A new version of the disaster: Titanic was destroyed by the polar lights

Irina Ziganshina

More than 100 years have passed since the sinking of the Titanic — the ship sank on the night of April 15, 1912, but the reasons for the crash are still largely unclear. Questions, in particular, are caused by the fact that the crew was not able to find an iceberg on the route of the vessel. Meteorologist Mila Zinkova, who published an article in Weather magazine, suggests that the northern lights played a fatal role in the fate of the Titanic, according to phys.org.

The author recalls the numerous evidences that on the night when the ship sank, the northern lights were very noticeable, it was its light that helped rescuers search for people in lifeboats and in the water. There was no moon in the sky, and if not for the bright shimmer of green, purple, blue and red light emitted by Aurora Borealis, there would be many more casualties.

However, if there were no northern lights, the author claims, the collisions might not have happened at all. As you know, the aurora borealis occurs when charged particles emitted by the Sun enter the Earth's ionosphere and collide with particles of rarefied gases, which causes them to glow. These charged particles can interact with both magnetic and electrical signals. It is quite possible, the author believes, that it was they who disrupted the operation of the navigation equipment, and this did not allow the crew to go around the area where the icebergs were. Charged particles could interfere with the precise operation of the ship's compass at a time when a course deviation of only 0.5 degrees meant a collision. In addition, these particles could also disrupt the Titanic's communications with the outside world, making it impossible for the crew to receive iceberg warnings and send distress signals after a collision.

According to the researcher, in the official message about the sinking of the Titanic, accusations were made against radio amateurs who interfered with communication with the ship. At that time, it was not yet known that geomagnetic storms could also cause communication failures. Knowing this today, we can assume that bad space weather was responsible for the deaths of more than 1,500 people.