Bermuda triangle

Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The area is one of the most heavily traveled shipping lanes in the world, with ships frequently crossing through it for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean.

Description

The Bermuda Triangle is generally bounded by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, covering about 500,000 square miles of ocean off the southeastern tip of Florida. While it has become part of popular culture to link the Bermuda Triangle to paranormal activity, most investigations indicate bad weather and human error are the more likely culprits. Research has suggested that many original reports of strange incidents in the Bermuda Triangle were exaggerated and that the actual number of incidents in the area is similar to that of other parts of the ocean.

History

The term "Bermuda Triangle" was first used in an article written by Vincent Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964. Gaddis claimed that in this strange sea a number of ships and planes had disappeared without explanation. Gaddis wasn't the first one to come to this conclusion, either. As early as 1952, George X. Sands, in a report in Fate magazine, noted what seemed like an unusually large number of strange accidents in that region.

Incidents

One of the most famous Bermuda Triangle stories is the disappearance of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers that vanished during a training flight in 1945. All 14 airmen on the flight were lost, as were all 13 crew members of a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat that subsequently launched from Naval Air Station Banana River to search for Flight 19.

Explanations

Many explanations have been suggested over the years for the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, including magnetic anomalies, weather phenomena, methane hydrates, and even extraterrestrial beings. However, the consensus among scientists is that there is no single explanation for the incidents in the Bermuda Triangle and that they all have mundane explanations.

See also

• List of Bermuda Triangle incidents
• Marie Celeste
• USS Cyclops (AC-4)