What is the bermuda triangle?

- section of the North

Atlantic Ocean off North America in which more than 50 ships and 20 airplanes are said to have mysteriously disappeared. The area, whose boundaries are not universally agreed upon, has a vaguely triangular shape marked by the Atlantic coast of the Florida panhandle (in the United States), Bermuda, and the Greater Antilles.

USS Cyclops

The USS Cyclops—pictured here in the Hudson River, New York, in 1911—went missing in the area of the Bermuda Triangle in March 1918. There were no survivors, and the wreck has never been found.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph

Reports of unexplained occurrences in the region date to the mid-19th century. Some ships were discovered completely abandoned for no apparent reason; others transmitted no distress signals and were never seen or heard from again. Aircraft have been reported and then vanished, and rescue missions are said to have vanished when flying in the area. However, wreckage has not been found, and some of the theories advanced to explain the repeated mysteries have been fanciful. Although theories of supernatural causes for these disappearances abound, geophysical and environmental factors are most likely responsible. One hypothesis is that pilots failed to account for the agonic line—the place at which there is no need to compensate for magnetic compass variation—as they approached the Bermuda Triangle, resulting in significant navigational error and catastrophe. Another popular theory is that the missing vessels were felled by so-called “rogue waves,” which are massive waves that can reach heights of up to 100 feet (30.5 metres) and would theoretically be powerful enough to destroy all evidence of a ship or airplane. The Bermuda Triangle is located in an area of the Atlantic Ocean where storms from multiple directions can converge, making rogue waves more likely to occur.

Did you know? After gaining widespread fame as the first person to sail solo around the globe, Joshua Slocum disappeared on a 1909 voyage from Martha’s Vineyard to South America. Though it’s unclear exactly what happened, many sources later attributed his death to the Bermuda Triangle.

Bermuda Triangle Theories and Counter-Theories

By the time author Vincent Gaddis coined the phrase “Bermuda Triangle” in a 1964 magazine article, additional mysterious accidents had occurred in the area, including three passenger planes that went down despite having just sent “all’s well” messages. Charles Berlitz, whose grandfather founded the Berlitz language schools, stoked the legend even further in 1974 with a sensational bestseller about the legend. Since then, scores of fellow paranormal writers have blamed the triangle’s supposed lethalness on everything from aliens, Atlantis and sea monsters to time warps and reverse gravity fields, whereas more scientifically minded theorists have pointed to magnetic anomalies, waterspouts or huge eruptions of methane gas from the ocean floor.

In all probability, however, there is no single theory that solves the mystery. As one skeptic put it, trying to find a common cause for every Bermuda Triangle disappearance is no more logical than trying to find a common cause for every automobile accident in Arizona. Moreover, although storms, reefs and the Gulf Stream can cause navigational challenges there, maritime insurance leader Lloyd’s of London does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an especially hazardous place. Neither does the U.S. Coast Guard, which says: “In a review of many aircraft and vessel losses in the area over the years, there has been nothing discovered that would indicate that casualties were the result of anything other than physical causes. No extraordinary factors have ever been identified.”