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The Strangest Disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle

Get to know the Bermuda Triangle and understand its mysterious, eerie occurrences that happened there.

By Jacqueline HanikehPublished 6 years ago 11 min read
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The Bermuda Triangle is one of the most infamous areas in the world. It's located in the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda. The ranges are estimated to cover between 500,000 - 1,000,000 square miles. And the term "Bermuda Triangle" didn't come to use until 1964 when it was coined by American author Vincent H. Gaddis in Argosy magazine. It was used to describe an area where there seemed to be a strange amount of disappearances of ships and planes. According to Time magazine, between 1946 and 1991 there were over 100 disappearances of ships and planes in the Bermuda Triangle — alone.

We continue to question the strange events that occur within the Bermuda Triangle. Despite sinking or crashing into the ocean, these planes and ships have never been found. Why have they suddenly disappeared? In fact, what's the cause behind all of this?

Christopher Columbus was actually the first one to record an unusual matter in the Bermuda Triangle while he was on his famous journey to "discover" America.

While sailing in the middle of the Triangle, Columbus, along with the crew, noted a variety of odd occurrences such as the ship's compass malfunctioning, there were mysterious lights over the water, and even the sea was rougher than it has been throughout the entire voyage. And at one point, Columbus even believed that he's seen a fireball fly right through the sky and crashed somewhere in the sea...

This is truly hard to believe, but we cannot jump and label these events as fake. Instead, let's get deeper into other mystifying phenomenons and failed rescue attempts that occurred in the core of the Bermuda Triangle. And people have theories behind most of them in hopes that it all connects.

March 1918

On March 4, 1918, the USS Cyclops, one of the Navy's largest fuel ships during the time, disappeared somewhere north of Barbados.

What's disturbing about this is that the captain never sent out a distress signal and nobody aboard even answered any of the calls from the hundreds of ships that were reportedly in the vicinity.

Eventually, the USS Cyclops unexplainable drifted out of existence.

Why didn't the captain send out any signals? Perhaps there might have been something wrong with him — and how about those aboard? It seems like something occurred aboard that caused no one to send out or answer any signals.

December 1948

On December 28, 1948, a Douglas Dakota DC-3 airplane was carrying 26 people and suddenly disappeared 50 miles from its destination in Florida.

And after the flight sent out its final radio call to indicate its nearby position, it was never heard from again...

From the lack of evidence, there wasn't enough to spot what exactly had happened. All we know is that there was no sign from any of those 26 people — leaving us baffled with tons of questions in mind that may never be answered.

October 1951

Another questionable incident occurred in October 1951 when a ship called the Southern District disappeared after being seen near the Bermuda Triangle.

Four years later in 1955, the only piece of evidence in regards to the ship's whereabouts was discovered on the Florida coast — a life preserver with the missing ships's name printed on it.

Honestly, what are the odds of a life preserver with the ship's name on it wash up on shore? What does that mean? At least there's evidence that the ship may have possibly sank... there is no other probability to it. Right?

December 1967

This is where the impossible becomes possible. On December 22, 1967, a 23 foot cabin cruiser called the "Witchcraft," which was built to be nearly unsinkable (note: unsinkable) disappeared along with its two passengers aboard — one of whom was an experienced sailor named Dan Burack.

The boat featured a flotation device in the hull that should have allowed part of the Witchcraft to remain afloat — no matter how much water was in the boat.

About a mile out from Miami Beach, Burack called the Coast Guard after hitting something in the water and also requested a tow back to shore.

If you were in this situation, wouldn't you be nervous and anxious to get back on shore? Burack apparently wasn't. In fact, it was reported that Burack sounded calm during the call and he didn't mention anything about his boat sinking.

So, if his boat wasn't sinking, why would he want to be towed back to shore?

But when the Coast Guard finally arrived, Burack, his passenger, and the Witchcraft were no where to be found and was never seen again.

People wonder how two men aboard an unsinkable ship equipped with lifejackets, floatable seat cushions, and flares could have possibly gone missing — let alone the ship itself.

Need I remind you of what exactly did Burack hit in the water that caused him to call the Coast Guard? Strange, I know.

Flight 19

Out of the other bizarre and unusual incidences that occurred in the Bermuda Triangle, this one certainly takes the cake — Flight 19.

On December 5, 1945, five military TBM Avenger torpedo bombers departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at about 2:10 PM on a routine training mission.

Supports say that the planes have been properly checked and inspected before the mission and the weather was supposed to be ideal during the time. Also, significantly, the durability of the TBM Avengers they were piloting were nicknamed "Iron Birds" for their rugged design and the propensity for holding up in battle.

Known as Flight 19, the five TBM Avenger airplanes carried a total of 14 men — led by instructor Lieutenant Charles Taylor. Shortly after completing their training mission, Lieutenant Taylor got lost in the area that is now known as the Bermuda Triangle.

Since this was an era before the GPS was invented, Taylor and his pilots relied heavily on compasses — both of which were malfunctioning.

Out of desperation, one of the pilots sent an emergency transmission that was picked up by a control tower.

“We can’t find West, everything is wrong. We can’t be sure of any direction. Everything looks strange, even the ocean.”

"Even the ocean" — seeing a pilot stating that just gives most of us goosebumps. It's hard to picture an ocean coming off as strange, since it's just a body of water. But if it can look unusual, I'm sure all of us can tell.

Then about 20 minutes after the first one, the pilot send Flight 19's last transmission. In this one, his voice was allegedly troubled.

“We can’t make out anything. We think we may be about 225 miles northeast of base… It looks like we are entering white water. We’re completely lost.”

And several minutes after that last transmission, a PBM Marine flying boat immediately took off on a rescue mission.

That boat would radio the control tower once more before also completely vanishing. Even a widespearch search attempt failed — the Navy covered their final report of the incident:

“We are not even able to make a good guess as to what happened.”

Undoubtedly one of the most bizarre and disturbing incidences that happened in the Bermuda Triangle, yet. For a tough and intellectual group such as Lieutenant Charles Taylor and his 14 men piloting TBM Avengers, how could they have fallen into this situation? It's hard to believe that they suddenly vanished, despite flying through the Bermuda Triangle.

However, there are interesting theories behind most of these cases and some of those who conjured them up have scientific facts to back up their theories.

Hopefully one of these theories will answer our agonizing questions...

Theory #1

Some believe that the Bermuda Triangle isn't an area of the supernatural, but rather, a naturally dangerous place for passing through.

It's known that most hurricanes and other tropical storms in the Atlantic do pass through the Bermuda Triangle. Since storms and unpredictable atmospheric conditions can cause insane phenomenons like water spots, which look like water tornados.

The Bermuda Triangle also has some of the deepest underwater trenches within it. So, wreckage could have possibly fallen far beneath the ocean's surface.

This would make sense for the planes and ships suddenly "disappearing." If the ships did sink and the planes have crashed, and the majority of their parts we never washed up on shores or were found floating in the sea, then they all must have sank deep in those trenches.

This only makes sense since rescuers have almost never found traces of these planes and ships.

Theory #2

The Bermuda Triangle is home to a magnetic phenomenon — bear with me here. It's actually been proven to be a place where true north and magnetic north are lined up.

There are some research indicating that this possibly why compasses malfunction when crossing the Triangle. In addition to this, there is science that also indicates that the lightening during storms may further affect or even intensify the magnetic fields — leading to the compasses, electrical machinery, and radio interference to all fail.

This clarifies why people didn't send out any signals or didn't answer any receiving ones. And those compasses that keep failing on people? From the works of the magnetics lining up.

But can this theory be the reason for all that's happened? Who knows...

Theory #3

One of the more interesting, but peculiar, theories: Those lost in the Bermuda Triangle are now residents of the legendary lost civilization of Atlantis.

If you have no idea what Atlantis is, you're about to be mind-blown. Atlantis was written about by Plato and it's supposedly an ancient naval power, but according to legend, the entire kingdom disappeared into the sea in just one day.

In the 1970s, writer Charles Berlitz hypothesized that the entire city of Atlantis was actually a victim of the Bermuda Triangle — now adapted and holds a civilization under the sea within the Triangle's bounds.

Berlitz also theorized that the technology and weaponry of Atlantis was so advanced, that it continues to contribute to the mysterious sinking of ships and planes... some even believe that whoever was lost in the Bermuda Triangle now exists in Atlantis beneath the sea.

Now, this is much harder for me, and possibly you, to grasp. Aside from the idea of an underwater city, but those who disappeared in the Triangle are now living in Atlantis... In other words, they're living and breathing in an underwater city with fishes and other aquatic creatures.

After accepting occurrences that are almost impossible to have happened, anything is possible.

Theory #4

This theory is a little bit less strange than the previous theory, but it's still a crazy hypothesis.

The Bermuda Triangle is actually a gateway to another universe — or in other terms — a blackhole.

Yes, a mysterious blackhole.

Some say that this would account for the fact that travel times through the region are unpredictable. Since there have been cases of fights that are getting to their destination faster than usual.

Like this occurrence in the 1970s where pilot Bruce Gernon testified that he had escaped an incident in the Bermuda Triangle, which he described as an "electric fog."

His plane was submerged in the gray haze and his compasses failed on him. He then flew blindly for three minutes before his radio informed him that he was flying over Miami. And here's where it gets weird. When he looked down at his watch, 40 minutes had passed, but he had traveled the same distance of a 90 minute flight.

How's that even possible?

Also, in the 1970s, a Canadian scientist John Hutchison found in his work that electromagnetic fields can somehow interfere with each other. So, when an incident happens, astonishing things can occur, like making metals glow, change form, or even become disfigured. Some came up with the idea that this effect is named the "Hutchison Effect" and could possibly create a wormhole.

Theory #5

The best, and most abnormal theory for last — extraterrestrial involvement.

No, you're seeing that correctly — aliens.

There's a theory where the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle has something to do with alien abductions. Some have even claimed that there's a secret US Navy base in the Bahamas linked to aquatic alien activity referred to as "Underwater Area 51."

And in 2014, at least two passengers on a Carnival Cruise within the Bermuda Triangle said that they saw a UFO fly over the ship in broad daylight...

This can be another possibility for the sudden disappearances, but how do we know how real aliens are?

Trip to the Triangle?

Even after all the events that took place in the Bermuda Triangle, it's actually one of the more highly traveled regions across the planet.

Who doesn't want to travel to an area where 100 or more people vanished in?

Our questions based on these past occurrences will forever be asked about the cause, but will we ever receive the answers?

There's only one way to find out — plan your next trip to the Bermuda Triangle and experience the infamous area yourself. But be cautious of alien abductions and wormholes.

investigation
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About the Creator

Jacqueline Hanikeh

Reading good literature plays a huge role in my life — and so does online shopping and wine.

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