I recently had a pop-up on Facebook regarding not hearing about the Bermuda Triangle anymore. I recall growing up in the 1970s and hearing frequently about boats and airplanes disappearing in that location. As time went on I realized it was no longer in the news. With the recent pop-up on Facebook, my curiosity was piqued.
What better place to begin my research than the Britannica Encyclopedia? According to the encyclopedia, more than 20 airplanes and 50 ships disappeared without a trace in the triangular area between the northern point of Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida, near Miami. Occasionally a vessel was found completely abandoned, with no apparent reason for abandonment. Aircraft flying in the area completely vanished. No distress signals were received from ships or airplanes, and only minimal debris has ever been found; no bodies have been recovered. Even search and rescue missions disappeared without explanation.
I remember people being very superstitious about the area and wondering why anyone would travel within that zone because of the numerous disappearances. Some believed the pilots failed to consider the agonic line. This is an imaginary line on the Earth’s surface where magnetic north and true north are identical, resulting in no need to compensate for magnetic compass variation. Failing to compensate for this can result in a severe navigational error that can lead to a catastrophic accident and disappearance. Others believed the ships were overcome by rogue waves, which can be as high as 100 feet and strong enough to destroy a ship or a low-flying airplane.
The name “Bermuda Triangle” dates back to a 1964 article in Argosy, an American pulp magazine. The article discusses a pattern of ships and airplanes disappearing in the area without any explanation. The Deadly Bermuda Triangle by Vincent H. Gaddis examines the history of industrial, military, and commercial flights and ships that have disappeared in the area before the writing of the article. Gaddis provides a list of ships disappearing in the area as far back as 1854. It goes back to 1840 if you include the Rosalie, which was found with everyone missing onboard except a half-starved, caged canary.
In 1881, a schooner was found that was deserted, everything was in order, and there was “evidence of a struggle.” A crew from the ship Ellen Austin went on board to claim salvage. A squall separated the two ships as they were en route to port. The schooner was found; the crew had vanished. Another crew agreed to go aboard, but again a squall separated the two ships. The schooner and its men were never heard from or seen again.
Marina Life has an article by James R. Barneff, The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, written in September 2023. According to him, it was Christopher Columbus in 1492 who first recorded weird phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle—strange lights in the distance, erratic compass readings, patches of white water, and a large ball of fire crashing into the sea. They encountered a floating sargassum carpet, a mass of seaweed and tropical berries, which was so thick that they had difficulty navigating through it. The article lists a series of disappearances. It begins with the 1918 disappearance of the U.S. Navy ship, the USS Cyclops. The 542-foot-long cargo ship was carrying over 300 men and 10,000 tons of manganese ore. They sent a message that they had fair weather, and all was well, but it never arrived in port. In 1941, two of her sister ships also vanished in the same area without a trace.
Over the years, various theories have been proposed regarding the disappearances, including those involving aliens, time warps, and reverse gravity fields. Scientists have noted that the Bermuda Triangle is one of two locations on Earth where compasses align with true north instead of magnetic north, which can interfere with navigation if not accounted for. Other theories include pilot errors, sudden storms, running out of fuel, and damaged ships and airplanes. The mystery is that the Coast Guard has never been able to find any wreckage in the area.
So where are we today? The article The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle Finally Unveiled, shares that a shipwreck occurred in December 2020, when the vessel and its 20 crew members all disappeared. No trace of the ship, debris, or persons on board has been found. An average of 20 boats and four planes disappear in the Bermuda Triangle each year without explanation.
No firm explanation has ever been made, probably because there are no distress signals, no survivors, and no wreckage to determine a cause. Various factors may contribute to the disappearances, including the Gulf Stream crossing the Bermuda Triangle, which can cause sudden weather changes. The Milwaukee Depth (27,493 feet, 5.26 inches), the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean, is located within the Bermuda Triangle. Methane gas production below the water’s surface is massive. Due to these natural circumstances, scientists believe that the ocean depth and methane gas production may cause underwater crevices to open, releasing giant bubbles of methane. This could lead to massive blowouts of gas that could suck boats below the surface and cause engines and aircraft probes to malfunction.
Why don’t we hear about it anymore? Most likely because, as science evolves, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle has been debunked. Compasses that read true north instead of magnetic north can cause a 20-degree difference in readings, leading to navigational errors and significantly deviating from course. The unpredictable weather patterns of the area can create sudden waterspouts and thunderstorms, putting ships and airplanes into danger, and the fast, turbulent Gulf Stream can quickly erase any wreckage.
One of the main factors contributing to its loss of media coverage is that conspiracy theorists and journalists built popularity and hype around a dangerous area, when in fact, there are other, more hazardous locations. The Bermuda Triangle didn’t even make the list for dangerous shipping incidents from 1999-2011: British Isles, Bay of Biscay, North Sea; East Mediterranean Black Sea; Japan, Korea; West Mediterranean; Gulf; South China Sea, East Indies; West African Boast; Panama Canal; East African Coast; and Bay of Bengal.
The bottom line is that the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle remains a topic of debate to this day. Many minds still ponder its origins. However, scientists often attribute it to natural phenomena and weather. The Bermuda Triangle is considered safe and is heavily traveled.
--- LIFE IS A MELTING POT --- Grace Grogan...Writer, Photographer 