The Titanic, dubbed the “Never Sinking Ship” in the North Atlantic, became part of history after sinking in the cold waters of the ocean and is still remembered by people around the world.
Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the Titanic collided with an avalanche, damaging six of its waterproof compartments and sinking just two hours later, with 1,500 passengers still on board.
Now a new study suggests that on the night of April 14, 1912, a temporary disruption in the Earth’s magnetic field caused the Titanic to crash.
The study, published in the journal Weather, was conducted by meteorologist Mela Zhenkova.
Eyewitnesses saw strong northern lights in the sky after the Titanic collided with an avalanche.
James Bassett, RMS Carpetha’s second officer (the ship that rescued 705 Titanic passengers on the morning of April 15) wrote in his log on the night of April 14, 1912, “There was no moon in the sky, but the Northern Lights.” The light was shining like the moon.
Survivors of the Titanic crash also mentioned the lights in the sky in their lifeboats at 3am.
Such lights are produced by solar storms caused by the rapid emission of particles from the sun.
When these particles collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere get energy, which makes them glow in green, red, purple and blue.
These solar particles also interfere with the earth’s electrical and magnetic signals, affecting the function of electrical devices.
The study suggested that the solar storm was so powerful that it caused the Northern Lights at the site where the Titanic crashed into an avalanche.
The solar storm affected its magnetic compass and its electrical telegraph.
The Titanic’s captain, Edward John Smith, had ordered an evacuation to a more dangerous area to be aware of other ships traveling there due to avalanches in the North Atlantic.
But research has shown that the solar storm caused a slight change in the direction of the ship due to a faulty compass, and instead of avoiding dangerous ice, the ship went straight in that direction.
This idea also explains another aspect of the Titanic tragedy, and that is that at the request of the sinking ship, other ships first searched in the wrong direction and later reached the right place.
The investigation said that the solar interference also hampered relief efforts. When the captain realized that the Titanic could not be saved from sinking, he sent two radio operators to nearby ships to help.
The crew of RMS Baltic, one of the ships that responded to the call for help, said the radio signals that night were strange and most of the messages could not be read and the Titanic never got an answer.