Customer Reviews

Nova: The Bermuda Triangle [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This excellent Nova program takes an interesting "mystery" - the supposed disappearence of ships and planes from a region in the Atlantic called the Bermuda Triangle - and examines many of the more famous cases, which some writers claim are "inexplicable." In each case it turns out other information exists not reffered to by the Bermuda Triangle writers, information which every time points to a rational, natural explanation for the "disappearences" - such as bad weather, pilot confusion, even completely fictional ships and planes that never existed in the first place. [My favourite was a yacht that had supposedly disappeared in fine weather that had, in fact, "disappeared in the worst winter storm in Florida's history!"]

The best part of this film is how it teaches to young people (and old people), in a non-condescending way, the basics of critical thinking. Such as asking "What does it mean?" to any given statement, asking "Are there other interpretations available?" or "Is the evidence complete {or even, any good]?"

This makes a fine video to give to young people who are interested in the Triangle or other such phenomena (alien abduction, etc), and can help them to understand that just because something gets printed in a book or is seen on TV, doesn't mean it's true, and that there might be reasons for writing such books other than a real mystery to solve (such as making money out of decent but unsuspecting people). He or she will also get to see a few charlatans - Triangle "experts" - shown up on camera, when the Nova people present evidence to these "experts" which the experts either don't know about or have withheld, explanations that offer a much simpler, natural reason for the disappearence of craft (like raging hurricanes).

A good companion to this tape is Lawrence Kushches' book, *The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved* which has a similar debunking theme , again with fascinating and satisfying results. Another good book is Carl Sagan's *The Demon Haunted World* which looks into the many superstitious or irrational beliefs people hold (alien abduction, the face on mars) and asks why it is important for people to believe in these things, and what we can do as a society to promote critical thinking - a fascinating book which is non-condescending yet rational throughout.

The program itself as originally broadcast (on-screen title: "The Case of the Bermuda Triangle") deserves 5 stars despite the fact that it is over 30 years old and not much (if any) attention is paid to the Bermuda Triangle anymore. Hopefully it's because of programs like this that helped viewers become more critical thinkers. The program came out at a time when the Triangle and "ancient astronauts" were all the rage; best selling books and countless "documentaries" were in wide circulation. In just its first few years, NOVA became a "breath of fresh air" in an intellectual atmosphere polluted by self-proclaimed experts who, sadly to their credit, were able to take advantage of the gullibility of so many in the mass media audience.

That being said, both the prerecorded videocassette and its only other format, laserdisc, contain an altered version of the original program. To begin with, the last words spoken by author Lawrence Kusche where he says that "The Bermuda Triangle mystery is probably one of the greatest hoaxes that's ever been pulled off" (just before the segment with Philip Klass) has been cut out. The original background music performed by Tangerine Dream (from their 1975 live album "Ricochet") has been replaced with a nondescript orchestral recording, most likely due to copyright issues. Finally, even though this program was first broadcast in 1976, the series title sequence used is the one from the early '80s (their first attempt at using CGI).

As I've stated in other reviews of NOVA videos, I find the fact that the program you buy is not always the program you saw (and heard) rather frustrating. I strongly suggest to other fans of NOVA that, as much as possible, first preview a public library or rental copy of a prerecorded videocassette or DVD to verify that the content is complete before plunking down good money on a purchase.

The "Bermuda Triangle" can be defined as
Disapperance of Airplanes or Vessels without
obious, explainable causes in the area of Oceans
confined as Triangle in Bermuda--Puerto rico-- Miami,Florida.
1st officially raised case was Silent,Disappearing of
5-TBM Avenger,Flight19 GROUP ON 16,Sept,1950.
cause of Disappearing were suggested Natural disaster,piarate,
equipnental failure, human error,etc.---Unknown!
Among many theories, 1)Physic. 2)Extra-earth Person ?

I think it is important for everyone, especially young people, to see this episode of Nova. As a previous reviewer noted, it teaches critical thinking in a non-condescending way. Even better, I think it shows that the process of ferreting out the truth about such "mysteries" can be much more exciting and interesting than simply swallowing the nonsense whole.

I strongly recommend that every parent and every teacher have their kids watch this.