The disappearance of theSS Cotopaxiin 1925 has been shrouded in tales of the paranormal and supernatural . In one of the most popular imaginings , the ship inexplicably vanished in the infamous Bermuda Triangle under some spooky circumstances .
Steven Spielberg ’s 1977 movieClose Encounters of the Third Kindwent a footstep further and said the ship mysteriously emerged in the Gobi Desert after proceed missing in the Bermuda Triangle some 50 years earlier . There were evenrecent rumorstheCotopaxiwas sailing around Cuba as a ghost ship .
Unsurprisingly , none of these theory were correct . Now a squad of marine biologists and underwater explorers say they have identified a wreck some 56 kilometers ( 35 mile ) off St Augustine in northeast Florida as the missing ship . While this may be the right neck opening of the woods , this location is not really within what is considered the " Bermuda Triangle " , an area in the Atlantic Ocean between Puerto Rico , Bermuda , and the southern hint of Florida , where many ship and planes are said to have gone missing .
TheSS Cotopaxiwas a large US merchant steamboat that was first launched in 1918 . On November 29 , 1925,Cotopaxideparted Charleston in South Carolina for a voyage towards the Cuban capital Havana , but it never strain its final destination . The ship and her 32 gang penis were never seen again .
Over three decades ago , a shipwreck was rule off the coast of Florida . However , it was never verified whether it was the wreck of the ill - fatedCotopaxiand it simply became known as the " the Bear Wreck . ”
Now , nautical biologist and subaquatic IE Michael Barnette says he has a wealthiness of evidence that they are one and the same , revealing the particular in an episode of the Science Channel ’s show"Shipwreck Secrets " , whichfirst vent February 9 , 2020 .
" I love [ in ] my heart that it was the Cotopaxi , but attempt to prove it is something dissimilar , " BarnettetoldCNN . " We did n’t cognise 100 percent because we did n’t have that smoking gun , we did n’t have a bell with a name on it , or anything like that . "
Together with British historiographer Guy Walters , Barnette sifted through archive records and newspaper reports about the ship . They discover an unmarked detail ; the ship had sent out wireless distress signals on December 1 , 1925 , which were picked up in Jacksonville – not far from where the shipwreck was strike decades later . The duad also gather information about the ship ’s size of it and human body . After a failed monotone survey on the area , they employed the help of maritime archaeologist from theSt Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum to dive the waters around the wreck .
Based on all of their findings and groundwork , they are surefooted this is the crash ofSS Cotopaxi . However , without established identifying features , it is difficult to confirm . For some , though , it is offering an final stage to long - unrequited questions .
" It really does help bring closure , " Robert Fulcher , whose great - uncle was one of the ship ’s crew members , reportsNPR .
" Now we recognize exactly where the ship hold out down , where his stay on lie , the reason of the sinking feeling . It was not due to sea teras or whirlpools or stranger or any such affair in the Bermuda Triangle . "
