Myths and truths about the Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle is one of the most widespread legends involving haunted places or doomed regions where sailors and pilots lost their lives. So, what is truth, and what is myth? Where do fear and mystery fit in this North Atlantic area?
If you're traveling in a commercial airplane and you're aware that you'll be flying over a zone that you've once heard or read could be cursed, which thoughts go through your mind?
Can even the most rational individual despise the stories of death and fear surrounding the Bermuda Triangle?
Maybe.
But the stories around this "urban legend" are too many to be ignored and have been stacking up for ages.
Let's get things straight and separate the myths from the truths.
What is the Bermuda Triangle?
The Bermuda Triangle is an imaginary region in the southwestern part of the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly bounded by Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda.
The loosely defined area occupies around 450 thousand square miles (1.1 million square kilometers).
The region, mostly oceanic, has been the stage of several mysterious accidents and tragedies.
The first reports of unusual events date back to the late 15th century.
Planes have been reported missing, and rescue missions attempting to search the area are said to have vanished.
Similarly, ships have been found abandoned without any obvious explanation; others disappeared without sending distress signals and were never heard from again.
Through time, multiple theories have emerged, some belonging to the paranormal and supernatural category and others sustained in scientific, statistical, geophysical, and weather facts.
Although the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated, "There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-traveled area of the ocean," the region's notorious reputation has never been swept from pop culture.
Officially, the triangular-shaped zone does not exist and is not part of any world map or formal geographical identification.
The First Reference
The first reference to the Bermuda Triangle appeared in the February 1964 issue of Argosy magazine.
The article penned by Vincent Gaddis is titled "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle."
It describes a series of unexplained events with vessels and planes and raises the question: "What is there about this particular slice of the world that has destroyed hundreds of ships and planes without a trace?"
Since then, the myth of the Bermuda Triangle has fueled pop culture and mystic conjectures, and the region gained new alternative names such as the Twilight Zone, Limbo of the Lost, Hoodoo Sea, or the Devil's Triangle.
Charles Berlitz's 1974 book "The Bermuda Triangle" helped to spread the idea that the region is a mysterious zone where ships and planes frequently vanish.
Berlitz explored various explanations for the alleged disappearances, including the theory suggests that the Bermuda Triangle is linked to the remnants of the lost underwater city of Atlantis, with its destruction possibly causing the unusual phenomena in the area.
The book was a huge success, with around 20 million copies sold in over 30 languages.
The enchanted virtual island quickly gave birth to multiple conspiracy theories involving sorcery, malfunctioning compasses, alien abduction, wormholes, time warps, etc.
Scientific Explanations
Scientists, oceanographers, military authorities, and governmental organizations have been stressing the statistical irrelevancy of these incidents compared to other regions.
They attribute the sometimes tragic events to the following causes:
- Human error;
- Rogue waves;
- Heavy traffic;
- Agonic line;
- Hurricanes and tropical storms;
- White squalls;
- Gulf Stream currents;
- Milwaukee Deep;
- Reefs and shallow waters;
- Methane gas deposits;
- Waterspouts;
Entities like NOAA, NASA, the US Coast Guard, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the University of Southampton, and The Arctic University of Norway have been trying to debunk the myth and push the false narratives.
Poor navigation skills and foul weather are the most cited causes of mysterious disappearances and tragic events in the area.
However, the stories of unexplained plane crashes and shipwrecks are too powerful and appealing for the collective imagination to ignore.
Famous Incidents
Over the past 500 years, more than 50 ships and 20 airplanes have mysteriously disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, often leaving no trace- no debris, bodies, or evidence.
During his first voyage to the New World (1492–1493), Christopher Columbus passed through the area.
In his logbook, the navigator recorded unusual events, including a burst of fire falling into the sea and mysterious lights appearing in the distance.
He also reported that his compass behaved erratically.
The journey took him through the Sargasso Sea, known for its calm, windless waters and dense seaweed, where sailors often feared being stranded.
Also, William Shakespeare's "The Tempest," a play written between 1610 and 1611, describes a story of shipwreck and sorcery in what is believed to be the Bermuda Triangle.
Here are some of the most bizarre incidents in the infamous North Atlantic region:
Ellen Austin (1881)
According to legend, the 210-foot-long Ellen Austin, sailing from Liverpool to New York, encountered an abandoned "ghost ship" in the Bermuda Triangle.
The crew of the Ellen Austin attempted to take control of the mysterious ship, but a storm separated the two vessels.
When they reunited, the crew that had boarded the ghost ship had disappeared.
After a second attempt to board it, a dense fog rolled in, and when it cleared, the ghost ship had vanished entirely.
Joshua Slocum (1895)
Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail solo around the world, mysteriously disappeared while sailing from Martha's Vineyard to South America.
Despite his extensive sailing experience, Slocum was never seen again.
His vanishing has been linked to the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle, though no evidence was ever found.
USS Cyclops (1918)
The USS Cyclops, a large Navy fuel ship carrying 309 crew members, disappeared while traveling from the Caribbean to Baltimore.
The ship, which had no reported issues and was equipped with distress equipment, sent no signals for help before vanishing.
Despite extensive searches, no wreckage or explanation was ever found, and the disappearance remains one of the Navy's greatest mysteries.
"There has been no more baffling mystery in the annals of the Navy than the disappearance last March of the USS Cyclops," Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels wrote in 1919.
USS Proteus and USS Nereus (1941)
In 1941, the Navy cargo ship USS Proteus disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle with 58 crew members while transporting ore from St. Thomas to the US East Coast.
A month later, its sister ship, USS Nereus, vanished along the same route with 61 people aboard.
Neither ship was ever recovered, and the cause of their disappearances remains unknown.
Flight 19 (1945)
Five TBM Avenger bombers, known as Flight 19, took off from a base in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on a routine training exercise.
However, due to a malfunctioning compass and navigational errors, the planes became lost.
As they flew further into the Bermuda Triangle, radio contact was lost, and none of the aircraft were ever found.
The Navy described the incident as if the planes had "flown to Mars."
DC-3 Flight (1948)
A DC-3 commercial aircraft with 29 passengers and two crew members disappeared 50 miles before reaching Miami.
The pilot, Robert Lindquist, had radioed for landing instructions, but communication suddenly ceased, and the plane vanished without a trace.
Star Tiger (1948)
The British Avro Tudor plane "Star Tiger" vanished in the Bermuda Triangle with 25 passengers and six crew members on board.
The aircraft was never recovered, and the official investigation concluded that its fate would remain an enigma.
Star Ariel (1949)
The G-AGRE plane "Star Ariel" disappeared while flying from Bermuda to Jamaica.
The aircraft lost communication after switching frequencies over the Bermuda Triangle.
Despite clear weather, the plane and its occupants were never found.
SS Marine Sulphur Queen (1963)
The SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a tanker ship carrying molten sulfur and 39 crew members, disappeared off the coast of Florida.
After a thorough search, only small fragments of debris and life preservers were found, but the ship and its crew were never recovered.
Sylvia L. Ossa (1967)
The 590-foot cargo ship Sylvia L. Ossa, with 37 crew members aboard, vanished in the Bermuda Triangle.
Some debris, such as a lifeboat and life preservers, were recovered, but the ship itself was never located.
Irving Rivers (1978)
Irving Rivers, an experienced pilot, disappeared while flying solo to St. Thomas.
Just one mile from his destination, his signal lights vanished from radar, and despite searches, no trace of his plane was ever found.
Cessna Plane (1984)
A Cessna aircraft flying from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas disappeared from radar without issuing any distress calls.
Witnesses claimed to have seen the plane descend into the ocean, but no wreckage was ever spotted.
SS Cotopaxi (1925, Found in 2020)
The SS Cotopaxi disappeared in 1925 while en route to Havana, fueling speculation of a Bermuda Triangle mystery.
However, the wreckage of the ship was found off the coast of Florida in 2020, debunking many of the myths surrounding its fate.
Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com