Conference hydra::dejavu

    Yes, I've seen that episode (part of it three times), and I'm quite
    willing to credit it as one of the solutions.  There are others
    which contribute:  (1) Hurricanes, (2) other major storms (The Bermuda
    Triangle includes Cape Hatteras, notorious for its bad weather and
    wealth of wrecks), and (3) stupidity.
    
    							Ann B.

    Re .1

    >When there is a shift in the  surface material, caused by storms or
    >undersea landslides, the pressure keeping the hydrated gasses in
    >crystal state is lessened, therby allowing massive  quantities of
    >crystalized gasses to convert back to gaseous state and rapidly shoot
    >towards the surface.

    1. Such a massive movement should be detectable on a seismograph, since
       they can detect far weaker signals, like nuclear explosions. So are
       there seismic records of such movements coinciding with the
       disappearances?

    2. Methane is highly explosive, one spark would cause an explosion of
       quite interesting proportions. Have any been reported?

    Jamie.

    Are there actually significantly more disappearances in the Bermuda 
    Triangle area than can be accounted for by its central location in the 
    trade routes ?
    
    I've never understood the mystique around this. I'm interested
    in whether there are any reliable statistics that actually
    define a Bermuda Triangle region exactly and describe its 
    implication in unusual occurances in reasonably precise terms.  
    
    Maybe I don't have all the data, but this has always seemed to me
    like a lot of explanations for a collection of diverse and possibly 
    often unrelated phenomena lumped into a unitary 'mystery' for the sake
    of selling books and air time.
    
    							todd

    Re .4

    >There is not necessarily a requirement for seismic activity, as the
    >two forces, temperature and pressure are the variables. 

    The movement of such a mass must cause a reading on a seismograph, if
    there are no seismographic records then the theory fails. 

    >There were two examples of terrestrial gas explosions from methane
    >concentrations from undetermined sources, one in Texas and one in the
    >Soviet Union; both were presented as evidence of this phenoma.  There
    >are also a few places in the east where the locals are able to set the
    >ground on fire. 
     
    Strange that the gas being regularly released in the Bermuda triangle
    never manages to get set on fire. Don't you think that this is
    suspicious?

    Jamie.

    Given the volume of traffic through the area, how much higher are the
    losses of human life in there compared with other places?

    Jamie.

I doubt that even a VERY large gas release from sedimentary strata would show
up as significant on a seismograph.  I can however understand how it could sink
a boat.  Imagine a really collosal bubble coming up beneath a boat, the boat 
then falls to the bottom of the bubble and the water closes in over it.

As for the lack of explosions, I would thorize several reasons, they occur and
are not seen because nobody was there, the gas dissipates before it gets 
ignited (because there is no source of ignition), There is a source of ignition
and it is consumed by the flames, or there is a source of ignition, but there
is insuficient oxygen at the moment due to the high concentration of the gas.

I have seen this on a very small scale in swamps.  It is actually kind neat.

Then again, it could all just be aliens.  ;->

80)

    Would a gas release under the water come to the surface as a single
    bubble, or would it break up into a myriad of smaller ones?

    Jamie.

    Probably as myriad smaller ones.  However, as the TV program
    demonstrated, a stream of bubbles will sink a boat at least as easily
    as one big bubble.  (Let's face it, boats float on water, not air.)
    
    							Ann B.

    What about the planes that have supposedly been lost and would not be
    affected by the gases I don't believe.
    
    Just wondering.
    
    Pat

    >Planes supposed to be missing?

    Oh they are quite definitely missing, there is no doubt about that. Now
    why they are missing, is a point on which there is some doubt.

    Jamie.