The Bermuda Triangle, is a sea area in the western North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships have disappeared under allegedly mysterious circumstances.
The boundaries of the triangle depend on the researcher/author describing the triangle, the maximum area covers the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas and the entire Caribbean island area and the Atlantic east to the Azores, However the most recognised boundaries of recent written works has as its points somewhere on the Atlantic coast around Miami; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.
The usually recognised Bermuda Triangle
On a clear, sunny day in 1945, five Navy planes took off from their base in Florida on a routine training mission, known as Flight 19, neither the planes nor the crew were ever seen again and the worlds imagination was stirred. Unusual features of the area had been noted before this incident, in fact Christopher Columbus wrote in his log about bizarre compass bearings while sailing in the area, but it was some years after the Flight 19 incident that the region got its name (August 1964), when Vincent Gaddis coined the term Bermuda Triangle in a cover story for Argosy magazine about the disappearance of planes.
Since the story appeared, and a lengend was created, popular culture has attributed these disappearances to the paranormal, activity by extraterrestrial beings, enormous sea monsters, giant squid and ocean flatulence—the ocean suddenly spewing great quantities of trapped methane. Not to mention alien abductions or the existence of a mysterious third dimension created by unknown beings, or especially Governments!
For every article to prove a theory of the disappearances there is another to disproove it. The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, still causes much speculation and discussions of conspiracies, but perhaps a more logical explanation is that the reality is more to do with treacherous Mother Nature, human error, shoddy craftsmanship or design, and just plain bad luck not to mention the high density of traffic, both air and sea, in the area.
“The region is highly traveled and has been a busy crossroads since the early days of European exploration,” said John Reilly, a historian with the U.S. Naval Historical Foundation. “To say quite a few ships and airplanes have gone down there is like saying there are an awful lot of car accidents on the New Jersey Turnpike—surprise, surprise.”
As for World Marine Guide’s thoughts on the sailing in turquoise waters around tropical islands under blue skies, and drinking Pina Colada’s in safe marinas, well we think our Bermuda Shorts will be more frightening than the the Bermuda Triangle!!
