For the last few months, massive holes have been mysteriously appearing in parts of Russia. Now, some scientists have an interesting theory that would connect famous ship disappearances in the famed "Bermuda Triangle" to the Siberian mystery holes.
A study released by Science in Siberia, a weekly journal from the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested a possible tie between the two faraway incidents, according to the Siberian Times.
Scientists suspect the Siberian craters were created by underground methane deposits that were trapped beneath the surface, exploding upward when permafrost melted that was trapping it. According to the Science in Siberia study, there's a chance these methane explosions also occur in the ocean, which could explain why some ships just disappear without a trace.
The scientists made the tie after studying one of the craters along Russia's Yamal peninsula, according to the report.
"The main element – and this is our working theory to explain the Yamal crater – was a release of gas hydrates. It turned out that there are gas hydrates both in the deep layer which on peninsula is several hundred meters down, and on the layer close to the surface," said scientist Vladimir Potapov in the Siberian Times report.
Live Science reports that methane bubbles have been found to be capable of sinking ships, thanks to a 2003 study published in the American Journal of Physics. So some researchers believe it is possible that the two events could be related, and ships that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle might have been brought down by the same explosive reactions currently seen in Siberia.
However, Discovery News notes that outside scientists who weren't involved in the report are skeptical of the findings, saying the Bermuda Triangle has never been proven to exist and there are likely other explanations for why those ships vanished.