Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

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Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby DrakeS » Mon May 10, 2010 8:12 pm

Cool pics ensconsed in article, follow the link to see

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/alas ... /printable


Why has part of the Alaskan wilderness been called the Bermuda Triangle?

by Cristen Conger
Browse the article Why has part of the Alaskan wilderness been called the Bermuda Triangle?

Why has part of the Alaskan wilderness been called the Bermuda Triangle?
Alaska Image Gallery

alaska bermuda triangle map
Because of the high rate of disappearances, one area of Alaska has been called its Bermuda Triangle. See more pictures of Alaska.

Amid the untouched beauty of Alaska's varying landscape, a mystery lingers. Because people seem to go missing at an eerily high rate, a large section of the state has come to be called Alaska's Bermuda Triangle. Planes go down, hikers go missing and Alaskan residents and tourists seem to vanish into the largely untouched backdrop.

The so-called Bermuda Triangle slices through four of the state's regions, from the southeastern wilderness and fjords to the interior tundra and up to the arctic mountain ranges. Its points include the large swath of land from Juneau and Yakutat in the southeast, the Barrow mountain range in the north, and Anchorage in the center of the state.

Even the native Alaska Tlingit Indians that live near Juneau have integrated this peculiar mystery into their religious culture. They believe an evil spirit named Kushtaka, a cross between a man and an otter, captures people who have drowned or gotten lost, whisking them away to his realm never to be seen again.

Evil spirits or not, the rate of people reported missing in Alaska is almost twice the national average. While many cases involve runaways or people who return home, Alaska also has the highest percentage of missing people who are never found [source: Tizon].
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In 2007, Alaska state troopers added 2,833 missing person notices to their Missing Persons Clearinghouse that maintains all related information [source: Alaska Governor's Office]. In a state with just over 670,000 residents, that figure averages out to about four in every 1,000 people.

Along with missing persons reports, state troopers oversee search and rescue operations. In 2007, they performed 42 missions related to overdue hikers, 85 related to overdue boaters and 100 related to overdue snow machine operators who were temporarily missing [source: Alaska Governor's Office]. The Civil Air Service also assists with search and rescue missions, and Alaska's branch received the most state funding and saved the most lives in 2006 out of all other state branches [source: Civil Air Service].

Why are so many people becoming lost or stranded, sometimes forever, in Alaska? Is a Kushtaka spirit skulking in the wild or is Mother Nature to blame?

On the next page, we'll try to solve Alaska's Bermuda Triangle mystery.

Missing in Alaska
Quiz Corner
You've probably heard of the Bermuda Triangle, but how much do you really know?
Test your knowledge in the Bermuda Triangle Quiz.

In July 1993, 24-year-old Chris McCandless set off into the Alaskan wilderness determined to live off the land. After 112 days, he died of starvation, and four months later, a moose hunter accidentally stumbled upon his body.

The subject of the best-selling novel "Into the Wild" and 2007 motion picture by the same name, McCandless' tale symbolizes to many the romanticism and brutality of nature. Twenty-two miles from the nearest road, McCandless removed himself from the typical man-made dangers often associated with premature death. Nevertheless, it didn't take long for him to succumb to the will of a potentially greater threat

In 2007, 19 rescues were performed for Mount McKinley climbers in Denali
National Park.

More th­an half of the nation's federally-designated wilderness lies in Alaska [source: National Agricultural Law Center], and many of the permanent disappearances in Alaska are linked to the pristine, yet sometimes perilous, natural elements. Bound by 33,000 miles of coastline, the land contains more than three million lakes, untamed wildlife, and winters that blanket vast reaches of the state in snow and ice. Likewise, of the hundreds of search and rescue operations performed each year, a majority are the result of people literally becoming lost in the middle of nowhere.

Acciden­tal injuries are the third-highest cause of death in Alaska, twice the national incidence rate [source: Alaska Division of Public Health]. In addition to car accidents, this category of fatalities can also include people falling down mountains or slipping in the spaces between glaciers, called crevasses. Of those accidental deaths, drowning is the third-highest cause [source: Alaska Department of Public Safety]. Many times, the cold temperatures cause bodies to sink to the bottom of the water rather than float to the top, adding another challenge to finding missing people.


The Denali National Park, where Chris McCandless set up camp, sits in the middle of the so-called Bermuda Triangle and gapes across an area slightly smaller than the state of Massachusetts. Home to Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America, yearly temperatures fluctuate between 55 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 degrees Celsius) in the summer to a mere 2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 16.6 degrees Celsius) in the winter.

The brief climbing season lasts only from April to June, but at least 28 people have died there since 1996 [source: Associated Press]. According to the National Park Service, 19 people were rescued and two people died out of the 1,218 Mt. McKinley climbers in 2007.

Each year, scores of tourists visit Alaska to see that unspoiled land found in the so-called Bermuda Triangle and experience none of the dangers detailed above. Nevertheless, the Alaska Department of Parks and Outdoor Recreation urges those who visit the more remote areas to be prepared for the natural elements -- and dodge the clutches of the Kushtaka.

For more information on surviving in the wilderness, read the links on the next page
nice choice of words Kurt. "damn shame" My arent we eloquent. Just wait till someone has a few "choice words " for you, too. Uhhh duhhh...hmmmmh
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby Woodsman » Mon May 10, 2010 11:36 pm

Well let's see:

1. It's freezing or colder more than half the time.
2. The runoff feeding rivers is as unpredictable as the weather, so that can create a travel barrier.
3. There are no roads, so you have to hoof it on foot in remote places.
4. There are predators larger than humans that are sometimes hungry enough to pursue humans as food.
5. Bugs can be very bad.
6. The sunlight (too much/too little) can screw with a persons head, causing them not to think clearly.
7. The terrain can be very hazardous.
8. The water is not free of microbes that can hurt your ability to stay hydrated.

...and a whole lot of other reasons.

Still, home of the American Bermuda Triangle is Florida, since the Bermuda triangle is off the coast of Florida.
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby DrakeS » Tue May 11, 2010 3:38 am

Woodsman wrote:Well let's see:

1. It's freezing or colder more than half the time.
2. The runoff feeding rivers is as unpredictable as the weather, so that can create a travel barrier.
3. There are no roads, so you have to hoof it on foot in remote places.
4. There are predators larger than humans that are sometimes hungry enough to pursue humans as food.
5. Bugs can be very bad.
6. The sunlight (too much/too little) can screw with a persons head, causing them not to think clearly.
7. The terrain can be very hazardous.
8. The water is not free of microbes that can hurt your ability to stay hydrated.

...and a whole lot of other reasons.

Still, home of the American Bermuda Triangle is Florida, since the Bermuda triangle is off the coast of Florida.


Picky picky, the other two leg angles of the tri are Puerto Rico and ,uhlet me think..oh yah Bermuda.lol

But I think what the allusion is to is that in addition to all the above rugged aspects of life and death in AK is, they cant explain away mysterious disappearances. Hence the allusion to a similarity to the Bermuda Triangle. I would tend to think there is no analogous metaphor to make comparison with besides the Bermuda Triangle. As much as I have heard about unheard from bush pilots in AK , its the first time I have read something along the lines of the supernatural or superstitious.





House Majority Leader Hale Boggs Disappearance in Alaska

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Kk ... aska&hl=en

The plane disappeared somewhere between Anchorage to Juneau. Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force planes searched for the party. On November 24, 1972, after 39 days, the search was abandoned. Neither the wreckage of the plane nor the pilot's and passengers' remains were ever found. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT's) in all U.S. civil aircraft.

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/search116.htm

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/images/search/cftfz-sbarry-1.jpg

http://www.ruudleeuw.com/images/search/crash-bristol_freighter-2.jpg


Heres just another "one", how do you manage to get lost and missing 3 miles from shore and 10-15 miles from a big city with an airport runway?

The search for a missing plane with three people on board, near Anchorage, Alaska, continued into a fifth day Wednesday with still no signs of life.
Anchorage

The last contact with the four-seat propeller-driven plane was at about 8:30 p.m. Friday. The last known coordinates of the aircraft were at a point about three miles offshore between Moose Point and Point Possession in Gompertz Channel north of Cook Inlet, about 10 to 15 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Six Civil Air Patrol aircraft were searching Wednesday. At least three of them were equipped with floats for landing on water, said Mike Haller, a spokesman for the Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage.

A flight plan was not filed, but it was believed the plane was headed back to Anchorage when it disappeared.

http://alaskareport.com/news109/x71358_ ... zellen.htm
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby Caliban » Tue May 11, 2010 10:18 am

Woodsman wrote:Well let's see:

1. It's freezing or colder more than half the time.
2. The runoff feeding rivers is as unpredictable as the weather, so that can create a travel barrier.
3. There are no roads, so you have to hoof it on foot in remote places.
4. There are predators larger than humans that are sometimes hungry enough to pursue humans as food.
5. Bugs can be very bad.
6. The sunlight (too much/too little) can screw with a persons head, causing them not to think clearly.
7. The terrain can be very hazardous.
8. The water is not free of microbes that can hurt your ability to stay hydrated.

...and a whole lot of other reasons.

Still, home of the American Bermuda Triangle is Florida, since the Bermuda triangle is off the coast of Florida.



You forgot 9. A lot of people who get lost are fucking stupid, ill prepared idiots
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby Woodsman » Tue May 11, 2010 2:10 pm

Caliban wrote:You forgot 9. A lot of people who get lost are fucking stupid, ill prepared idiots


I may have to call you when I am in London. Ha ha ha.
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby DrakeS » Tue May 11, 2010 6:23 pm

Ill prepared yes, indeed and probably. One thing to know is how not to get lost is after that what to do when you are. First rule of the unprepared is panic. Oft told tale is one of starting out once realizing you have lost the trail is to go into a big gigantic circle.

Still cant get over how a last point of contact with a prop-driven plane i.e. " last known coordinates" was three miles offshore and 10 to 15 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Sounds like someone KNOWS HOW to disappear , become invisible, start a new life-lol. People do do that.
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby Caliban » Tue May 11, 2010 8:34 pm

Woodsman wrote:
Caliban wrote:You forgot 9. A lot of people who get lost are fucking stupid, ill prepared idiots


I may have to call you when I am in London. Ha ha ha.



If you get lost in London 1. Serves you right for going 2. Rickshaw is your man
The best way not to get lost in London is not to go there if you can avoid it !!

Come to"the pool of life " instead. Never get lost here, just piton yourself to the doors of pubs !
"If you sit still the birds shit on you, even Buddha, life's short so get out there and do something"
"My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I’m happy. I can’t figure it out. What am I doing right?" Snoopy
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby coldharvest » Wed May 12, 2010 6:43 am

Caliban wrote:If you get lost in London 1. Serves you right for going 2. Rickshaw is your man
The best way not to get lost in London is not to go there if you can avoid it !!
Come to"the pool of life " instead. Never get lost here, just piton yourself to the doors of pubs !

Yes, life is better in Northern England.
Rickshaw is the only non-metrosexual in London.
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Re: Alaska = home of American Bermuda Triangle?

Postby Caliban » Sat May 15, 2010 7:40 pm

coldharvest wrote:
Caliban wrote:If you get lost in London 1. Serves you right for going 2. Rickshaw is your man
The best way not to get lost in London is not to go there if you can avoid it !!
Come to"the pool of life " instead. Never get lost here, just piton yourself to the doors of pubs !

Yes, life is better in Northern England.
Rickshaw is the only non-metrosexual in London.


And there are doubts about that too. All that loitering around Kings cross for fares and his talk about bouncing two pound coins off his arse leaves too many unanswered questions and disturbing mental images that can't be washed away be his talk of appreciating good beers
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Re: ~~yes

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I'd never thought of it that way. A very good point........you spam whore
"If you sit still the birds shit on you, even Buddha, life's short so get out there and do something"
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