The U.S. Navy is reluctant to acknowledge that this place even exists. It's not on any map, and its exact size can't be confirmed since everyone has a different idea of how big it is. However, the three points of the triangular boundary are thought to cover the part of the Atlantic Ocean between Miami on the east coast of Florida, to Bermuda, then down to San Juan, Puerto Rico and then finally over the Bahamas.
The list of inexplicable events in this area is baffling. Reports of mechanical and/or electrical malfunctions and strange weather conditions are just the tip of the iceberg. Entire ships have disappeared along with their crews. These stories have fuelled the controversy of the Bermuda Triangle for decades. This article will look closely at some of the more disturbing occurrences.
The Disappearance of the U.S.S. Cyclops
This ship was under the command of Lt. Cmdr. G.W. Worley, and after leaving the Caribbean island of Barbados for Norfolk, Virginia, in early 1918 the vessel and all of its 309 crew members simply vanished into thin air. Some thought the ship had been torpedoed, but a search of naval records after World War I proved this wasn't the case. No wreckage of any kind was found, and since then the U.S. Navy has not been able to ascertain what happened to the Cyclops.
The crew of that ship weren't the only ones to disappear. The sister ships of the Cyclops, the U.S.S.Proteus and the U.S.S. Nereus, also vanished without a trace along an almost identical route in 1941.
Flight 19
This is the most puzzling mystery connected to the Bermuda Triangle, and it started on the afternoon of December 5, 1945. It originated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and consisted of fourteen men in five TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers. It was a navigational training exercise that turned into a tragedy. Unfortunately for Lt. Charles Taylor, the lead instructor, he was living in a time when a GPS system hadn't been invented yet. Pilots in 1945 only had the use of compasses and a good sense of where they were going.
As he became hopelessly lost, he radioed the tower and said his two compasses were spinning around in circles. He also described a large island which the tower assumed was Andros Island, the largest in the Bahamas. They sent Lt. Taylor course corrections to put him on a direct path back to the coast of Florida, but he wasn't convinced he went far enough to the east. He reversed course, and his radio transmissions diminished in strength as he continued to fly in the wrong direction.
A search party was sent out but they didn't find anything. All of those men seem to have been swallowed into oblivion.
What's Happening Down There?
There's lots of guessing and speculation, but few answers. Skeptics might try to pin a reasonable explanation to these strange disappearances like bad weather and poor seamanship. Indeed, unpredictable weather is a plausible theory because this area does experience sudden, violent storms. The Gulf Stream connects the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic, and in essence it's a river within an ocean. It's quite powerful and it has been suggested many ships get swept away by the strong currents.
More extreme ideas include UFO activity, and the belief that the Triangle is in fact a portal to another dimension from which there is no escape. However, these are only theories. None have been confirmed with absolute certainty. Whatever you believe, the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle will continue to intrigue and mystify for years to come.
Scott Hayden - Since joining Suite101 in early 2007, I've contributed articles about travel, history and health. My speciality is writing about workplace ...
