The Bermuda Triangle's Events: Myth or The Truth?

Somewhere in the area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda lies a place shrouded with all manners of conspiracy and mystery known as the Bermuda Triangle or The Devil's Triangle or The Triangle of Death.

There have been strange tales of whole ships disappearing in the region. Flights were not left out. The internet is filled with these strange disappearances of dozens of ships and planes, and many blame the mysteries that surround the area of 440,000 miles that made up the Bermuda Triangle in the North Atlantic Ocean.

William Shakespeare's book The Tempest was said by some scholars to be the real-life shipwreck at Bermuda triangle hence perpetuating this aura of mystery which shrouds this area.

But the real question is, do ships and aircrafts disappear more in Bermuda area compared to similar alternative routes? The answer to this question is no.

The mystery attributed to Bermuda triangle started in 1492 when Christopher Columbus the explorer noticed some weird reading from his compass around Bermuda triangle which made entry of in his daily logs. The compass was not pointing to the magnetic north.

A compass needle is magnetised and suspended in a free pivot that allows the horizontal component of the magnetic field to pull it in the direction of the magnetic north.

He did not tell his crew about that alarming discovery. That turned out to be a good thing as they encountered a strange light the next day which threw his crew in a panic.

The myth that a strange force somehow acts on the compass to make it not work had been debunked by the US Coast Guard who has this to say in 1970

First, the "Devil's Triangle" is one of the two places on earth that a magnetic compass does point towards true north. It usually points toward magnetic north. The difference between the two is known as compass variation. The number 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.

So the myth that compasses do not work in Bermuda Triangle as a result of an extraterrestrial activity or another conspiracy is just mere fantasies from the various propagators.

But this is not the end of the issue as the same U.S. Coast Guard in 2005 revisited the problem and came up with a slight change in tone regarding the magnetic properties of the Bermuda Triangle.

Many explanations have cited unusual magnetic properties within the boundaries of the triangle. Although the world's magnetic fields are in constant flux, the "Bermuda Triangle" has remained relatively undisturbed. It is true that some exceptional magnetic values have been reported within the triangle, but none to make the triangle more unusual than any other place on earth.

History of Bermuda Triangle's Legend in Modern Day

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1. 1950: Edward Van Winkle Jones published an article in The Miami Herald on September 17, 1950 (Associated Press) titled Sea's Puzzles Still Baffle Men In Pushbutton Age about the disappearance of many ships and aeroplanes around the Bermuda Triangle Area. These have about 135 people went missing.

2. 1952: Fate Magazine published a short article written by George X. Sand in which the article detailed the loss of several ships including Flight 19 plus a group of U.S.Navy TBM Avenger bombers. This particular flight was covered in full in the 1962 edition of the American Legion magazine by Allan W. Eckert in which he wrote about the eerie last communication from the flight leader saying:

We are entering white water, nothing appears right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white. Modern Folklore
By Robert B Durham.

3. 1955: M.K. Jessup wrote a book called The Case for UFO that added a twist to the whole issue by point blames to alien lifeforms and extraterrestrial beings involvement since there are no bodies discovered for any of the missing victims or wreckage of either ship or aeroplane.

4. 1964: Vincent H. Gaddis coined the term "Bermuda Triangle" in the article he wrote in which he stated that the area had taken over 1000 lives.

5. 1970s: The frenzy of Bermuda Triangle disappearances hits its peak during this period with a bestseller The Bermuda Triangle written by Charles Berlitz

6. 1975: The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved was written by Larry Kusche who had a different opinion and opined that the others (past authors on the subject) have it all wrong that there was no proper research that it was just a case of exaggeration

He stated that the incidences that happened here are same as other areas. For instance, the reporters merely try to misinform and abandon issues such as area being more prone to storm or storm occurring during cases of a lost ship in their bid to add an aura of mystery to an otherwise not so mysterious occurrence.

The book did so well in debunking the myth that it reduced the hype and sensation that followed the previous years on Bermuda Triangle's "mysteries".

Still not convinced?

^{Source:Pixabay}


The U.S Coast Guard has this to say about the area

The majority of disappearances can be attributed to the area’s unique features. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current flowing from the Gulf of Mexico around the Florida Straits northeastward toward Europe is extremely swift and turbulent. It can quickly erase any evidence of a disaster.

The unpredictable Caribbean-Atlantic storms that give birth to waves of great size, as well as waterspouts, often spell disaster for pilots and mariners. (Not to mention that the area is in “hurricane alley.”) The topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With the interaction of strong currents over reefs, the topography is in a constant state of flux and breeds development of new navigational hazards.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has this to say too about this subject:

Environmental considerations could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances. The majority of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes pass through the Bermuda Triangle, and in the days prior to improved weather forecasting, these dangerous storms claimed many ships. Also, the Gulf Stream can cause rapid, sometimes violent, changes in weather. Additionally, the large number of islands in the Caribbean Sea creates many areas of shallow water that can be treacherous to ship navigation. And there is some evidence to suggest that the Bermuda Triangle is a place where a “magnetic” compass sometimes points towards “true” north, as opposed to “magnetic” north.

The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard contend that there are no supernatural explanations for disasters at sea. Their experience suggests that the combined forces of nature and human fallibility outdo even the most incredulous science fiction. They add that no official maps exist that delineate the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. The U. S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name and does not maintain an official file on the area. _Source:NOAA

What do you think?

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References:

1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

2. The Geography of the Bermuda Triangle

3. Bermuda Triangle: Behind the Intrigue

4. Origin of the Bermuda Triangle Myth

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