The Bermuda Triangle resembles the section of the Atlantic Ocean in-between areas of Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships, airplanes, and people have mysteriously disappeared in the past. Vessels seem to magically disappear when traveling through this area, although, many trips are navigated this way without incident as well. So what does it take to become some of the unlucky few that didn't make it out?
The "Devil's Triangle" covers a little under 500,000 square miles of ocean off the southeastern tip of Florida, and the legend begins with Christopher Columbus recording that he witnessed a large fireball (or meteor) crashing into the sea along with abnormal compass readings. The next day, he observed a weird ray of light within that same area. The real publicity began, however, when the USS Cyclops on March 1918, a 542-foot-long Navy cargo ship with over 300 men on board sank within this area, leaving nobody behind and no ship to be found. Over two decades later, two sister ships similarly vanished following a similar route as the Cyclops.
This is where the noticeable pattern of disappearances began, and in 1945, five Navy bombers carrying 14 men vanished as well during a training session, after the leader of the mission had compass malfunctions, got lost, and the four other planes flew aimlessly until they vanished as well. The rescue plane following this accident and its 13 man crew also disappeared.
Although the suspicion of this area stands strong, no planes report poor weather conditions of distress calls prior to or during trips within this area, which leaves little else to blame. According to National Ocean Service, "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." This would seem to make the most sense, but the continuity and similarity between unrelated plane and ship trips through this sea area raise too many questions.
Another mysterious case of irregular activity and mystery includes a ship by the name of "Witchcraft." On December 22, 1967, a cabin cruiser left from Miami with two members on board. After only making it a mile offshore, the coast guard received a call from the captain stating that his ship had hit something and they needed assistance. Arriving in just 19 minutes, the coast guard found no ship and no men insight, along with no signs that a ship had even been there previously. They continued to search hundreds of square miles but were unsuccessful. To date, 924 fatalities and over 20 planes and or ships have gone missing within the area of the Bermuda Triangle as early as the 1400's and as recently as 2019. So what is going on?
Dozens of theories circle the Bermuda Triangle varying from aliens, sea monsters, time portals, hurricanes, Atlantis, time warps, to magnetic gravity fields. According to an article published by LiveScience, "Still others believe that the explanation lies in some sort of extremely rare and little–known — yet perfectly natural — geological or hydrological explanation. For example, perhaps ships and planes are destroyed by pockets of flammable methane gas known to exist in large quantities under the sea — maybe lightning or an electrical spark ignited a huge bubble of methane that came to the surface right next to a ship or plane, causing them to sink without a trace,"; but nobody really knows what the real cause is for planes and ships to never be found. It still remains an unsolved mystery.
