O texto seguinte servirá de base para responder à questão.
Curious Kids: what is the Bermuda Triangle and why
is it considered dangerous?
(1º§) "The hype around the Bermuda Triangle can be
traced back to a series of unexplained disappearances of
ships and aircraft. In 1945, five US Navy planes and 14
men disappeared in the area while doing routine training
exercises. The flight's leader, Lieutenant Charles Taylor,
was heard over the radio saying: "We are entering white
water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are,
the water is green, no white." The US navy investigated
and ultimately reported the incident as "cause unknown".
From the time of this incident until the mid-1980s, 25
small planes disappeared while passing through the
Bermuda Triangle. They were never seen again. No
wreckage was ever recovered.
(2º§) In light of the above, we should ask ourselves: if we
don't know what caused something, or if something
appears entirely mysterious, should we look for the
answer in the paranormal (such as ghosts or spirits) or
the supernatural (such as magic or miracles)? Some
people do. They find such explanations exciting. This is
what has happened for decades with the incidents in the
Bermuda Triangle. However, when we take the time to
learn more about these events and not jump to
conclusions, they start to look much more ordinary.
(3º§) "Take the disappearance of Charles Taylor and the
five planes which the US Navy investigated. The
investigation found that as it got dark outside and the
weather changed, Taylor had navigated the planes to the
wrong location. Taylor also had a history of getting lost
while flying. He had twice needed to be rescued in the
Pacific Ocean. The navy itself had a good idea of what
had happened ahead of the disappearance.
(4º§) "But the incident was ultimately described as "cause
unknown" because Taylor's mother, not wanting to blame
her son for the disappearance, maintained if the navy
couldn't find the aircraft they couldn't say for sure what
had happened. Not wanting to blame Taylor for the
tragedy, the navy agreed. Most of the pilots involved in
the incident were trainees. This means they weren't
properly taught how to use all the aircraft instruments
when flying at night, or in bad weather.
(5º§) "What's more, the aircraft they had been flying were known to sink in as little as 45 seconds if they landed in
water. And once aircraft sink in the vast ocean (although
this is extremely rare these days), they are often never
found again. This is true even now, despite big
improvements in aircraft technology and
search-and-rescue methods. For instance, only a small
amount of debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines
MH370 flight, which disappeared in 2014, has been
found [...].
SATTERLEY, S. Curious Kids: what is the Bermuda Triangle and why
is it considered dangerous?. The Conversation, 2020 (adaptado).
Disponível em:
https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-is-the-bermuda-triangle-a
nd-why-is-it-considered-dangerous-145616. Acesso em 21 de julho de
2024.