海角大神

Hexagonal clouds don鈥檛 explain the unexplained disappearances of planes and ships crossing through the Bermuda Triangle. But misleading editing might.

The Science Channel series 鈥淲hat on Earth?鈥� that cited Randall Cerveny, director of Arizona State University鈥檚 meteorology department, in linking a hexagonal cloud formation observed over the region to an unusual weather phenomenon that can suddenly generate big waves and winds of up to 150 miles per hour.

Dr. Cerveny that in the clip where he appears, he had meant to provide a 鈥渟traw man explanation,鈥� though the show鈥檚 creators mistakenly accepted it as a legitimate.

鈥淭he editing on this was horrendous,鈥� he told the Post. 鈥淚 was really upset when I saw this.鈥�

The error shines a light on a myth that, despite repeated debunkings that go back to the 1970s, maintains an iron grip on public imaginations. Most researchers trace the origin of the myth to during a routine training mission in the Bahamas, and a 1950 Associated Press article on several other ships and planes that vanished in the region, which encompasses a 500,000-square-mile area between Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

The region's weather can be extreme during hurricane season, but compared to other places, it isn鈥檛 particularly perilous. It didn鈥檛 make the cut in a 2013 WWF list of the world鈥檚 most dangerous seas, and the US Coast Guard鈥檚 website features of the idea that the region poses a 鈥渟pecific hazard to ships or planes.鈥�

鈥淚n a review of many aircraft and vessel losses in the area over the years, there has been nothing discovered that would indicate that casualties were the result of anything other than physical causes. No extraordinary factors have ever been identified,鈥� the site reads.

The myth is also grist for scientists, who now and then try to link unusual atmospheric phenomenon to the mystery, often to the delight of journalists.

The 鈥淲hat on Earth?鈥� segment notes that hexagonal 鈥渉oneycomb鈥� clouds 鈥撀�, and 鈥� have been observed in the North Sea, off the coast of the Britain, during an unusual weather phenomenon known as microbursts, or 鈥渁ir bombs.鈥�

The latter can suddenly generate big waves and winds of up to 150 miles per hour. But the segment goes on to suggest that the presence of those clouds in the Bermuda Triangle could mean that ships and planes passing through those waters are swallowed by microbursts.

鈥淚f Professor Cerveny is right, and these strange hexagons are the signature of deadly air bombs,鈥� the narrator says, 鈥渢hen this satellite image could ... solve the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle."

The problem, , is that the weather patterns of the North Sea can鈥檛 be used to make conclusions about patterns occurring in waters so far away.

"When I look at a hexagonal cloud shape in the Bahamas, this is not the cloud signature of what a microburst looks like," he told the network. "You would normally have one large to extremely large thunderstorm that wouldn't have an opening in the middle."

"I wouldn't say what we're seeing in the Bahamas is the exact same as in the North Sea.鈥�