Baffling Bermuda Triangle Facts: Diving Into This Mysterious Phenomenon

Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Jan 13, 2023 By Rajnandini Roychoudhury
Originally Published on Dec 09, 2021
Edited by Sarah Nyamekye
Fact-checked by Gowri Rao
Bermuda Triangle is a triangular area in the North Atlantic ocean

The Bermuda Triangle, also known by the name 'Devil's Triangle' is a triangular area in the North Atlantic ocean.

The imaginary triangle is restricted by points in Puerto Rico (San Juan), Florida, and Bermuda. The Bermuda Triangle is shrouded with mystery because of the various aircraft and ships that have been lost in the area.

Because of this large number of disappearances in the region, there are various theories on the mystery of the triangle which blames the disappearances on alien abduction, attacks by giant marine creatures, some theories go as far as suggesting that the Altantis civilization resides under the Bermuda Triangle and use their technologies to sink ships and planes moving through the region.

Most of these supernatural theories are seen as exaggerations of natural events like storms, typhoons, and earthquakes that have probably played a part in the many disappearances in the triangle.

As of now, no solid evidence can be provided that links the infamy of the Bermuda Triangle with any sort of supernatural event.

If you like this article about Bermuda Triangle facts, be sure to check out articles about why do oceanic plates go under continental plates? and the difference between ocean and sea too!

Naval History And Heritage Command

The naval history of the Bermuda Triangle is rich because of the various coast guards that can be found in and around the area.

The US Coast Guard denies any sort of supernatural reason for the disappearance of vessels in the Bermuda Triangle and suggests that nature and human errors are the reasons behind the infamy of the region.

However, the Coast Guard answer at least 8,000 distress calls in the Bermuda triangle and according to them, the problems can be avoided simply by being cautious on the sea. The disappearance of small boats is linked with the small energy capacity that they have. Inexperienced sailors also contribute to the infamy of the Bermuda triangle.

Waterspout, known as a sea tornado that originates in the sea, pulls water from the ocean floor and sends it back into the sky in a large spout that can destroy the largest of ships.

It is estimated that the Devil's triangle is 19,000 ft (5,971 m) deep and is covered with sandy material. On the United States East Coast, the continental shelf with a shallow depth and it runs north accompanying the Gulf Stream which carries the warm tropical waters of the Bermuda Triangle.

In 1957, the Gulf Stream was a location where a deep counter-current was found.

The US Navy launched Project Magnet in an effort to survey the area to find out whether the magnetic irregularities in the magnetic north and magnetic south are enough to cause discrepancies in the communication signals used by ships and aircraft.

Legend Of The Bermuda Triangle

The legend of the Bermuda Triangle is one of the most mysterious to ever occur in any ocean or sea body. Various authors have come up with their own theories and published those in books and magazines that only serve as promotion for the region.

The mythical city of Atlantis is thought to be hiding under the Bermuda Triangle and it is assumed that the people from the city use crystal beams to sink planes and ships. Other theories suggest the use of time portals or underwater alien civilization.

Scientific theories are also applied to the region that suggests that the explanation to the disappearance is linked to an unknown or rare form of a cataclysmic event in the form of hydrological or geological occurrences.

Since the ocean and sea contain a large amount of methane gas on the floor, it is assumed that methane gas explosions are what cause ships to disappear without a trace as the methane explosion takes the vessels with them to the bottom of the ocean.

The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle finally caught the attention of people in 1952, when George Sand, an author, wrote about the incident related to a training flight that went missing in a training gathering in 1945.

'Sea mystery at our back door' as the article was called, first introduce the supernatural power at play in the Bermuda Triangle region.

The PBM Mariner, a rescue plane also disappeared in the region after which the Navy stopped flying rescue aircraft over the Bermuda Triangle region.

Bermuda Triangle Theories And Counter-Theories

It is in human nature to come up with theories for the unexplainable and the situation is similar to the Bermuda Triangle as the mysteries of the region have still not been solved to this day.

The first theory was of supernatural events was handled by Larry Kusche, a journalist, who stated that the mysterious disappearances in the region were mostly stories created just for fun, or were straight-up lies.

Kusche, in his book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery — Solved" states that Charles Berlitz's writings based on the Bermuda Triangle and the Atlantic ocean region were error-prone and most of the information that Charles Berlitz's acquired where based on fabrications and every mystery filled theory regarding the Bermuda triangle has been nothing but mistakes.

It is assumed that most of the mysteries were imaginations of the various authors who wrote about the region and there were no legitimate records of planes or ships that were assumed to have disappeared in the region.

It is even noted that Berlitz falsified a ship disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle when in actuality, a ship with the same name had actually left a port city in the Pacific Ocean 3,000 mi (4828 km) away.

Another counter-point to supernatural theories like giant sea creatures and ghosts is that the Bermuda Triangle is a rather busy part of the Atlantic ocean and there are more chances of ships sinking in the region compared to less traveled sea or ocean routes.

UFOs, time portals, and the Atlantis civilization has been held responsible for the Bermuda Triangle mystery, but these statements are seen as a way to sensationalize the events that can occur commonly because the compasses in the region point out to the true north instead of the magnetic north.

The agonic line, also known as the 80th meridian, passes through the Hudson River and flows out into the Bermuda Triangle region in Miami.

The line is home to the exact spot where the magnetic north and true north are perfectly aligned because of which even the experienced sailors can lose their way.

Large tidal waves are also seen as a reason for such disappearance.

Fabricated incidents have also contributed to the mystery as there are many false plane crash reports that never occurred along with sea monster sightings and the existence of the Lost continent of Atlantis. Most of these still fight for legitimacy with the scientific research of the Devil's Triangle.

Some Major Incidents

The infamy of the Bermuda Triangle stems from various incidents that have occurred over the years in and around the region. The reasons behind these are all guesswork that includes scientific events like oceanic flatulence caused by erupting methane gas or theories that involve aliens!

USS Cyclops - The USS Cyclops, a US Navy vessel, is seen as the largest loss in the history of the United States navy. The vessel was carrying Manganese ore was supposed to reach Baltimore in 1918.

The Vessel was considered lost after March 1918.

The reason behind the disappearance is still unknown to this day and guesses have been made to figure out what caused the ship to be lost at sea, or as most guesses go, the ship failed because of its structural issues.

However, two more similar ships, named the Nereus and Proteus carrying metallic ores, were also lost in the North Atlantic.

Star Tiger - Star Tiger, an aircraft administered by British South America Airways was presumed lost in the Bermuda Triangle area as the aircraft completely disappeared from the radar. It is estimated that this occurred because of human error or faulty equipment.

SS Marine Sulphur Queen - The disappearance of the SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a T2 tanker used to transport molten sulphur is yet another intriguing loss of a vessel in the Bermuda Triangle. Routined messages from the vessel pointed their location to the Florida Straits near the city of Key West.

Coast guards found a floating life jacket in the sea, it drifted from the southwest region of the last known position of the tanker.

The 39-man crew of the tanker was never found. The disappearance is still shrouded in mystery because the possible reason for the tanked getting off the radar completely has still not been found.

Shipwrecks Around Bermuda

It is estimated that there are more than 300 shipwrecks in the Bermuda triangle.

These shipwrecks are mostly vessels from the United States, Puerto Rico, and other neighboring regions.

The Strangest Disappearances In The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle is known for swallowing alive various pieces of history and many legends have been lost to the region. Strange and eerie disappearances have become a common occurrence in the region.

Mary Celeste - The Mary Celeste was found in the December of 1872, with everything intact except the entire crew was missing! The ship was found stranded after beginning its journey from New York.

Based on reports and findings, it is assumed that the ship was carrying Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter along with seven crew members and it was carrying raw alcohol.

Mary Celeste was found by a ship named Dei Gratia. Mary Celeste was missing its lifeboats and crew. Nice of the alcohol-filled barrels was empty. It is assumed that the ship fell victim to pirates who took the lives of the crew and everything valuable on it.

The mysterious nature of the discovery of Mary Celeste gave birth to theories like alien abduction, attack from a mysterious sea creature, or a conspiracy. The scientific theory behind it is linked with an undersea earthquake.

Carroll A. Deering - Caroll A. Deering was a commercial schooner masted by five people. The ship is one of the most well-known mysteries of the 20th century because of how it was abandoned.

In 1921, Carroll A. Deering was discovered in North Carolina in the Hatteras Diamond Shoals. An investigation team from Barbados was sent to the ship to look for survivors, but what they found was completely shocking as there were no traces of the crew.

Life rafts, logbooks, and personal belonging were nowhere to be found. The Carroll A. Deering ship is known as the "Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks" that floats in the Bermuda Triangle.

Witchcraft - In the December of 1967, captain Dan Burack along with his friend Patrick Horgan set sail in Witchcraft, a cabin cruiser.

The 23 ft (7 m) yacht, just one mile off the shore, sent a distress call to the coast guard mentioning they hit some. After the distress signal, the coast guard immediately set off for witchcraft but nothing was to be found.

The area where the ship was supposed to be was completely empty and there were no traces that could link the area back to a ship.

It is assumed that witchcraft was solidly built and there were no chances of it sinking, and there were various life-saving gadgets that were onboard the ship. However, nothing was used and the ship disappeared completely.

Search parties were sent out to no avail and the witchcraft has still not been found to this day. Chances are the ocean took the ship along with the lives of the two passengers.

Did You Know...

The Bermuda Triangle is home to many peculiar events that mostly include missing ships. The Bermuda Triangle is a part of the Lost Continent of Atlantis is also somewhat of a known theory among the various amazing facts. Some of these are as follows -

The theory about the Bermuda Triangle being known as the lost island of Atlantis was popularized by Charles Berlitz in his book The Bermuda Triangle in the year 1974. Charles Berlitz claimed that the Lost island was responsible for the strange events occurring in the region.

The Bermuda Triangle and its invisible horizons cannot be found on any world map! The Geographic naming board of the United States does not acknowledge the Bermuda Triangle as a region of the Atlantic Ocean, especially the North Atlantic Ocean.

An accurate count of the number of airplanes and ships that have vanished in the Bermuda Triangle is still unknown. However, an estimation has been provided that includes 20 airplanes and 50 ships being lost in the general location of the Bermuda Triangle.

Most of the wreckage from missing vessels and airplanes has still not been found. Most of these disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle's general location are thought to have been caused by human error or weather conditions.

The unexplained occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle date back to the mid-19th century, but the phrase 'Bermuda Triangle' was introduced in 1964 when Vincent Gaddis, used the phrase to define a triangular section that was known for destroying ships and airplanes.

Despite all the eerie events related to the Bermuda Triangle, the region is still one of the most traversed shipping lanes on the planet.

Milwaukee Depth is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean and it is situated in the Bermuda Triangle. The trench of Peurto Rico stands at a depth of 27,493 ft (8,380 m) in the Milwaukee Depth.

Another place like the Bermuda Triangle has been discovered in the Asian region. This place is known as the "Devil Sea" by local seamen and is termed dangerous because of the massive tidal waves that affect the waters in the region. Ships sailing near the region are often destroyed by the tidal waves.

The geography of Bermuda is heavily based on the volcanic activities around the region that also led to the creation of Bermuda.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Bermuda Triangle facts then why not take a look at smallest ocean, or are all oceans salt water?

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Written by Rajnandini Roychoudhury

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

Rajnandini Roychoudhury picture

Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English

With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature. 

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Fact-checked by Gowri Rao

Bachelor of Arts specializing in Economics

Gowri Rao picture

Gowri RaoBachelor of Arts specializing in Economics

With a bachelor's degree in Economics from Krea University, Gowri is a highly skilled data analyst and an expert in regression and causation modeling. Her interests in economic trends, finance, and investment research complement her professional expertise. In addition to her professional pursuits, Gowri enjoys swimming, running, and playing the drums, and she is also a talented tutor.

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