All language subtitles for In.Search.Of.S02E05.The.Bermuda.Triangle.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

Quinto: Welcome
to the most notorious

stretch of ocean on Earth.

It's been called
the Devil's Triangle...

or Hurricane Alley...

but most of us know it
as the Bermuda Triangle,

500,000 square miles
of the Atlantic

that has terrified
and perplexed travelers,

explorers,

and even scientists
for centuries.

Since the time
of Christopher Columbus,

these waters have been
home to many unusual

and unexplainable disasters
and disappearances...

ships, planes,
and unsuspecting travelers,

lost without a trace.

But where have they gone,

and why did they vanish?

Tonight, we aim to find out.

In spite of the danger,

we'll enter the Bermuda Triangle
by sea and by air.

We'll search the depths
for evidence

of the Triangle's
alleged destructive power,

and finally we'll reveal
a shocking new theory,

one that could completely redraw
the map.

It's a mystery that could impact
our entire planet...

as we go in search
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Have a look at this map

of the southern Atlantic coast
of the United States.

Now I want you
to try something.

Draw three straight lines

between Miami, Bermuda,
and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Seems harmless enough, right?

But, what if I told you
that this area,

which is
about the size of Alaska,

has been the site
of over 50 ship disappearances

in just the past century?

It's also been the site

of at least 1,000 fatalities
during that stretch.

Even those
who've managed to survive

have reported
many strange anomalies here.

The Triangle's
countless tragic deaths

remain unsolved mysteries,
because experts today

still can't agree on the cause.

Is it possible
that a strange and deadly power

truly lies
within these three boundaries?

There's only one way
to find out.

We have to enter
the Triangle ourselves.

Philippe Max Rouja is
the custodian of historic wrecks

for the island of Bermuda,

and he thinks he's found
one of the key causes

of all of this area's
destruction.

It's hard to believe
on a day as calm as this

that this is one of the most
treacherous places on Earth.

Quinto: He manages the sites

of over 300 shipwrecks
around the island.

Shipwreck here.
Shipwreck there.

Shipwreck there.

Quinto: According to Philippe,

this area has been
causing problems for sailors

since the very first ships
passed nearby.

Bermuda was put on charts
not as a country

that anyone wanted
to move to or--or migrate to,

but literally as a place
of warning to mariners.

"This is a place you want
to be very careful about,

place you want
to stay away from."

And it's that--that particular
navigational hazard

which I think
tees up the whole mystery

and the mythos
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Quinto: It's also the reason

people live on Bermuda
in the first place.

Bermuda is a nation
founded on shipwrecks.

The first settlers here
arrived by shipwreck in 1609.

Our national flag
has a shipwreck

smashed up against the rocks
on the flag,

which denotes
the real deep importance

and connection we have to them.

Quinto: If anyone understands
the destructive power

of the Bermuda Triangle,
it's Philippe,

who has been studying
these wrecks for over 15 years.

Today, he's tracking
a relatively new theory,

a unique underwater phenomenon

that may have been sinking ships
here for centuries.

This is actually
a really exciting thing

to run into today.

We've actually come across
a large swath of sargassum,

which is a holopelagic algae
that grows in the open ocean.

In the historical narratives,
there's actually stories

of ships finding themselves
stuck in these large mats

and becalmed for days
and weeks at a time.

Quinto: Sailors began
sharing stories

of an impenetrable region
of the Atlantic

where many ships were lost.

They called it the Sargasso Sea.

Here, thick sargassum mats

can stretch for miles
beneath the water,

making this
one of the most dangerous parts

of the Bermuda Triangle.

There are written accounts
of ships getting stuck

inside huge beds
way, way bigger than this.

Just imagine this thing covers
a square kilometer or two

and much thicker and denser,

and how hard that would be
to navigate your way out of.

Quinto: And getting stuck

isn't the only problem
caused by the sargassum.

Once a ship gets trapped inside,

something even more dangerous
can occur.

As it groups together,
it starts to rot,

and the smell that comes off it
is actually really toxic.

There's a whole story line
that feeds into this.

In the last five years,
they've had a massive influx

of a similar kind of algae
in the Southern Caribbean,

unbelievable growth spurts
of sargassum.

It's appearing in such
absolute massive quantities

that it's occluding entire bays,
poisoning beaches,

'cause the gas
that comes off it when it rots

is actually quite noxious.

Suddenly you can imagine

ships would literally
come to a stop in the algae

in a mat
that's so thick and heavy.

Then they'd be stuck there
for days, left without movement,

and unable to push
their way through.

If those odors
would get onto a ship,

could actually drive guys mad.

Quinto: Is it possible that this
strange growth of plant life

has been poisoning mariners

and sinking vessels
for hundreds of years?

There is strong evidence nearby,

where Philippe
has catalogued not one,

but three sunken vessels
clustered together.

Where else in the world
would you see

shipwrecks from all
these different eras

finding themselves
in the same spot?

- All right.
- Really, there is

no logical reason
for them to all be there.

Quinto: Each of the three wrecks

is quite different
from the others,

and, yet, they all
met the same fate

right here, decades apart.

This is the Montana,

a Civil War blockade runner,
sunk in 1863.

As you come around the--
the back of the stern boiler,

you then turn down,
and you're literally

then confronted
by one of the paddle wheels

that's lying on its side.

Quinto: The Montana's
side-wheel steam propulsion

was the height
of Civil War-era technology,

but it would have been
particularly susceptible

to getting tangled

in the Bermuda Triangle's
sargassum.

And as you can see,
the Mont isn't alone.

The really interesting part
is that,

as you're going
across the center of that ship,

you're actually starting to see

all the cargo
that came from the ship

that sank in 1943,
the Constellation.

Quinto: Sunk directly
on top of the Montana,

the Constellation
was a luxurious cargo ship

stocked to the gills
with high-end goods

bound for Venezuela.

And it had everything on it,

cement, billiard tables,
glass plate for windows.

Quinto:
But, of course, that cargo

never reached its destination.

Neither did that
of the Lartington,

the area's third shipwreck,

which sank
en route to Russia in 1879.

Every shipwreck is a mystery
until you know its story.

And with so many shipwrecks
around Bermuda,

there's a bunch
that we obviously can't explain.

Is this hidden growth
of algae the explanation?

Could the centuries-old mystery
of the Bermuda Triangle

really be that simple?

As we're about to find out,

the truth may actually be
far more complicated,

because, whatever's happening
here in the Bermuda Triangle,

it's not just on the water.

Quinto: What is it
about the Bermuda Triangle

that has caused the loss
of hundreds of ships?

Shipwreck custodian
Philippe Rouja

has theorized that massive
underwater beds of sargassum

may be behind
some of the destruction.

But the truth is this question
could have multiple answers,

because plant life alone
can't explain

the sheer volume
of sunken vessels here.

When we say there are
300 shipwrecks around Bermuda,

those are the ones that there's
evidence of some kind.

But, you know, there's
a whole pile of shipwrecks

that clearly sank
in the deep,

and those are a-another mystery
unto themselves.

We have shipwrecks
from every nationality

that traversed the Atlantic
over three, four centuries,

and so, we're surrounded
by a lot of riddles.

Quinto: In fact, two of
the Triangle's greatest riddles

took place over 600 miles away
from the Sargasso Sea.

In 1918, the USS Cyclops,
a World War I ship,

vanished in the Triangle
without a trace...

taking 306 crew members
and passengers along with it.

No remains have been found
to this day.

It was the largest
noncombat-related loss of life

in U.S. Naval history.

And it led some
to suggest that there

could be supernatural forces
at work in the Bermuda Triangle,

especially when combined with
this story from 30 years before.

In 1881, a ship
called the Ellen Austin

was on a voyage through
the same area of the Triangle

when it crossed paths
with another vessel.

Strangely, this other ship
was completely empty,

with not
a single soul on board.

Some of the Ellen Austin's crew

transferred to the abandoned
ghost ship to sail it to safety.

The two ships were separated
by a large storm.

When the Ellen Austin
finally caught up,

the ghost ship
was once again empty.

All the crew members
had vanished.

And we say, you know,
is it the supernatural?

You know, are there supernatural
phenomenon occurring in Bermuda?

And I would say yeah.
Bermuda is a supernatural place.

Quinto: Others believe
the answer is more scientific.

One of the theories is
this notion of rogue waves,

these waves that sort of
get into a rhythm of a sort

and can create a wave
that literally throws itself

much higher than normal,
appearing out of nowhere,

and creating
very difficult situations.

You also have the theory
of the methyl hydrates,

or the bubbles
coming up and creating

essentially a hole in the ocean
ships would fall into.

Certainly you
would expect an area

that has all these
different forces coming together

to have a higher degree
of risk, you know,

and navigating those risks
is a greater challenge here

than it might be elsewhere.

Quinto: Each of these
science-based theories

seems plausible enough
on its own.

But algae mats, rogue waves,
and even ghost ships

still can't solve
the entire mystery,

because whatever
might be happening

in the Bermuda Triangle
goes way beyond the water.

Now we're gonna go to a place
that isn't actually a shipwreck.

It's actually
the wreck of an airplane.

You know, the Bermuda Triangle
isn't just about shipwrecks.

It's also about, you know,
anomalies that influence

not just ships, but aircraft
and things like that.

The wreck
of the KB Hayes bomber,

it has this incredible
juxtaposition of, you know,

the height of, sort of,
human technology and nature.

You know, the reef
is kind of taking over

these aluminum
and stainless-steel engine parts

and parts of the plane,

and it has a really interesting
kind of contrast going on.

Quinto: The story
of this bomber,

which went down in 1961,

only adds to the mystery
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Clearly, underwater plant life
wasn't responsible,

and neither was the weather.

This plane, in fact,
went down on a very clear day.

They experienced engine trouble,

but we don't have
the answers to it all.

Oh, it's a lot of plane.

Think the most striking thing
are the struts,

like the landing gear
and things like that.

You know, it's a stark reminder
that it didn't land.

It kind of is a very kind of
emotionally jarring wreck,

because it's something
we can all relate to.

These are airplanes.
These are things

that are really
not supposed to be underwater,

and seeing elements
of a plane underwater

has a completely
different feeling about it.

Quinto:
But the question remains.

What could be behind
this tragic accident?

Whatever the cause may be,
for Philippe

and many other citizens
of Bermuda, they are confident

that something unexplainable
is happening here.

People have
a lot of different theories

about the Bermuda Triangle.

People love this mystique.

There is an attraction
to the unexplainable.

You know, there's no question
that there's something

really special
about the Bermuda Triangle,

and, um, you know, I'm sure,

as we move forward,
we're gonna find

lots of other explanations
for things that have happened,

but, uh, having
a good mystery out there

is actually pretty cool.

Thanks to researchers
like Philippe,

we're finding more and more

of the Bermuda Triangle's
ship and airplane wrecks,

which will hopefully
provide new leads

on the cause
of the area's dangers.

But there are many vessels
that are still unaccounted for,

including what might be

the Triangle's
most mysterious loss of all.

Six airplanes all vanished
on the same day

in an incident
known as Flight 19.

On December 5, 1945,

just a few months
after the end of World War II,

14 airmen boarded
five planes in Florida

and flew off over the Atlantic.

But soon after entering
the Bermuda Triangle,

the airmen became
mysteriously disoriented.

Despite their high-level skills
and some of the day's

most technologically
advanced aircraft,

all 5 planes
and all 14 people were lost,

gone without a trace.

But the tragedy
doesn't end there.

In a bizarre twist,
a seaplane was sent out

with 13 additional crew members
on a rescue mission.

Shockingly that plane
disappeared as well

only 27 minutes into its voyage.

What could have happened
to these airplanes

or the 1961 KB Hayes bomber?

And is there any chance

it relates
to the area's shipwrecks?

Quinto: Could the Bermuda
Triangle's combination

of hidden algae and rogue waves

be the cause
of the area's many shipwrecks?

Perhaps, but that
doesn't explain

why airplanes continue
to go missing as well.

What is it that's
going on in the skies

above this supposedly
deadly stretch of ocean?

Today pilot and Bermuda Triangle
enthusiast Jordy Klein

hopes to fly in and find out.

I feel that the legends
of the Bermuda Triangle

have quite a bit
of merit to them.

And the reason I say that

is because I've
experienced it myself.

Quinto: Jordy grew up
in Florida,

close to the western border
of the Bermuda Triangle,

and he's been interested
in the anomalies here

for his entire life.

My dad is also a pilot.

I used to fly with him

before I could even see
over the dashboard.

My dad was intrigued
by the weird things

that would happen
in the Bermuda Triangle.

And I can remember us flying
to the Bahama islands

and, you know,
all over the Atlantic Ocean,

and that's
what sparked my interest

in the Bermuda Triangle.

I guess you can say

I'm a second-generation
Bermuda Triangle survivor.

Quinto: Following
in his father's footsteps,

Jordy began flying
through the Triangle on his own

as soon as he got
his pilot's license at age 17.

I've flown in the Bermuda
Triangle hundreds of times,

and I've had
countless strange experiences.

I've flown on crystal-clear days

where bad weather
has came out of nowhere.

I've had my compass go haywire,

I've had my altimeter
become erratic,

and I've even
experienced magnetic fog.

Quinto: Many pilots
have described

magnetic fog
in the Bermuda Triangle,

comparing it to a cloud that
wraps itself around an airplane

and follows it,
obscuring all visibility.

The big difference
between flying

through a magnetic fog bank
and a regular fog bank is--

with a magnetic fog bank,
is that, when you fly into it,

you cannot rely on your vision,
nor your instruments.

So, given those two scenarios,

there's countless numbers
of bad things that could happen.

It's very disorienting.

Aside from
the aircraft instrument,

I've turned my head quickly,
and I get vertigo,

almost like my internal compass

is also affected
by the magnetic fog.

Quinto: Could magnetic fog
be at the root

of the Triangle's
many plane crashes,

including the disappearance
of Flight 19?

Jordy believes
it's a definite possibility.

It's one thing
to be lost in a car,

where you can pull over
and look for directions,

but if your only
navigational source

is the compass and it
starts acting erratically,

you could be in trouble.

Quinto: To further
test his theory,

today Jordy is taking a flight
into the Bermuda Triangle

with our camera crew using
only his compass for navigation.

Quinto:
It's a dangerous proposition,

but Jordy's plane
does have a backup system

in case things go wrong.

Today, we're gonna go out
in this 1949 aircraft,

and it has pretty much
the same instruments

as it did 70 years ago.

We're gonna try to rely totally
on those instruments today.

This area is just a hotbed
of aviation and marine wreckage.

A buddy of mine
lives in the Bahamas,

and he was scuba diving,
and he found this sunken plane

that had crashed
some years before,

and, when he went down and
looked through the--the window,

he saw the skeletons
of the pilot and the copilot,

and the pilot had his feet
against the windshield

as if trying to kick it out.

The copilot
had the magnetic compass,

as if he ripped it
off of the dash,

and h-he was holding it
as if he was, like,

just praying for it to work.

Quinto: Jordy's plane
is currently two miles

from where
that fatal incident took place.

If he can recreate a magnetic
anomaly in the air today,

he's confident
this is where it will happen.

Right now, we're flying
right over the island of Bimini.

If you look
on the western shore here,

you'll see these strange
abnormalities in the water.

There's this really weird reef.

It doesn't look
like any other reef on Earth.

It, to me, looks man-made.

And it's even
more strange underwater

than it is flying over it.

Quinto: Jordy and
many other local pilots

believe that the reef,
known as Bimini Road,

contains a pyramid-shaped
underwater formation

that could somehow be impacting

the navigation of planes
and boats in the area.

The question is, how?

A lot
of the strange occurrences

happen around this reef,

so, whatever's
going on down there,

to me, that's just one of
the biggest pieces of evidence

that supports the mystery
of the Bermuda Triangle.

Look at that.
Look at the compass.

This fog came out of nowhere.

Whoa.

My compass is going crazy.

It's a white-out.

Hang on.

Ah,. Whoa!

For centuries, the area
known as the Bermuda Triangle

has seen
more than its fair share

of sea and air disasters,

but what could be causing
these incidents?

Today pilot Jordy Klein

has flown directly
into the Triangle to find out.

This fog came out of nowhere.

This is what I'm talking
about here. Look at this.

My compass is going crazy,
and now we're in turbulence.

Very disorienting.

Whoa!!

If I was a pilot relying

only on this magnetic compass,
I'd be freaking out right now,

'cause I would have no idea
what direction we're flying.

But I can rely on my GPS
to fly us out of this.

If I wasn't
an experienced pilot,

I might not be
so calm right now.

With that compass spinning,

I would have been
very concerned without the GPS.

Quinto: Jordy believes
this magnetic interference

could easily be responsible

for the Bermuda Triangle's
abnormally high death toll.

In the old days,
when all you had to guide you

was compass and sight,
you could imagine.

One mistake
could have been catastrophic.

But that's
what it was like 50 years ago.

Many people never make it out.

Quinto: With every
successful flight he makes

through the Triangle,
Jordy considers himself lucky.

I fly all over the world,

but the Bermuda Triangle
is the only place I know

that all of these
weird things happen.

Quinto: And, yet,
Jordy continues to fly here,

committed to understanding
more about what's going on

and warning others
about the potential dangers.

With today's technology,

things are much safer
in the Bermuda Triangle.

But weird things
still happen there,

and if you're
not prepared for it,

you can still
get yourself into trouble.

Jordy's experiment
suggests that there may indeed

be a magnetic anomaly at work
in the Bermuda Triangle,

and we've also heard theories

ranging from deadly gas leaks
to unusual plant life

to rogue waves
that can appear out of nowhere.

Is there a chance

that all of these
could somehow be connected?

Perhaps we should look
into the accounts

of one
of the very first explorers

to ever sail
into the Bermuda Triangle.

When Columbus entered
this part of the Atlantic

during his famous 1492 voyage,

he reported
erratic compass readings

the likes of which
he'd never seen before.

It's even more evidence
that the Triangle's powers

could be magnetic in origin.

But Columbus spotted
something else as well.

He described
strange lights and flames

crashing across
the surface of the ocean.

What should we make
of Columbus' account?

Is there some type of phenomenon

that combines fire
and magnetism,

and could it be
behind all the unusual activity

here in the Bermuda Triangle?

As we're about to find out,
the answer to that question

may be hiding
right under our noses.

Quinto: The Bermuda Triangle
has been feared

as one of the ocean's
deadliest areas for generations.

The question is,
what could be going on

in this storied region
of the Atlantic Ocean?

So far, we've witnessed unusual
plant growth, weather anomalies,

flames across the water,
and issues of magnetism.

Look at the compass.

Whoa!

Quinto: But we have
yet to identify

the source
of these dangerous phenomena.

Fortunately we may be
on the verge of a breakthrough,

because deep-sea mineral
prospector Nick Hutchings

has spent years
researching Bermuda's geology,

and he thinks
he might have found the cause

of all of the Triangle's
destructive power.

I was born in Bermuda,
so I grew up curious,

what inspired a story
like the Bermuda Triangle?

So we're on our way
to Whale Bone Bay,

where we can see
some of the earliest evidence

of Bermuda's
geological formations.

Quinto: Like many islands,
Bermuda was created by a volcano

that dates back
millions of years.

But, according to Nick,

Bermuda's volcano
was unlike any other on Earth.

The interesting thing
about Bermuda

is that it has
a very unusual lava.

The most recent research
says that it's actually unique.

It hasn't been discovered
anywhere else in the world.

Quinto: Nick has spent years

studying the composition
of this lava,

trying to determine the source
of its unusual properties.

When I started to look
more closely, I started to learn

that it's been
extremely enriched in minerals,

including titanium dioxide
and iron oxide,

which have combined to make
a mineral called magnetite.

Magnetite is the most magnetic

naturally occurring mineral
on Earth.

Where Bermuda's volcanic rock
is 18% to 20% magnetite,

most soils only contain
between 1% and 5%,

so that's a big difference.

You have
more concentrated magnetite,

you have more magnetism.

Quinto: Volcanoes
typically spew lava

from the very top
of the Earth's mantle,

an average of 20 miles
below the surface.

The new study claims
that when Bermuda was formed,

a unique disturbance
caused magma

to bubble up
from much farther down...

400 miles down, in fact.

And, according to Nick,
the result is that Bermuda

contains more magnetite than
any known island on the planet.

An estimated volume
of over 400 billion tons.

Now, over time,
that eroded away,

the slopes of the volcano
or the sides of the volcano,

and washed into the sea,
and all of the magnetite

that was in that volcanic rock
is now deposited up to 120 miles

in all directions
around Bermuda.

So, even though Bermuda's
just a tiny dot on the map,

it's a very small island,

it is essentially
one giant magnet.

Quinto: Volcanic activity
and highly magnetic rock.

It sounds a lot like what
Christopher Columbus reported

on his first trip
through the Triangle.

And studies have shown
that a large magnetic field

can enhance the growth patterns

of certain plants,
like sargassum.

Could the magnetite
be the source

of all the mysterious weather
and navigational anomalies

experienced by travelers
for centuries

in the Bermuda Triangle?

According to Nick,
the answer is yes.

What we have here
is a really good example

of the magnetite
that's exposed in the limestone.

You can see it right
through here and down there,

and if you look carefully,
you can see

a really good example of it
layered in the rocks.

If we move this compass

over even this small amount
of rock, it'll affect it.

And you can see, soon as this
compass comes over the rock,

it'll change magnetic north
by several degrees.

What we're seeing here
is just the tip of the iceberg,

because Bermuda is surrounded
by this kind of rock.

Quinto: Nick's calculations
suggest the magnetite

surrounding Bermuda
is at least 500 feet thick.

So I think this
massive deposit of magnetite,

it can cause strange anomalies

to boats and planes that are
coming through the area.

If you pass a compass over
even a small piece of magnetite,

it can cause a blip.

You can only imagine
what 400 billion tons

would do
to a passing plane or ship.

One can easily imagine
an ancient mariner

when, all of a sudden,
his one most important tool

that's helping him get back home
would start to do weird stuff.

We even find this warning
about magnetic anomalies

in the Bermuda area
on maps and admiralty charts.

And, of course, Bermuda is

at the apex
of the Bermuda Triangle.

If Nick's theory is correct,

all of the anomalies
within the Bermuda Triangle

and all of its heightened danger

could come down
to a question of magnetism.

If that magnetic relationship
is indeed the culprit,

it sets up
one more compelling mystery.

In 1980,
a 400-foot auxiliary ship

sank off the coast
of Daytona Beach here,

in a location
250 miles north of Miami.

In 1991, a commuter flight

crashed on the east coast
of Georgia here.

And, in 2018,
a Piper PA-31 aircraft

took off from South Carolina,
headed for the Bahamas.

100 miles off the coast,
in this location,

the pilot made an emergency
request to divert the plane.

Afterwards, it was never
seen or heard from again.

These wrecks
and others like them

did not take place
within the Bermuda Triangle.

Instead, as you can see,
they form a path

that leads over 1,000 miles
to the northwest.

But a new theory is emerging,

which could not only
explain this path,

but also have major
implications for the future.

The question is,
what if the Bermuda Triangle

as we know it is on the move?

Quinto: The mystery
of the Bermuda Triangle

may finally be close
to being solved.

Experts have theorized

that the area's
high concentration of magnetite

could be causing interference
with the Earth's magnetic field,

leading to weather anomalies,

dangerous algae growth,
and problems with navigation.

If that's the case,
then the issue

lies much deeper
than the ocean floor.

It lies at the very core
of our planet.

And, according to geophysics
professor Dr. Justin Revenaugh,

a potentially catastrophic
magnetic shift

is happening there right now.

My interest
in the Earth's magnetic field

began when I was in college.

Because of a big solar storm,
the northern lights

moved further down
from the poles than usual.

And I thought it was amazing,

and, as a result, I've kept tabs
on the magnetic field

through the rest of my life,

and what it's doing
right now is unusual.

Quinto:
What it's doing is moving,

and it might be taking
the Bermuda Triangle

right along with it.

So here we're looking down
on the north pole of the planet.

Geographic north
lies right there.

Shown in the colored dots

are the position
of magnetic north over time.

We start down here in 1900,

moving steadily northwards
slowly until about 1990,

at which point, it started
moving much more quickly.

At the present day,
it's moving at a rate

of 35 miles per year
to the north and west,

and, if that motion continues,

it'll cross the Arctic Ocean
and work its way into Russia.

Quinto: The question is,
if the Bermuda Triangle

features a deadly
magnetic anomaly,

how might it be impacted
by the planet's magnetic shift?

We've already seen evidence

of increasingly frequent
plane and boat disappearances

to the northwest
of the current Triangle.

Underwater,
Bermuda's magnetite deposits

are also drifting
in the same direction.

Could this simply
be a coincidence?

One thing's for sure.

The magnetic shift is having
a significant impact.

The average person has no idea
that magnetic north is moving.

Why should they?
You can't see it,

you don't feel it,

but it affects the navigation
of ships and airplanes.

Quinto: It's a problem
that sounds a lot

like what could be happening
in the Bermuda Triangle,

except now it's beginning
to occur on a global scale.

These changes are requiring us
to update maps and software

to accommodate
the shifts in the poles

that are necessary
to make sure that GPS

and compass-based navigation
continues to be accurate.

Quinto: But,
according to Dr. Revenaugh,

there could be even greater
consequences for life on Earth.

The Earth's magnetic field
acts like a force field.

If you think about
the "Star Trek" USS Enterprise,

when they would be shot
by lasers and photon weapons,

would be deflected
away from the spacecraft.

"Star Trek" didn't
pull this out of thin air.

Our planet's magnetic field

is protecting us
from space weather,

solar radiation, solar winds.

If they reach the Earth
in full numbers,

it could shut down
electrical grids,

gas and oil pipelines,

cellular and satellite
communication, television,

aircraft flights,
and potentially

other things that we
haven't even thought about.

It won't happen overnight,

but we are seeing signs that it
could happen rather soon.

Quinto: Dr. Revenaugh
has a simple way

to illustrate this effect.

So to understand
what might happen

if Earth's magnetic field
were weakened,

we're gonna look at a microwave.

Microwave creates radiation
of its own kind

that we can use
to heat water, cook food,

and we're protected from that

by the casing and the grill
on the front of the microwave.

But imagine what would happen
if we put a cellphone inside.

Out here, it's protected

from the radiation
inside the microwave,

but, if I put it in,

that protection's
not gonna be there anymore.

It's gonna feel
its effects entirely.

Hit start.

Look at that.

It only took about five seconds,
and look at that.

The radiation inside there

completely fried
the electronics.

It's shot.

It's still cool
to the touch, though.

It wasn't that it heated up.

It was that the electronics were
shorted out by the radiation.

Quinto: What if this
happened worldwide

and our communications,
compass, and GPS navigation,

radar, and safety tracking
all ceased to function?

We basically would be
thrown back 300 years.

It wouldn't
quite be the Stone Age,

but it wouldn't be
the modern world

we've become accustomed to.

Quinto: But Justin
believes that there are steps

we can take
to prevent this scenario.

To fix this would require
building physical protections

for many parts
of the infrastructure.

It's not a coding issue.
It's not a software fix.

It's an infrastructure issue.

Cellphone towers,
electrical grids,

pipelines would all
need to be rebuilt or modified

to be protected
from solar radiation.

Quinto: Unless we can build
these protections in time,

it won't matter
if the Bermuda Triangle

is moving or not,
because its alleged effects

could soon impact
the entire world.

Scholars like Dr. Revenaugh
are currently trying to identify

all of the issues that
a magnetic shift could cause.

After that, they'll still
need to convince governments,

private companies, and engineers

to shore up our infrastructure
before it's too late.

As for the Bermuda Triangle,

if it is moving northwest
as we've proposed,

thankfully it remains
an isolated area,

just 500,000 square miles
on the surface

of a nearly
200-million-square-mile planet.

But if we don't plan
for the future,

the entire world may one day
become a Bermuda Triangle,

a place where safe navigation
of the seas and skies

can no longer be possible.

In other words,
we must continue moving forward

in the same spirit

as the Bermuda Triangle's
first explorers.

Sometimes the only way
out of a predicament

is to head straight through.

The search continues.