Scientists suggest new theory behind the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle

Hexagonal clouds creating 'air-bombs' capable of downing planes and flipping ships are said to be behind hundreds of mysterious disappearances at sea

The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle may finally have been solved by a group of satellite meteorologists.

For decades, a series of disappearances within the 500,000km square area between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda has remained unexplained and dismissed as coincidental by many.

The triangle is said to be responsible for the loss of at least 1,000 lives along with some 75 planes and hundreds of ships within the past 100 years.

Scientists have now claimed that hexagonal clouds creating “air-bombs” with winds of up to 170mph could be responsible for hundreds of unsolved incidents at sea.

The storms are said to be so powerful that ships and planes can be plunged into the sea in an instant.

Researchers also noted that large-scale clouds were appearing over the western tip of the island of Bermuda, ranging from 20 to 55 miles wide.

Dr Steve Miller, a satellite meteorologist at Colorado State University, told the Science Channel’s What on Earth programme: “You don’t typically see straight edges with clouds.

“Most of the time, clouds are random in their distribution.“

Using radar satellites to measure what was happening underneath the unusual clouds, the research group found sea level winds were also reaching dangerously high speeds, creating waves as high as 45ft as a result.

Metereologist Randy Cerveny said the hexagonal shapes over the ocean “are in essence air bombs”.

“They are formed by what are called microbursts and they’re blasts of air that come down out of the bottom of a cloud and then hit the ocean,” he explained.

These environmental factors “create waves that can sometimes be massive in size as they start to interact with each other.”

The Bermuda Triangle was first coined in the 1950s by a journalist writing about the large number of ships and planes that had disappeared in the region.

Claims of unusual and ‘paranormal’ occurances were made as far back as 1492, whoever, when Christopher Columbus reported seeing strange lights and compass readings.

An average of four planes and 20 ships are said to go missing in the area each year.