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Introduction
Bermuda Triangle, region of the western Atlantic Ocean
that has become associated in the popular imagination with mysterious
maritime disasters. Also known as the Devil's Triangle, the triangle-shaped
area covers about 1,140,000 sq km (about 440,000 sq mi) between the
island of Bermuda, the coast of southern Florida, and Puerto Rico. In
the past, extensive, but futile Coast Guard searches prompted by search
and rescue cases such as the disappearances of an entire squadron of
TBM Avengers shortly after take off from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., or the
traceless sinking of USS Cyclops and Marine Sulphur Queen have lent
credence to the popular belief in the mystery and the supernatural qualities
of the "Bermuda Triangle." An area called the "Devil's Sea" by Japanese
and Filipino seamen, located off the east coast of Japan, also exhibits
the same magnetic characteristics. It is also known for its mysterious
disappearances.
Where
does Bermuda Triangle lies?
 The
Bermuda Triangle is a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line
from Florida to the islands of Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back
to Florida. It is one of the biggest mysteries of our time - that isn't
really a mystery. The term "Bermuda Triangle" was first used in an article
written by Vincent H. Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964. In the article
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. In 1969 John Wallace Spencer
wrote a book called Limbo of the Lost specifically about the triangle
and, two years later, a feature documentary on the subject, The Devil's
Triangle, was released. These, along with the bestseller The Bermuda
Triangle, published in 1974, permanently registered the legend of the
"Hoodoo Sea" within popular culture. Several books suggested that the
disappearances were due to an intelligent, technologically advanced
race living in space or under the sea. The only problem was that the
mystery was more hype than reality. In 1975 a librarian at Arizona State
University, named Larry Kusche, decided to investigate the claims made
by these articles and books. What he found he published in his own book
entitled The Bermuda Triangle Mystery-Solved. Kusche had carefully dug
into records other writers had neglected. He found that many of the
strange accidents were not so strange after all. Often a triangle writer
had noted a ship or plane had disappeared in "calms seas" when the record
showed a raging storm had been in progress. Others said ships had "mysteriously
vanished" when their remains had actually been found and the cause of
their sinking explained.
Unravel
the Mystery
Countless theories attempting to explain the many disappearances
have been offered throughout the history of the area. The most practical
seem to be environmental and those citing human error. The majority
of disappearances can be attributed to the area's unique environmental
features. First, the "Devil's Triangle" is one of the two places on
earth that a magnetic compass does point towards true north. Normally
it points toward magnetic north. The difference between the two is known
as compass variation. The amount of variation changes by as much as
20 degrees as one circumnavigates the earth. If this compass variation
or error is not compensated for, a navigator could find himself far
off course and in deep trouble. Another environmental factor is the
character of the Gulf Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and
can quickly erase any evidence of a disaster. The unpredictable Caribbean-Atlantic
weather pattern also plays its role. Sudden local thunder storms and
water spouts often spell disaster for pilots and mariners. Finally,
the topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals around
the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With
the interaction of the strong currents over the many reefs the topography
is in a state of constant flux and development of new navigational hazards
is swift. Not to be under estimated is the human error factor. A large
number of pleasure boats travel the waters between Florida's Gold Coast
and the Bahamas. All too often, crossings are attempted with too small
a boat, insufficient knowledge of the area's hazards, and a lack of
good seamanship.
Victims
Variously labelled the Devil's Triangle, the Triangle of Death, the
Hoodoo Sea and the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the Bermuda Triangle has
claimed several hundred vessels and more than 1,000 people since 1945.
Perhaps the most famous of them was the disappearance of Flight 19 in
1945. Here are some of the other disappearances.
1947: Army C-45 Superfort vanishes 100 miles off Bermuda.
1948: Four-engined Tudor IV lost with 31 lives.
1948: DC-3 lost with 32 passengers and crew.
1949: Second Tudor IV vanishes.
1950: Giant US Air Force Globemaster lost.
1950: American freighter, SS Sandra, 350 ft long, sinks
without trace.
1952: British York transport plane lost with 33 aboard.
1954: US Navy Lockheed Constellation vanishes with
42 aboard.
1956: US Navy seaplane, Martin P5M, disappears with
crew of ten.
1962: US Air Force KB-50 tanker plane lost.
1963: Marine Sulphur Queen, 425-ft-long American freighter,
vanishes with entire crew. No Mayday signals and no wreckage ever
found. Two US Air Force giant stratotankers disappear on simple exercise.
C-132 Cargomaster also vanishes.
1967: Military YC-122, converted to cargo plane, lost.
1970: French freighter Milton Iatrides disappears.
1972: German freighter Anita, 20,000 tons, lost with
crew of 32.
Incidents
Columbus
As the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria sailed
through the area in 1492, it is reported that Columbus's compass went
haywire and that he and his crew saw weird lights in the sky, but
these events have mundane explanations. From the account in Columbus's
journal, it is thought that his compasses slight inaccuracy stemmed
from nothing more than the discrepancy between true north and magnetic
north. As for the lights, Columbus wrote of seeing "a great flame
of fire" that crashed into the ocean -- probably a meteor. He saw
lights in the sky again on October 11, which, of course, was the day
before his famous landing. The lights, brief flashes near the horizon,
were spotted in the area where dry land turned out to be. Luckily,
his three ships were spared from the Bermuda Triangle.
Mary Celese
Another historical event retroactively attributed
to the Bermuda Triangle is the discovery of the Mary Celeste. The
vessel was found abandoned on the high seas in 1892, about 400 miles
off its intended course from New York to Genoa. There was no sign
of its crew of ten or what had happened to them. Since the lifeboat
was also missing, it is quite possible that they abandoned the Mary
Celeste during a storm that they wrongly guessed the ship could not
weather. But what makes it even harder to call this a Bermuda Triangle
mystery is that it the ship was nowhere near the Triangle -- it was
found off the coast of Portugal. But of course this means it might
have sailed that far alone (even, though it's not likely). On November
5, 1872 the Marie Celeste left New York Harbor with a cargo of industrial
alcohol. On board were Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs, his wife,
his two year old daughter, and eight crew members. On December 5,
1872 the Ship Dei Gratia found the Marie Celeste floating in the Atlantic
Ocean. The Captain, his family and the crew were all missing, as was
the one lifeboat. The cargo, supplies, and personal belongings were
all safely on the Marie Celeste. Evidence aboard showed that the Marie
Celeste had clearly been abandoned quickly. Sufficient supplies could
not have been on the lifeboat, with many basic supplies left behind.
Why was it abandoned? This remains a great nautical mysteries. Some
other factors that almost nobody knows is that the ship had a different
name before the Marie Celeste, and it had been said to be cursed,
until Captain Briggs bought it and renamed and painted it. Coincidence?
Flight 19
The Bermuda Triangle legend really began in earnest
on December 5, 1945, with the famed disappearance of Flight 19. Five
Navy Avenger bombers mysteriously vanished while on a routine training
mission, as did a rescue plane sent to search for them -- six aircraft
and 27 men, gone without a trace. Or so the story goes. When all the
facts are laid out, the tale of Flight 19 becomes far less puzzling.
All of the crewmen of the five Avengers were inexperienced trainees,
with the exception of their patrol leader, Lt. Charles Taylor. Taylor
was perhaps not at the height of his abilities that day, as some reports
indicate that he had a hangover and failed in his attempts to pass
off this flight duty to someone else. With the four rookie pilots
entirely dependent on his guidance, Taylor found that his compass
malfunctioned soon into the flight. Taylor chose to continue the run
on dead reckoning, navigating by sighting landmarks below. Being familiar
with the islands of the Florida Keys where he lived, Taylor had reason
to feel confident in flying by sight. But visibility became poor due
to a brewing storm, and he quickly became disoriented. Flight 19 was
still in radio contact with the Fort Lauderdale air base, although
the weather and a bad receiver in one of the Avengers made communication
very spotty. They may have been guided safely home if Taylor had switched
to an emergency frequency with less radio traffic, but he refused
for fear they would be unable to reestablish contact under these conditions.
Taylor ended up thinking they were over the Gulf of Mexico, and ordered
the patrol east in search of land. But in reality, they had been heading
up the Atlantic coastline, and Taylor was mistakenly leading his hapless
trainees much further out to sea. Radio recordings indicate that some
of them suggested to Taylor that Florida was actually to the west.
A search party was dispatched, which included the Martin Mariner that
many claim disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle along with Flight
19. While it is true that it never returned, the Mariner did not vanish;
it blew up 23 seconds after takeoff, in an explosion that was witnessed
by several at the base. This was unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence,
because Mariners were known for their faulty gas tanks. No known wreckage
from Flight 19 has ever been recovered.
Case
Closed?
'The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize
the Bermuda Triangle as an official name and does not maintain an
official file on the area' states the pompous Internet message board
of the US Coast Guard HQ and the Naval Historical Center. Seems a
little too close to 'Deny Every- thing' for this writer. This government
representative argues that in the past that extensive yet futile Coast
Guard searches prompted by search-and-rescue cases such as Flight
19 or the trace- less sinking of the Marine Sulphur Queen in the Florida
Straits have lent credence to the popular belief in the mystery and
the supernatural qualities of the Bermuda Triangle. Paranormal phenomena
are dismissed and 'practical' solutions to the mysteries are those
that focus on environmental conditions and those that cite human error.
The Bermuda Triangle is one of the few places on Earth that a magnetic
compass does point towards true north. Normally, it should point towards
magnetic north. The amount of variation changes - and sometimes as
much as 20 degrees as a ship or aircraft circumnavigates around the
globe. Without compensating, a navigator could find himself far off
course and in serious trouble. The Bermuda Triangle has at least two
counterparts in other areas of the world. An area called 'The Devil's
Sea' by Japanese and Filipino seamen, which is located off the east
coast of Japan, also exhibits the same magnetic characteristics and
is also known for its mysterious disappearances. Also, in China in
1995, some 50 scientists surveyed southwest Sichuan Province's notorious
high-elevation Black Bamboo Ravine, or Heizugou, where people and
livestock have vanished. The Beijing-based Xinhua News Agency reported
that scientists believe rotting plants found in the cold, humid region
give off a poisonous gas, "suffocating people and making them fall
into the abyss". The experts also explained that the magnetic field
at Heizhugou "is so strong that it is likely to disable com- passes
and cause plane crashes". Sound familiar? Except for the magnetic
field part, the Black Bamboo Ravine is similar geologically with Yellowstone's
Death Gulch and Java's Poisoned Valley.
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