An airways map from the 1941 issue of "Fortune" magazine..
That plane was REALLY far off course!