Bermuda Triangle Facts

Bermuda Triangle is a name that strikes fear into the hearts of those who have to travel through it.

Located in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bermuda Triangle is placed between Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Florida.

Though it is popularly known as Bermuda Triangle, it is not a triangle in reality. Neither does this area have any particular shape, nor does it have any official boundary. The triangle does not even exist according to the US Navy and the name is not recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names. This is the reason you do not find it on the map.

Bermuda Triangle Mystery

Is it just an attempt to evade ae sensitive issue or is the Bermuda Triangle really nothing more than yet another example of much hyped and exaggerated old wives’ tales? Whatever it is, the Bermuda Triangle remains a notorious site where numerous unexplained disappearances of aircrafts, ships and people have taken place.

It is said that more than 50 ships and 20 planes have gone down in the Bermuda Triangle during the last century.

Many stories exist in every part of the world offering some really interesting explanations.

Some people believe that the Bermuda triangle is full of UFO activity and put the blame for the missing planes and ships on the shoulders of aliens.

Others believe that this area is cursed and some ancient witchcraft practiced by the natives of this area is responsible for the mysterious disappearance of ships and aircrafts.

It is also said that large swirls of water (or vortexes) have sucked in everything and transported the lost planes and ships to some another time and place.It has become part of popular culture to believe that the Bermuda Triangle is haunted and experiences paranormal activity.

However, these whimsical explanations do not really hold any water and mystery continues to shroud the truth.

The first mention of Bermuda Triangle is said to have been made by Christopher Columbus in his travelogues. While travelling across the Atlantic, he and his crew noticed some strange readings in their compass. They also claimed to have seen dancing lights in the sky.

The scientists of today believe that these were just the cooking fires used by the resident local tribes.

The name Bermuda Triangle was first given to this area by Vincent H. Gaddis in an article that he wrote for Argosy Magazine in 1964. Since then, various bizarre nicknames have been coined for the Bermuda Triangle, including the ‘Devil’s Triangle,’ ‘Limbo of the Lost’ and the ‘Hoodoo Sea.’

The incident that consolidated the reputation of the Bermuda Triangle was the disappearance in December 1945 of Flight 19—a training squadron of five US Navy Bomber planes—that had together started to practice bombing, but vanished in a weird fashion.

The last communication recordings suggest that Lieutenant Charles Taylor, who was leading Flight 19, had reported that his compass and other gadgets were malfunctioning in a strange manner. The seaplane sent in search of the squadron also disappeared.

Experts, however, say that during those times, planes did not have any sophisticated gadgets or GPS system that could have helped the pilots to navigate, so it was pretty easy for them to get lost.

The Bermuda Triangle is infamous for having devoured many more aircrafts and ships, including a DC-3 carrying 27 passengers in 1948 and a C-124 Globemaster with 53 passengers in 1951.

Among the ships, one that deserves mention is the ship Marine Sulphur Queen, which disappeared with 39 men aboard in 1963. No traces of debris of these ill-fated planes and ships or the bodies of the hapless victims have ever been found.

Now what really intrigues the scientists is the fact that when these planes and ships started for their destinations, the weather was favourable.

The disappearances occurred in broad daylight after a bizarre break in radio contact, and the remains of the vanished vessels were never found.

What could have happened so suddenly? Why was the wreckage of the vanished vessels never found? Over a period of time, there has been a great deal of research and many explorations have been carried out in an attempt to expose the truth.

Top 4 Bermuda Triangle Theories

There is no single theory that can explain all the incidents of disappearances, but some of the major and a little less wacky explanations are mentioned below:

• Methane gasas trapped under the sea floor can suddenly erupt out of nowhere. This lowers the water density and causes ships floating atop to sink. Even planes flying over it, can catch fire and get completely destroyed during such a massive gas explosion.
• Sargasso Sea is a vast area located in the heart of Bermuda Triangle that contains large and dense mats of sargassum seaweed. Perhaps the ships passed through this area, got entangled in these vicious seaweeds and sunk.
• Electronic fag, is a peculiar thick cloud appears from nowhere and engulfs a ship or a plane. Under this cloud cover, the instruments begin to malfunction, because of which the aircrafts and the ships go missing without a trace.
• According to some scientists, the real culprit is an underwater volcano that is responsible for the disappearances, while others say it was just the lack of experience on the part of the pilots and captains of the ships; who were not familiar with the severity of the strong currents of air and water.

All said and done, the Bermuda Triangle is still one of the most heavily travelled shipping lanes by cruise ships. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Caribbean and South America. The truth is yet to be unraveled before the world, but it remains a fact that the Bermuda Triangle has taken toll of thousands of lives through unexplained events and it will remain a source of mystery and fascination for a long time to come.

For more interesting Geography articles and videos, visit our Geography for Kids category.