Has the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle finally been solved?

The hexagonal clouds which are unique to the region. Photo / YouTube / CNN

Researchers in the US claim they have discovered the answer to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.

Covering more than half a million square miles of ocean located between Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rica, the term "Bermuda Triangle" was first coined by writer Vincent H. Gaddis in 1964.

The area is notorious for (legend has it) the unusually high number of planes and ships that go missing there without trace.

In a new Science Channel documentary, meteorologists claim that an unusual type of cloud located in the region could be behind a number of the disappearances.

The hexagonal-shaped clouds, measuring between 20 and 50 miles across, can cause extremely localised high winds which, they speculate, could be the cause of some of the previously-unexplained incidents.

"These types of hexagonal shapes over the ocean are in essence, 'air bombs,'' said Dr Randy Cerveny of Arizona State University.

"They're formed by what are called microbursts. They're blasts of air that come down out of the bottom of the clouds and hit the ocean, and they create waves that can sometimes be massive in size once they start to interact with each other."

However, some experts have disputed the meteorologists claims. NBC's Kevin Corriveau said: "When I look at a hexagonal cloud shape in the Bahamas, this is not the cloud signature of what a microburst looks like.

"You would normally have one large to extremely large thunderstorm that wouldn't have an opening in the middle."

Others have pointed out that, while there have indeed been a number of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle region, they are statistically "relatively insignificant" given the huge number of ships and aircraft that pass through the area.