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Several places in the world are eerie with unexplainable events and observations. Most call them haunted while others look for scientific explanations. The marine world also has a few such locations like the Bermuda Triangle, the Devil’s Sea or the Dragon’s Triangle with stories of vanishing vessels, ghost ships drifting without a soul in sight etc.
Located near the Japanese coast in the Pacific Ocean, the Devil’s Sea (Ma-no Umi in Japanese) is one of the twelve Vile Vortices around the earth. Vile vortices are those areas where the pull of the planet’s electromagnetic waves is stronger than anywhere else. As the title indicates, the Dragon’s Triangle extends as a triangle between Japan and the Islands of Bonin, including a major portion of the Philippine Sea.
Geographically, the triangle is located around Miyake, a Japanese island that lies 100 km south of Tokyo. However, the exact location of the Devil’s Sea is disputed.
Some reports state that it is 110 km from Japan’s east coast, while others claim that it is located near Iwo Jima, a Japanese Volcano Island which is almost 1,200 km from the Japanese coast. Since the Devil’s Sea is not officially included in the map, the actual size and the perimeter of the notorious waters remain unknown.
The area has also been called the Pacific Bermuda Triangle, denoting its position that is precisely opposite to the Bermuda Triangle and the similarities in the “paranormal phenomena” of the area with that of the Bermuda Triangle.
According to legends, the waters of the Devil Sea can engulf the mightiest of ships and their crew. The region has been famous for ship disappearances.
Notable Events in the Devil’s Sea
It is said that the conqueror Kublai Khan, the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and the grandson of Genghis Khan, had tried to make inroads into Japan in 1274 and 1281 AD. However, in both attempts, he failed to invade the country after losing his vessels and 40,000 crew members in this triangular area, reportedly due to typhoons.
As Kublai Khan and his army abandoned the plan to invade Japan, the Japanese believed God sent the typhoons to save them from the enemies.
Another story is about the sighting of a mysterious lady sailing a vessel in the Devil’s Sea in the early 1800s. It is said that the vessel resembled the traditional Japanese equipment for burning incense. However, the destination and identity of the vessel remain a mystery.
In the 1940s and 1950s, many fishing vessels and over five military vessels disappeared between Miyake Island and Iwo Jima.
Japan sent a research ship, Kaio Maru No.5 in 1952 to investigate the disappearances. However, this vessel also went missing. Its wreck was recovered later, but nobody knows what happened to the 31 crew members.
Following this incident, the Japanese government declared this area dangerous for marine voyaging and transporting goods. Moreover, after this unprecedented incident, all efforts to unearth the facts behind the mystery were also aborted.
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Origin of the Devil’s Sea Name
The term dragon in the name of the Devil Sea originates from the Chinese fable about dragons living in its waters. According to these fables, the dragons under the sea attack vessels passing by to satiate their hunger. These fables originated well before the AD period – 1000 BC era.
Similarly, the Japanese name “Ma-No Umi,” which means the Sea of the Devil, was originally coined by Japanese years ago when the stories of paranormal phenomena in the sea were popularized.
The superstitions associated with the Devil’s Sea always haunted the Japanese from venturing into this part of the ocean.
Other Explanations for the Mystery of Devil’s Sea
As the Devil’s Sea was popularized through legends, there were also hypotheses, including scientific explanations, attempting to solve the mystery. Several efforts were made to understand the truth behind the paranormal phenomenon.
Scholars like Ivan Sanderson suggested that the hot and cold currents crossing this Vile Vortice led to the disappearance of vessels in the Devil’s Sea. According to him, these currents result in electromagnetic disturbances that trap the ships passing by.
Another hypothesis suggested that the subsea volcanoes in the area were to blame. The eruptions from these volcanoes could have initiated such accidents, substantiating stories of dragons sucking in ships and their crew to the ocean’s depths.
Due to the undersea volcanoes and seismic activities, according to marine scholars, the islands in the area often disappear suddenly, while new ones appear at the same pace.
Another scientific research claimed that the anomalies were the result of an environmental phenomenon. The researchers argued that there were methane hydrates on the seabed.
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When methane hydrate gas or methane clathrates explode, bubbles form on the water surface. This impacts buoyancy and destroys a vessel without even leaving a trace.
However, in 1989, American writer and paranormal activity theorist Charles Berlitz wrote a book, The Dragon’s Triangle, after detailed research on the paranormal activities in the Devil’s Sea. According to him, the accidents involving five Japanese military vessels in the triangle, due to the ‘evil’ nature of the sea, have resulted in the death of more than 700 people.
Later, questioning Charles’s arguments, Larry Kusche published a book titled ‘The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved’ in 1995. In his work, Kusche rejected the story of the disappearance of Japanese warships, arguing that the vessels that went missing were fishing boats.
In his book, Kusche also claimed that the research ship sent by the Japanese contained a crew of only 31 people as opposed to the 100 stated by Charles and the vessel was wrecked by an undersea volcano in September 1952.
The remains of the wreckage were retrieved by the Japanese a few years ago which further rejected Charles’s claims.
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