¶ … Devil's Triangle
It is known as The Bermuda Triangle, The Devil's Triangle, and some call it the Hoodoo Sea, but whichever name you choose, the Triangle remains a mysterious triangle of ocean that has seen the disappearance of numerous unexplained losses of shops, small boats, and aircraft. This triangle encompasses an area of ocean located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. The apexes of the triangle are pinpointed to be Bermuda, Miami, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico (Navy Historical Center 2001). While the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name or keep an official file on the triangular area, the name Bermuda Triangle was established with a 1952 article that appeared in Fate magazine (Loxton 2003) and it continues to remain unexplained how disappearances have occurred over time.
Some scientists believe that violent, unexpected storms or downward air currents destroyed the ships and planes. Swift ocean currents may then have swept the wreckage far from where the craft disappeared. Hurricanes, extreme storms, and violent seas are considered the main killers in this area of the world, but it remains unexplained how over the past 100 years, more than 1000 ships have vanished without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle. Each incident occurred without any warnings, distress calls, or even leaving signs of ship wreckage. Berlitz (1974) has reported that since 1945, over 100 ships and aircraft all carrying over 1,000 people have mysteriously disappeared while traveling within the area of the Triangle. His writings include reports of strangely spinning compasses and unexplained electrical failures aboard ships and planes crossing the triangle. Those who have traveled through this part of the Atlantic have noted great waterspouts and baffling stretches of 'white water'. This activity can be documented as far back as Christopher Columbus in the late 16th century.
The United States Coast Guard correlates their records with Berlitz and states that even with sophisticated state-of-the-art equipment, this number is very accurate. The mystery...
Columbus wrote about compasses that malfunctioned, and reported a strange illumination in the distant horizon, while even once seeing "a large fireball crashing into the sea" (The Statesman 2003).
Travel Weekly reports during the late 19th century that a ship called the Ellen Austin, discovered an abandoned ship in the area of The Triangle. When part of the Ellen Austin's crew went aboard the abandoned vessel, they also disappeared (Travel Weekly 1995). The first recorded disappearance of a United States ship in the Bermuda Triangle occurred in March 1918, when the U.S.S. Cyclops vanished. On December 5, 1945, a squadron of five U.S. bombers disappeared, and a seaplane vanished while searching for the aircraft.
Many still continue the search for Navy Flight 19 that originated from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Naval Air Station. Six months after the end of World War II, a group of five Avengers set out on a routine flight that should have only taken two and a half hours. The team was made up of experienced pilots, and the routine flight should have been completed without incident. After flying out for a short time, several of the pilots became disorientated and lost their bearings. Each plane began to encounter problems and lose use of their compasses. Confusion remains documented and the planes began running out of fuel over the seas of the Bermuda Triangle. The last recorded information is that the pilots prepared to "ditch" from their planes, and no more information is known concerning the men of Flight 19. For six days, the largest air-sea rescue since the war searched in vain. One of the rescue planes exploded and crashed just twenty-three minutes after taking off and killed all thirteen men aboard. Nothing was ever found of the Flight 19 wreckage and only twisted metal was found from the rescue plane (Edwards 1999).
Other disappearances have also occurred. In November of 1978, Irving C. Rivers piloted a plan off of the coast of…
