Bermuda Triangle plane mystery 'solved'



Two of the so-called Bermuda Triangle's most mysterious disappearances in the late 1940s may have been solved.


Scores of ships and planes are said to have vanished without trace over the decades in a vast triangular area of ocean with imaginary points in Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico.

But journalist Tom Mangold's new examination for the BBC provides plausible explanations for the disappearance of two British commercial planes in the area, with the loss of 51 passengers and crew.

One plane probably suffered from catastrophic technical failure as a result of poor design, while the other is likely to have run out of fuel.

Sixty years ago, commercial flights from London to Bermuda were new and perilous. It would require a refuelling stop on the Azores before the 2,000-mile flight to Bermuda, which at that time was the longest non-stop commercial overseas flight in the world.

The planes would have been operating at the limit of their range. Today planes arriving at the tiny Atlantic island have sufficient reserve fuel to divert to the US East Coast 700 miles away, in case of emergency.

And the planes of the post-war era were far less reliable than today's airliners.

British South American Airways (BSAA), which operated the route, had a grim safety record. In three years it had had 11 serious accidents and lost five planes with 73 passengers and 22 crew members killed.

Unsolved mystery

On 30 January 1948, a BSAA Avro Tudor IV plane disappeared without trace. Twenty-five passengers and a crew of six were on board The Star Tiger. No bodies or wreckage were found.

The official investigation into the disappearance concluded: "It may truly be said that no more baffling problem has ever been presented.

"What happened in this case will never be known and the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery."

But there are a number of clues in the official accident report that reveal the Star Tiger had encountered problems before it reached the Azores.

The aircraft's heater was notoriously unreliable and had failed en route, and one of the compasses was found to be faulty.

Probably to keep the plane warmer, the pilot had decided to fly the whole transatlantic route very low, at 2,000 feet, burning fuel at a faster rate.

On approaching Bermuda, Star Tiger was a little off course and had been flying an hour later than planned.

In addition, the official Ministry of Civil Aviation report considered that the headwinds faced by Star Tiger may have been much stronger than those forecast. This would have caused the fuel to burn more quickly.

"Flying at 2,000 feet they would have used up much more fuel," said Eric Newton, one of the Ministry of Civil Aviation's most senior air accident investigators, who reviewed the scenario for the BBC.

"At 2,000 feet you'd be leaving very little altitude for manoeuvre. In any serious in-flight emergency they could have lost their height in seconds and gone into the sea."

Whatever happened to the plane, it was sudden and catastrophic - there was no time to send an emergency signal.

The Avro Tudor IV was a converted warplane that was eventually taken out of passenger service because of its poor safety record. Only BSAA continued to fly the aircraft.

Gordon Store was chief pilot and manager of operations at BSAA. In an interview with his local newspaper last November, he said he had no confidence in the Tudor's engines.

"Its systems were hopeless… all the hydraulics, the air-conditioning equipment and the recycling fans were crammed together underneath the floor without any thought. There were fuel-burning heaters that would never work," he said.

Second accident

Almost a year to the day after the disappearance of the Star Tiger, another Avro Tudor IV belonging to BSAA vanished between Bermuda and Jamaica.

Exactly one hour after departure from Bermuda on 17 January 1949, the pilot of the Star Ariel sent a routine communication of his position. But then the plane vanished without trace at 18,000 feet.

According to experts, this would have required a sudden catastrophe.

Again, no wreckage, debris or bodies were ever found.

Fuel starvation at that height was not plausible, the weather report had been good, and pilot error was ruled out.

The plane's poor design may well have been to blame, according to Don Mackintosh, a former BSAA Tudor IV pilot. The cabin heater mounted underneath the floor where the co-pilot sat is his prime suspect.

At the time, aircraft heater technology was still in its infancy.

"The heater bled aviation fuel on to a hot tube - and was also fairly close to the hydraulic pipes," he says.

A pressure switch should have allowed the heater to operate when it was in the air but it was unreliable and was often deliberately short-circuited by staff, allowing the pilot manual control.

The switch prevented inflammable fuel from flowing, but if the heater was switched on manually, gas that may have collected could have ignited.

Captain Peter Duffey, a former BSAA pilot who went on to become a captain of British Airways Concorde, also believes that the proximity of the heater and the hydraulic pipes was significant.

"My theory is that hydraulic vapour escaped from a leak, which got on to a hot heater and caused an explosion," he says.

Mr Newton's report came to a similar conclusion: "If the heater had caught fire down below the floorboards then it could have developed to a catastrophic state before the crew knew anything about it.

"There was no automatic fire extinguisher to put it out like there is nowadays. There was no alarm where the heater was stored… so no-one would know, possibly until it was too late."

The official accident investigation discovered that because of a communications error, search and rescue teams were not despatched until seven and a half hours later.

By then what was left of the plane and the bodies would have sunk.

The report on the disappearance of the first plane, the Star Tiger, said something which, because it could be easily misinterpreted, helped the accident achieve notoriety.

In a moment of philosophical conjecture, the investigators mused that maybe "some external cause may (have) overwhelm(ed) both man and machine".

Those comments from sober-suited British civil servants opened the floodgates for conspiracy theorists, hack journalists and mischief makers, adding to the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle.

The "Mystery" of the Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle (sometimes also referred to as the Devil's 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 perhaps 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.

Why do ships and planes seem to go missing in the region? Some authors suggested it may be due to a strange magnetic anomaly that affects compass readings (in fact they claim Columbus noted this when he sailed through the area in 1492). Others theorize that methane eruptions from the ocean floor may suddenly be turning the sea into a froth that can't support a ship's weight so it sinks (though there is no evidence of this type of thing happening in the Triangle for the past 15,000 years). Several books have gone as far as conjecturing that the disappearances are due to an intelligent, technologically advanced race living in space or under the sea.

Kusche's Theory:


n 1975 Larry Kusche, a librarian at Arizona State University, reached a totally different conclusion. 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. In one case a ship listed missing in the Triangle actually had disappeared in the Pacific Ocean some 3,000 miles away! The author had confused the name of the Pacific port the ship had left with a city of the same name on the Atlantic coast. More significantly, a check of Lloyd's of London's accident records by the editor of Fate in 1975 showed that the Trianglewas no more dangerous than any other part of the ocean. U.S. Coast Guard records confirmed this and since that time no good arguments have ever been made to refute those statistics. So many argue that the Bermuda Triangle mystery has disappeared, in the same way many of its supposed victims vanished. Even though the Bermuda Triangle isn't a true mystery, this region of the sea certainly has had its share of marine tragedy. This region is one of the heaviest traveled areas of ocean in the world. Both small boats and commercial ships ply its waters along with airliners, military aircraft and private planes as they come to and from both the islands and more distant ports in Europe, South America and Africa. The weather in this region can make traveling hazardous also. The summer brings hurricanes while the warm waters of the Gulf Stream promote sudden storms. With this much activity in a relatively small region it isn't surprising that a large number of accidents occur. Some of the ones commonly connected to the Triangle story are:


The USS Cyclops Sinking:



One of the first stories connected to the Triangle legend and the most famous ship lost in the region was the USS Cyclops which disappeared in 1918. The 542 foot long Cyclops was launched in 1910 and served as a collier ( a ship that carries coal) for the U.S. Navy during World War I. The vessel was on its way from Bahia, Salvador, to Baltimore, Maryland, but never arrived. After it had made an unscheduled stop at Barbados on March 3rd and 4th to take on additional supplies, it disappeared without a trace. No wreckage from the ship was ever found and no distress signal was received. The deaths of the 306 crew and passengers of the USS Cyclops remains the single largest loss of life in U.S. Naval history not directly involving combat.
While the sinking of the Cyclops remains a mystery, the incident could have happened anywhere between Barbados and Baltimore, not necessarily in the Bermuda Triangle. Proponents of the Bermuda Triangle theory point to the lack of a distress call as evidence of a paranormal end for the vessel, but the truth is that wireless communications in 1918 were unreliable and it would not have been unusual for a rapidly-sinking vessel to not have had a chance to send a successful distress call before going under.

SS Marine Sulphur Queen Vanishes:

The SS Marine Sulphur Queen, a tanker ship carrying molten sulphur, disappeared off the southern coast of Florida in 1963. The crew of 39 was all lost and no wreckage from the tanker was ever found. While the disappearance of the ship is mentioned in several books about the Triangle, authors don't always include that the Coast Guard concluded that the vessel was in deplorable shape and should have never gone to sea at all. Fires erupted with regularity on the ship. Also, this class of vessel was known to have a "weak back", which means the keel would split when weakened by corrosion causing the ship to break in two. The ship's structure had been further compromised by a conversion from its original mission as an oil tanker to carrying molten sulphur. The conversion had left the vessel with an extremely high center of gravity, increasing the chance that it would capsize. The SS Marine Sulphur Queen was all-in-all a disaster waiting to happen and it seems unfair to blame its demise on the Bermuda Triangle.

The Disappearance of NC16002:

NC16002 was a DC-3 passenger plane that vanished on the night of December 28, 1948, during a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida. The weather was fine with high visibility and the flight was, according to the pilot, within 50 miles of Miami when it disappeared with its three crew members and twenty-nine passengers. Though no probable cause for the loss was determined by the official investigation, it is known that the plane's batteries were not fully charged on takeoff and this may have interfered with communications during the flight. A message from Miami to the plane that the direction of the wind had changed may have not been received by the pilot, causing him to fly up to fifty miles off course.

The Fate of Flight 19:

The tale of Flight 19 started on December 5th, 1945. Five Avenger torpedo bombers lifted into the air from the Naval Air Station at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 2:10 in the afternoon. It was a routine practice mission and the flight was composed of all students except for the Commander, a Lt. Charles Taylor.

The mission called for Taylor and his group of 13 men to fly due east 56 miles to Hens and Chicken Shoals to conduct practice bombing runs. When they had completed that objective, the flight plan called for them to fly an additional 67 miles east, and then turn north for 73 miles and finally straight back to base, a distance of 120 miles. This course would take them on a triangular path over the sea.

About an hour and a half after the flight had left, Lt. Robert Cox at the base picked up a radio transmission from Taylor. Taylor indicated that his compasses were not working, but he believed himself to be somewhere over the Florida Keys (the Keys are a long chain of islands south of the Florida mainland). Cox urged him to fly north toward Miami; if Taylor was sure the flight was over the Keys.

Planes today have a number of ways that they can check their current position including listening to a set of GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) in orbit around the earth. It is almost impossible for a pilot to get lost if he has the right equipment and uses it properly. In 1945, though, planes flying over water had to depend on knowing their starting point, how long and fast they had flown, and in what direction. If a pilot made a mistake with any of these figures, he was lost. Over the ocean there were no landmarks to set him right.


Navigational Confusion:


Apparently Taylor had become confused at some point in the flight. He was an experienced pilot, but hadn't spent a lot of time flying east toward the Bahamas which was where he was going on that day. For some reason Taylor apparently thought the flight had started out in the wrong direction and had headed south toward the Keys, instead of east. This thought was to color his decisions throughout the rest of the flight with deadly results.

The more Taylor took his flight north to try to get out of the Keys, the further out to sea the Avengers actually traveled. As time went on, snatches of transmissions were picked up on the mainland indicating the other Flight 19 pilots were trying to get Taylor to change course. "If we would just fly west," one student told another, "we would get home." He was right.

By 4:45 P.M. it was obvious to the people on the ground that Taylor was hopelessly lost. He was urged to turn control of the flight over to one of his students, but apparently he didn't. As it grew dark, communications deteriorated. From the few words that did get through it was apparent Taylor was still flying north and east, the wrong direction.

At 5:50 P.M. the ComGulf Sea Frontier Evaluation Center managed get a fix on Flight 19's weakening signals. It was apparently east of New Smyrna Beach, Florida. By then communications were so poor that this information could not be passed to the lost planes.

At 6:20 a Dumbo flying boat was dispatched to try and find Flight 19 and guide it back. Within the hour two more planes, Martin Mariners, joined the search. Hope was rapidly fading for Flight 19 by then. The weather was getting rough and the Avengers were very low on fuel.

Two Martin Mariners were supposed to rendezvous at the search zone. The second one, designated Training 49, never showed up, joining the 5 Avengers as "missing."

The last transmission from Flight 19 was heard at 7:04 P.M. Planes searched the area through the night and the next day. There was no sign of the Avengers.

Nor did the authorities really expect to find much. The Avengers, crashing when their fuel was exhausted, would have been sent to the bottom in seconds by the 50 foot waves of the storm. As one of Taylor's colleagues noted, "...they didn't call those planes 'Iron Birds' for nothing. They weighed 14,000 pounds empty. So when they ditched, they went down pretty fast."


What happened to the missing Martin Mariner? Well, the crew of the SS Gaines Mill observed an explosion over the water shortly after the Mariner had taken off. They headed toward the site and there they saw what looked like oil and airplane debris floating on the surface. None of it was recovered because of the bad weather, but there seems little doubt this was the remains of the Mariner. The plane had a reputation as being a "flying bomb" which would burst into flame from even a single, small spark. Speculation is that one of 22 men on board, unaware that the unpressurized cabin contained gas fumes, lit a cigarette, causing the explosion.

Missing Avengers become the Triangle's "Lost Squadron":

So how did this tragedy turn into a Bermuda Triangle mystery? The Navy's original investigation concluded the accident had been caused by Taylor's navigational confusion. According to those that knew him he was a good pilot, but often navigated "flying by the seat of his pants" and had gotten lost in the past. Taylor's mother refused to accept that and finally got the Navy to change the report to read that the disaster was for "causes or reasons unknown." This may have spared the woman's feelings, but blurred the actual facts.

The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle. Vincent Gaddis put the tale into the same Argosy magazine article where he coined the term "Bermuda Triangle" in 1964 and thetwo have been connected ever since. The planes and their pilots even found their way into the science fiction film classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Where is Flight 19 now? Well, in 1991 five Avengers were found in 750 feet of water off the coast of Florida by the salvage ship Deep Sea. Examination of the plane's ID numbers, however, showed that they were not from Flight 19 (as many as 139 Avengers were thought to have gone into the water off the coast of Florida during the war). It seems the final resting place of the lost squadron and their crews is still a real Bermuda Triangle mystery.







The Bermuda Triangle: A Selective Bibligraphy

Adams, Michael R. "Texaco Oklahoma: Another Bermuda Triangle Victim?" U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 102, no.3 (March 1976): 109-110.

The Bermuda Triangle: A Collection of Articles From the Brevard County Federated Library System. Merritt Island FL: Brevard County Federated Library System, cl975. OCLC 15432889.

The Bermuda Triangle: An Annotated Bibliography. Buffalo NY: B & ECPL Librarians Assn. and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, cl975. OCLC 2653229.

Brock, Paul. "They Sailed Into Oblivion." The Lookout [Seamen's Church Institute of N.Y.] 62, no.3 (Apr. 1971): 3-4, 11.

Burgess, Robert Forrest. Sinkings, Salvages, and Shipwrecks. New York: American Heritage Press, cl970. OCLC 104609.

Charroux, Robert. Forgotten Worlds: Scientific Secrets of the Ancients and Their Warning for Our Time. New York: Popular Library, cl973. OCLC 10352111.

Dolan, Edward F. The Bermuda Triangle and Other Mysteries of Nature. New York: Bantam, cl980. OCLC 7899556.

Edwards, Frank. Stranger Than Science. Secaucus NJ: Citadel Press, cl987. OCLC 24472013.

Gaddis, Vincent H. Invisible Horizons: True Mysteries of the Sea. Philadelphia PA: Chilton, 1965. OCLC 681276.

Gaffron, Norma. The Bermuda Triangle: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego CA: Greenhaven Press, cl995. OCLC 29848261.

Godwin, John. This Baffling World. New York: Bantam Books, cl968. OCLC 3621448.

Hoehling, Adolph A. They Sailed Into Oblivion. New York: T. Yoseloff, C1959. OCLC 1675249.

Keyhoe, Donald E. The Flying Saucer Conspiracy. New York: Holt, cl955. OCLC 721456.

Kusche, Larry. The Bermuda Triangle Mystery--Solved. Buffalo NY: Prometheus Books, cl986. OCLC 13439973.

Landsburg, Alan. In Search of Ancient Mysteries. New York: Bantam Books, cl974. OCLC 849943.

McDonell, Michael. "Lost Patrol." Naval Aviation News (Jun. 1973): 8-16.

Rosenberg, Howard L. "Exorcising the Devills Triangle" Sealift [Military Sealift Command] 24, no.6 (June 1974): 11-16.

Sanderson, Ivan Terence. Invisible Residents: A Disquisition Upon Certain Matters Maritime, and the Possibility of intelligent Life Under the Waters of This Earth. New York: World Pub. Co., cl970. OCLC 110221.

_____. More Things. New York: Pyramid Books, cl969. OCLC 6449730.

Spencer, John Wallace. Limbo of the Lost -- Today: Actual Stories of the Sea. New York: Bantam Books, cl975. OCLC 2472652.

Stancil, Carol F. The Bermuda Triangle: An Annotated Bibliography. Los Angeles: Reference Section, College Library, UCLA, cl973. OCLC 14197265.

Stewart, Oliver. Danger in the Air. New York: Philosophical Library, cl958. OCLC 1997220.

Titler, Dale Milton. Wings of Mystery: True Stories of Aviation History. New York: Dodd Mead, cl981. OCLC 7282120.

Upchurch, C. Winn. "Jinxed Seas." U.S, Coast Guard Academy Alumni Bulletin (1970): 40-45.

Wilkins, Harold Tom. Strange Mysteries of Time and Space. New York:Citadel Press, cl958. OCLC 1906564.

Winer, Richard. The Devil's Triangle. New York: Bantam Books, cl974. OCLC 1062766.

This bibliography is intended to provide research assistance only, and does not imply any opinion concerning the subject on the part of the US Navy.

12 May 1996

Portal to Another Dimension:

Another interesting theory about the Bermuda Triangle area is that certain places there serve as portals to other dimensions. The sheer number of credible eyewitness UFO reports makes this an area warranting serious further study with respect to either permanent or ever-changing possible portal sites. Credible scientists making careful observations in the area have reported anomalies in magnetism and gravitational forces here that cannot be explained by conventional physics, introducing the possibility that there is a dynamic opening and closing of other dimensional doorways in the vicinity.

In summary, the Bermuda Triangle is a fascinating area with a rich history that does seem to be conducive to supernatural phenomena in some respects, though further analytical study is definitely needed. There is speculation that the US government is already conducting covert tests in the Bahamas area, specifically Bimini, though exactly what they are looking for is as much a mystery as the area itself. Indeed, the famous "Bimini Road" is located on this island, where some say portions of the ruins of Atlantis can be seen in the clear shallow water. The National Geographic Society is reportedly investigating the reports of the lost city beneath the waters off Cuba, but they have not made any public announcements about what they have found to date. We will be keeping an eye on this development, so do check back often for further information.

The Lost Continent of Atlantis:

Speculation that Atlantis was located in or very near the area of the Bermuda Triangle is probably the most interesting aspect of the Bermuda Triangle phenomena. Mainly because of psychic Edgar Cayce's revelations, the Bahamas and surrounding sea in particular have been pinpointed as a likely site for this lost continent. Speculation has it that if the water was lowered in the area by 300 feet or so, the dimensions and topology originally described by Plato would match almost exactly. Indeed, a report in 2001 of an underwater city that has been found off the western tip of Cuba may shed some light on this mystery. It could be that the continent encompassed the entire Caribbean area and that the land forms we know today are the highest mountain peaks of that lost civilization.Unexplained variations in compass readings other than those attributable to normal compass variation discussed above have been reported in the Caribbean area, and most agree that psychic energy is very high here. Some suggest that the Bermuda Triangle phenomena is directly related to sunken batteries or crystals from the lost continent of Atlantis still emitting energies from the ocean floor.

Electromagnetism:

Certainly electromagnetism has played a role in the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle. This is one of only two places in the world where the compass points true north. However, the fact is that as you circumnavigate the earth you find compass variations of up to 22 percent at various locations. At first glance, this does not seem significant in any real sense, but again, if one looked worldwide very closely, this points to a strong vortex of some sort within the Bermuda Triangle area. We are continuing research in this area and will post updates soon.

Bermuda Triangle and Dajjal (Urdu)


Bermuda Triangle and Dajjal (Urdu)
However, even if every one of these stories were found to be attributable to human error or natural phenomena, the area is still fascinating for other reasons, not the least of which includes speculation that it encompasses the lost continent of Atlantis, and that it is a doorway to other dimensions. There is also speculation that the seabed in this area contains huge amounts of methane gas that is released suddenly due to changes in the sea bed, releasing large, unpredictable plumes of gas that have the capability to swallow ships or planes within minutes - without a trace.

One interesting theory is that the Bermuda Triangle is just one of many "vile vortices" that exist in both hemispheres all over the globe, a subject that we are researching and will publish more information on very soon.

Rather than dredging through the reports of disappearances, we are going to attempt to look at the area of the Bermuda Triangle with all it's anomalies and try to make some sense of it all on this page. There are several interesting aspects of the area that warrant a closer look:
The Bermuda Triangle or "Devil's Triangle" is a triangular-shaped area off the coast of Florida that is famous for reports in which strange disappearances occur and magnetic compasses go haywire. The area is situated in the Atlantic Ocean and is generally thought of as having apexes at Miami, Bermuda, and San Juan. This area contains some of the deepest sub-oceanic trenches in the world, encompasses the fast-moving waters of the Gulf Stream, and has frequent strong water spouts and violent storms, making at least some of the reported odd phenomena attributable to human error or mishap.

The US Coast Guard acknowledges the fact that there are definite environmental anomalies in this area, but goes on to say that human error is by far the more bizarre phenomena that happens in these waters. The area sustains heavy traffic, both by air and by sea, and certainly accidents are bound to happen. Inexperienced mariners or pilots who don't take into account variations in compass readings or environmental anomalies in the area can and do get into serious trouble, accounting for many of the unexplained disappearances in the area.
Bermuda Triangle

The infamous ‘Bermuda Triangle’ is a region located in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the two places on earth where a compass will not point to true, magnetic north. A lot of people hold that the laws of physics do not apply here! Over the course of several years, Bermuda Triangle has devoured so many aircrafts and ships passing through it that it has come to be called the ‘Devil’s Triangle’.

A lot has been said and written about it. Numerous documentaries attempting to investigate the Bermuda Triangle have been made and screened. What resulted as consequence is a mix of facts, theories, mysteries and myths associated with the infamous Bermuda Triangle. But, never one solid consistent explanation! So read to apprise yourself about different aspects of the Bermuda Triangle.

Bermuda Triangle Interesting Facts

Location - The Bermuda Triangle or the Devil’s Triangle is located around the east coast of Florida and Peurto Rico. A little portion of this triangle also spills into the area next to South Carolina.

Absolute Location – Spread over a huge body of water in the Atlantic Ocean, the Bermuda Triangle does not possess a definite absolute location. But it can be said to lie in-between 80-90 degrees west and 30-20 degrees north.

Bermuda Triangle is infamous For - Over 66 airplanes and ships passing through the Bermuda Triangle have been known to have got sucked into down forever. No information was derived about them. The most notorious disappearance was that of an airplane by the name ‘Flight 19’. It disappeared some 30 years ago and has not been seen since.

Description - The Bermuda Triangle is a windy, but sunny region. Winds blowing over the region have a speed of around 10 miles m.p.h. The region does not have distinct seasons.

Bermuda Triangle Mystery & Myths

More than a 100 separate mysterious disappearances of aircrafts and ships are known to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle region. Some really gigantic vessels like the USS Cyclops and the SS Marine Sulphur Queen have got lost in it.

Famous Italian explorer, Christopher Columbus jotted down many gripping recordings in his dairy during his journey of the Devil's Triangle in 1492. He mentioned about weird magnetic deviances in his navigation instruments. Unusual lights were noticed on the horizon. The Italian explorer has also talked about a ‘great flame of fire’ in his writings that crashed into the ocean.

A mysterious episode took place in 1872. A vessel ‘Mary Celeste’ had left for Genoa on 7 November 1872. On 4 December 1872, the crew on the Dei Gratia spotted this vessel and was alarmed by how randomly it was sailing. When they approached the ship, they found it entirely vacant. Even the lifeboat was not to be found despite the fact that the ship was otherwise in perfect condition.

The vanishing of Flight 19 tops the Bermuda Triangle collection of myths and mysteries. On 5 December 1945, five Navy Avengers went missing while on a standard training mission in the Atlantic. The patrol leader, Lt. Charles Taylor had radioed Florida the following strange message - "Control tower this is an emergency. We seem to be off course. We seem to be lost. We can't make out where we are". When instructed to turn the ship towards the west, he replied "Everything looks wrong, even the ocean looks strange". A Navy search was set out into the Atlantic that went on for weeks, but no trace was ever found of the aircraft or crew. The search team included a Martin Mariner, which blew up just after 23 minutes into its flight.

On 27 December 1948, a commercial flight flying from Puerto Rico towards Florida met with a similar fate. NC-16002 DC-3 radioed Miami that they were 50 miles out and all set to accept landing instructions. After Miami radioed back the instructions, it waited for a reply of confirmation but none came. After three hours, a search and rescue team was dispatched to trace the missing aircraft. No trace, what so ever, was found!

Bermuda Triangle Theories

A lot of authors, who have written on the Bermuda Triangle, have put forward supernatural theories to explain the disappearance of various ships and places in this region.

One such explanation theory for Bermuda Triangle episode puts blame on leftover technology from the lost continent of Atlantis. At times the submerged rock formation called ‘Bimini Road’ off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas is linked to the Atlantis story. The Bimini Road is believed to exist within the Bermuda Triangle as per some theories.

There are other writers about the Bermuda Triangle who associate the events to UFOs. This idea was used in the Hollywood film ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ by famous director Steven Spielberg. It features the lost ‘Flight 19’ as being abducted by the aliens.

Charles Berlitz, the grandson of an illustrious linguist and author of many additional books on anomalous phenomena, too has commented on these extraordinary events. He has explained the losses in the Devil’s Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces.