The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
One thing that seems all young children know about is the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. A strange stretch of the world where planes go missing and mysteries abound. But, as we grow up, and the Bermuda Triangle isn’t as much of a problem as we thought it’d be…we forget about it. But what is the Bermuda Triangle, and is there anything to the childhood rumors?
Let’s start with the basics: where is the Bermuda triangle? Roughly, it’s in the North Atlantic Ocean nearby North America. Beyond that…it can get a little messy as different lore dictates different boundaries. For our purposes, let’s think of the triangle covering these places Miami, San Juan, and the island of Bermuda. It’s at least over 500,000 miles and depending on who you ask more than 1 million miles. That seems like a big space where it is likely for your aircraft, boat, or something else to malfunction.
Around the mid-1800s, records of unexplained occurrences in this nebulous part of the ocean began cropping up. It began with ships. Some transmitted distress signals and when another vessel made its way, they were nowhere to be found (and often never found again). Some were discovered floating, without a crew, and seemingly abandoned, for no clear reason.
Then, as time went on and technology developed, reports of aircraft being affected also began. Aircraft malfunctioned for no reason, wreckage for missing ships never appeared, and, of course, some aircraft vanished and never resurfaced again.
One of them was the USS Cyclops, which disappeared in 1918. If it sounds familiar, it’s one of the most famous disappearances. It was a 542-foot-long ship originally launched in 1910. At the time of its disappearance, it was traveling from Salvador to Maryland…but it never arrived. It had an unscheduled stop in Barbados to pick up some supplies, but when it was late coming back to Baltimore…and then later and later, people began to worry. On board, there were over 300 passengers and crew. No distress signal was ever (knowingly) received and there was no remnant of the ship.
The loss of the USS Cyclops constitutes the highest non-battle loss of life in US Naval history.
Despite reports going back to the 19th century, the term “Bermuda Triangle” wasn’t used until 1964, when Vincent H. Gaddis, a journalist, used it in Argosy magazine. In the article, he notes in this area a surprising number of ships and planes had disappeared. Once it had a name, coverage, reports, and theories boomed.
Of course, there are natural (although no less spectacular) reasons why this part of the world may be so disruptive, at least for pilots. You see, there’s something called an “agonic line”, which is a place where there isn’t a need to compensate for magnetic compass variation…and pilots not catching this can lead to notable navigational errors, and even crashes. Others believe this area is a place uniquely suited for rogue waves, which would have the massive power needed to reduce a ship to mere splinters.
Of course, some theorize that the Bermuda Triangle is a hotbed of paranormal activity. Why? Well, maybe it’s on a ley line and on some sort of energetically charged part of the world. Of course, others believe it is an alien hunting ground. Aliens see dozens of people crewing ships, or flying in planes, and abduct them and their vessels to investigate. What’s more, and bringing back faint memories of Edgar Cayce, some believe this is where the lost continent of Atlas was.
We do have an official statement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “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.”
And, of course, dozens of aircraft and ships traverse the Bermuda Triangle every year and make it through unscathed. I mean, just check out Flightradar24.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Attribution: David Broad.
Thanks to Liza R for the blogstonishing suggestion!