Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved?

Are craters below the surface to blame for the disappearance of planes and ships?

Scientists may have come up with an explanation for one of the world's greatest mysteries - the Bermuda Triangle.

The Bermuda Triangle, which lies in a section of the North Atlantic Ocean, has been blamed for the disappearance of at least 20 planes and 50 ships in the past 100 years.

A discovery of giant underwater craters at the bottom of the Barents Sea could offer a viable theory for the disappearance of ships lost at sea.

Scientists have found craters almost a kilometre wide and more than 45 metres deep, believed to have been caused by build-ups of methane off the coast of natural gas-rich Norway, the Daily Mail reported.

Details of the discovery will be released next month at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union, with a key question being whether such bubbles could threaten ships.

One theory is they may explain the disappearance of ships in areas like the Bermuda Triangle.

A researcher from the Arctic University of Norway told the Sunday Times multiple craters existed on the sea floor in an area in the west-central Barents Sea, which probably caused enormous "blowouts" of gas.

"The crater area is likely to represent one of the largest hotspots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic."