The Bermuda Triangle Mystery

The Bermuda Triangle is an area of ocean that has seen more than its fair share of disappearances and other strange events. It's also known as the Devil's Triangle. The triangle has its corners at Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Miami. The location has a long history of strange occurences - are they fact or myth?

History

One of the first recorded incidents in the area occured during Columbus's famous 1492 voyage. He reported his ship's compass going haywire and a great flame of fire (a meteor?) crashing into the ocean.

Interest in the area was at its height in the 1970s, especially following the publication in 1974 of The Bermuda Triangle by Charles Berlitz. Today interest has waned however there are still many who believe that the area has unexplained properties.

Official info on the Triangle is limited, at least in the public domain. According to the US Coast Guard & US Navy Fact Sheet:

"The U. S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name and does not maintain an official file on the area."

The name "Bermuda Triangle" didn't come into popular use until the mid 1960s. The first known written reference to the area is in a 1950 report by E.V.W. Jones of the Associated Press. Jones named the area the "Devil's Sea". (There is also an area called the "Devil's Sea" off the cast of Japan around Miyake Island.)

Estimates of the number of incidents in the triangle vary, however it is commonly claimed that dozens of ships and aircraft mysteriously vanished in the 20th century. Probably the most famous of these events was the disappearance of Flight 19: in December 1945 a flight of five US Navy "Avenger" aircraft from Fort Lauderdale disappeared in the Triangle without trace or explanation. (They have since "reappeared" in numerous movies and TV shows!)

Theories

Why do ships and planes disappear in the Bermuda Triangle? Many theories have been proposed, including UFO influence, strange electromagnetic anomolies and even the lost city of Atlantis.

The "strange electromagnetic anomolies" theory is actually one that appeals to many skeptics as well as believers. The US Coast Guard Fact Sheet notes that the triangle is one of two places on the planet where compasses point towards "true North" rather than "magnetic North". This could confuse an inexperienced navigator and lead to tragic human error.

Although this is an interesting hypothesis, is is as yet unproven so for now the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remains unsolved.

External Links:
US Coast Guard and US Navy. "Bermuda Triangle Fact Sheet."

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