Paranormal Claims:
- "A significant number of ships and aircraft have disappeared under highly unusual circumstances."
- "Paranormal activity where the known laws of physics are violated."
- It has even been suggested that "extraterrestrial beings are responsible for some of the disappearances."
Despite popular belief, the United States Coast Guard and other agencies cite statistics indicating that the number of incidents involving lost ships and aircraft is no larger than that of any other heavily-travelled region of the world. While many of the alleged mysteries have proven not so mysterious or unusual upon closer examination, with inaccuracies and misinformation about the cases often circulating and recirculating over the decades, many others still have no explanation.
The Triangle
The Triangle marks a corridor of the north Atlantic stretching northward from the West Indies along the North American seaboard as far as the Carolinas. To take advantage of prevailing winds, ships returning to Europe during the Age of Sail would sail north to the Carolinas before turning east to cross the north Atlantic. This pattern continued after the development of steam and internal combustion engines, meaning that much of the north Atlantic shipping traffic crossed (and still crosses) through the Triangle's area.
The Gulf Stream, an area of volatile weather, also passes through the Triangle as it leaves the West Indies. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather made it inevitable that vessels would founder in storms and be lost without trace, especially before the telecommunications, radar and satellite technology of the late twentieth century. The occasional vessel still sinks, but rarely without a trace.
Other areas often purported to possess unusual characteristics are the Devil's Sea, located near Japan, and the Marysburgh Vortex (or "Great Lakes Triangle"), located in eastern Lake Ontario. However, the "Devil's Sea" is not particularly well known in Japan, due to the fact that most of the boats lost were small fishing boats with no radios.
History
First citations and name
Christopher Columbus made mention of sightings of strange-looking animals near the border of the triangle and recorded near the area and now designated as the Bermuda Triangle. At one point he reports that he and his crew observed "strange dancing lights on the horizon". On another instance they observed what was most likely a falling meteor. At another point he wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings in the area.
The first documented mention of disappearances in the area was made in 1951 by E.V.W. Jones as a sidebar on the Associated Press wire service regarding recent ship losses. Jones' article noted the "mysterious disappearances" of ships, aircraft and small boats in the region and gave it the name "The Devil's Triangle". It was next mentioned in 1952 in a Fate Magazine article by George X. Sand, who outlined several "strange marine disappearances". In 1964, Vincent Geddis referred to the area as "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" in an Argosy feature, after which the name "Bermuda Triangle" became most common.
Popularized by Berlitz
The area achieved its current fame largely through the efforts of Charles Berlitz in his 1974 book The Bermuda Triangle (right) and its subsequent film adaptation. The book recounts a long series of mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft, in particular the December 1945 loss of five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers in the infamous Flight 19 incident.
The book was a bestseller and included several theories about the cause of the disappearances, including accidents due to high traffic volumes; natural storms; "temporal holes"; the lost empire of Atlantis; transportation by extraterrestrial technology; and other natural or supernatural causes.
Skeptical responses
The marine insurer Lloyd's of London has determined the "triangle" to be no more dangerous than any other area of ocean, and does not charge unusual rates for passage through the region. Coast Guard records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft which pass through on a regular basis.
Skeptics comment that the disappearance of a train between two stops would be more convincing evidence of paranormal activity, and the fact that such things do not occur suggests that paranormal explanations are not needed for the disappearance of ships and aircraft in the far less predictable open ocean.
Kusche's The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved
Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants and others involved in the initial incidents. He noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman Donald Crowhurst which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence that Crowhurst had fabricated the accounts of his voyage and had probably committed suicide. Another example was the ore-carrier Berlitz recounted as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the Pacific Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents have sparked the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it.
Kusche came to several conclusions:
- The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than any other part of the ocean.
- In an area frequented by tropical storms, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, neither disproportionate, unlikely, nor mysterious.
- The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat listed as missing would be reported, but its eventual, if belated, return to port, may not be reported.
- The circumstances of confirmed disappearances were frequently misreported in Berlitz's accounts. The numbers of ships disappearing in supposedly calm weather, for instance, did not tally with weather reports published at the time.
- "The Legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery... perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, and sensationalism."
In recent years, however, several authors, most notably Gian J. Quasar, have raised several questions as to the veracity of Kusche's findings, including but not limited to: why Kusche so often brought up as evidence for his claims cases that were already well-known before the writing of his work as not being "Triangle incidents"; his misidentification and mislocation of several ship and aircraft incidents that are well-documented, but then using that inability to properly identify the craft as "proof" that they never existed; holding to his claims that 'nothing out of the ordinary' regularly occurred in and around the area, and yet several times admitting certain cases lacked conventional rational explanation (most notably in the Star Tiger and DC-3 cases), and in other examples openly claiming possibilities for foul weather for certain disappearances where it can be verified that none existed.
Methane hydrates
An explanation for some of the disappearances focuses on the presence of vast fields of methane hydrates on the continental shelves. A paper was published in 1981 by the United States Geological Survey about the appearance of hydrates in the Blake Ridge area, off the southeastern United States coast. Periodic methane eruptions may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate buoyancy for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning. Laboratory experiments have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water.
