View source for Bermuda Triangle

{{Short description|Urban legend based on a region in North Atlantic}}
{{Redirect|Devil's Triangle||Devil's Triangle (disambiguation)|and|Bermuda Triangle (disambiguation)}}
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{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Bermuda Triangle
| other_name         = Devil's Triangle
| image              = Bermuda Triangle.png
| image_size         = 300px
| alt                = Map showing the Bermuda Triangle, with its three points located at Bermuda in the top right, Puerto Rico in the bottom right, and the southern coast of Florida on the left.
| caption            = Map of the Bermuda Triangle area
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| location           = 
| coords             = {{Coord|25|N|71|W|scale:10000000_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}
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{{Paranormal}}

The '''Bermuda Triangle''', also known as the '''Devil's Triangle''', is a loosely defined region in the [[Atlantic Ocean|North Atlantic Ocean]], roughly bounded by [[Florida]], [[Bermuda]], and [[Puerto Rico]]. Since the mid-20th century, it has been the focus of an [[urban legend]] suggesting that many [[aircraft]], [[ship]]s, and people have disappeared there under mysterious circumstances. However, extensive investigations by reputable sources, including the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]] and scientific organizations, have found no evidence of unusual activity, attributing reported incidents to natural phenomena, human error, and misinterpretation.<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/><ref name="NOVA,1976"/><ref name="WoodsHole Bermuda"/>

==Origins==
[[File:Bermuda Triangle 1950 map.jpg|thumb|Map that was published in various newspapers<!--not all newspapers that ran the article included the map with it--> with the [[Associated Press]] article of 17 September 1950]]
Although the nearby [[Sargasso Sea]] already had a reputation as a mysterious region where ships may become lost,<ref name=heller>{{Cite book|last=Heller|first=Ruth|title=A Sea Within a Sea: Secrets of the Sargasso|year=2000|publisher=Price Stern Sloan|isbn=978-0448424170|url=https://archive.org/details/seawithinseasecr00hell}}</ref> the earliest suggestion of unusual disappearances in the Bermuda area appeared in an article written by Edward Van Winkle Jones of the ''[[Miami Herald]]'' that was distributed by the [[Associated Press]] and appeared in various American newspapers on 17 September 1950.<ref name="Jones,1950">{{cite news |url=http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/BermudaTriangle/evwjones.html |title=Same Big World: Sea's Puzzles Still Baffle Men In Pushbutton Age |agency=[[Associated Press]] |first=E.V.W. |last=Jones |date=16 September 1950 |via=physics.smu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-daily-star-air-sea-mysteries-sh/137796829/ |title=Air, Sea Mysteries Show It Is Still a Big World |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Arizona Daily Star]] |location=[[Tucson, Arizona]] |page=10B |date=17 September 1950 |access-date=31 December 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/battle-creek-enquirer-unsolved-disappear/137797249/ |title=Unsolved Disappearances: Mysteries of Air, Sea Remind Moderns Shrinking World Still Swallows Up Men |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[Battle Creek Enquirer]] |location=[[Battle Creek, Michigan]] |page=II-2 |date=17 September 1950 |access-date=31 December 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

Two years later, ''[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]'' magazine published "Sea Mystery at Our Back Door": a short article, by George X. Sand, that was the first to lay out the now-familiar triangular area where the losses took place.<ref name=Sand/> Sand recounted the loss of several planes and ships since World War II: the disappearance of ''Sandra'', a [[tramp steamer]];{{efn|''Sandra'' disappeared in April 1950; a wreck consistent with its size and cargo was discovered in 2020.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1492251/bermuda-triangle-discovery-missing-ship-sandra-found-flight-19-mystery-spt |title=Bermuda Triangle: 'Major discovery' as missing 200-foot ship with 'bizarre cargo' found |website=[[Daily Express]] |location=London |date=17 September 2021 |access-date=11 January 2024}}</ref>}} the December 1945 loss of [[Flight 19]], a group of five US Navy [[torpedo bomber]]s on a training mission; the March 1948 disappearance of a fishing [[skiff]] with three men, including jockey [[Albert Snider]];{{efn|Sand's article refers to jockey Albert Snider as Al Snyder, and includes this disappearance although it occurred southwest of Miami in [[Florida Bay]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-calgary-albertan-details-of-jockeys/138497139/ |title=Details of Jockey's Disappearance Add to Mystery Surrounding Event |newspaper=[[The Calgary Albertan]] |page=10 |date=16 March 1948 |access-date=11 January 2024 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>}} the December 1948 disappearance of an [[1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance|Airborne Transport DC-3]] charter flight en route from Puerto Rico to Miami; and the January 1949 disappearance of ''[[BSAA Star Ariel disappearance|Star Ariel]]'',{{efn|Sand's article refers to ''Star Ariel'' as ''Aerial''.}} another BSAA passenger airplane.<ref name=Sand>{{cite journal |last=Sand |first=George X. |date=October 1952 |issue=31 |pages=11–17 |title=Sea Mystery at Our Back Door |journal=[[Fate (magazine)|Fate]]}}</ref>

Flight 19 was covered again in the April 1962 issue of ''The American Legion Magazine''.<ref name="Eckert,1962" >{{cite magazine |title=The Mystery of The Lost Patrol |magazine=The American Legion Magazine |author=Allen W. Eckert |date=April 1962}} Cited in [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] (editor), ''Satanism Today: An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore, and Popular Culture'', page 72, segment by [[Jerome Clark]] (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2001). {{ISBN|1-57607-292-4}}</ref><ref name=AmLegion/> In it, author [[Allan W. Eckert]] wrote that the flight leader had been heard saying, "We cannot be sure of any direction ... everything is wrong ... strange ... the ocean doesn't look as it should."<ref name=AmLegion>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/americanlegionma724amer/page/12/mode/2up |magazine=The American Legion Magazine |title=The Mystery of the Lost Patrol |first=Allan W. |last=Eckert |author-link=Allan W. Eckert |pages=12–13, 39–41 |date=April 1962 |volume=72 |number=4 |access-date=31 December 2023 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> In February 1964, [[Vincent Gaddis]] wrote an article called "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" in ''[[Argosy (magazine)|Argosy]]'' saying Flight 19 and other disappearances were part of a pattern of strange events in the region, dating back to at least 1840.<ref name="Gaddis,1964">{{cite magazine |last=Gaddis |first=Vincent |title=The Deadly Bermuda Triangle |magazine=[[Argosy (magazine)|Argosy]] |year=1964 |url=https://www.physics.smu.edu/~pseudo/BermudaTriangle/vincentgaddis.txt |via=physics.smu.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Regal |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c6PACQAAQBAJ |title=Pseudoscience: A Critical Encyclopedia |date=15 October 2009 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35508-0 |pages=36–38 |language=en |chapter=Bermuda Triangle}}</ref> The next year, Gaddis expanded this article into a book, ''Invisible Horizons''.<ref name="Gaddis,1965">{{cite book |author=Gaddis |first=Vincent |title=Invisible Horizons |year=1965 |publisher=[[Chilton Company]] |asin=B0088JSBII}}</ref>

Other writers elaborated on Gaddis' ideas, including John Wallace Spencer (''Limbo of the Lost'', 1969, repr. 1973);<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Spencer, 1969|Spencer, 1969]].</ref> [[Charles Berlitz]] (''[[The Bermuda Triangle (book)|The Bermuda Triangle]]'', 1974);<ref name="ReferenceB">[[#Berlitz, 1974|Berlitz, 1974]].</ref> and [[Richard Winer]] (''The Devil's Triangle'', 1974).<ref name="Winer, 1974">{{harvnb|Winer|1974}}</ref> Various of these authors incorporated supernatural elements.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12789881_ITM |title=Strange fish: the scientifiction of Charles F. Berlitz, 1913–2003 |last=Hagen |first=L. Kirk |journal=Skeptic |location=Altadena, CA |date=March 2004| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109201602/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12789881_ITM| archive-date=9 November 2007 |via=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>

== Triangle area ==
Sand's article in ''Fate'' described the area as "a watery triangle bounded roughly by [[Florida]], [[Bermuda]] and [[Puerto Rico]]".<ref name=Sand/>{{rp|12}} The ''Argosy'' article by Gaddis further delineated the boundaries,<ref name="Gaddis,1964"/> giving its [[Vertex (geometry)|vertices]] as [[Miami]], [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|San Juan]], and Bermuda. Subsequent writers did not necessarily follow this definition.<ref name="navy,1996">{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions: Bermuda Triangle Fact Sheet |year=1998 |url=http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/Reading_Room/UFO/195.pdf |publisher=US Department of Defense |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121111220/http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/Reading_Room/UFO/195.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2016}}</ref> Some writers gave different boundaries and vertices to the triangle, with the total area varying from {{convert|1.3|to|3.9|e6km2|abbr=unit}},<ref name=navy,1996/> in some cases expanding the boundary of the triangle as far as the coast of Ireland.<ref name="NOVA,1976">{{cite episode |series=[[Nova (American TV program)|NOVA]] / [[Horizon (UK TV series)|Horizon]] |title=The Case of the Bermuda Triangle |airdate=27 June 1976 |network=PBS |url=https://archive.org/details/caseofthebermudatrianglereel1}}</ref> Consequently, the determination of which accidents occurred inside the triangle depends on which writer reported them.<ref name=navy,1996/>

== Criticism of the concept ==
=== <span class="anchor" id="Kusche's explanation"></span> Larry Kusche ===
[[Larry Kusche]], author of ''The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved'' (1975),<ref name="Kusche, 1975">[[#refKusche,1975|Kusche, 1975]].</ref> argued that many claims of Gaddis and subsequent writers were exaggerated, dubious or unverifiable. Kusche's research revealed a number of inaccuracies and inconsistencies between Berlitz's accounts and statements from eyewitnesses, participants, and others involved in the initial incidents. Kusche noted cases where pertinent information went unreported, such as the disappearance of round-the-world yachtsman [[Donald Crowhurst]], which Berlitz had presented as a mystery, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Another example was the ore-carrier recounted by Berlitz as lost without trace three days out of an Atlantic port when in fact it had been lost three days out of a port with the same name in the ''Pacific'' Ocean. Kusche also argued that a large percentage of the incidents that sparked allegations of the Triangle's mysterious influence actually occurred well outside it. Often his research was simple: he would review period newspapers of the dates of reported incidents and find reports on possibly relevant events, like unusual weather, that were never mentioned in the disappearance stories.

Kusche concluded:

* The number of ships and aircraft reported missing in the area was not significantly greater, proportionally speaking, than in any other part of the ocean.
* In an area prone to [[tropical cyclone]]s, the number of disappearances that did occur were, for the most part, not disproportionate, unlikely, or mysterious.
* Berlitz and other writers often failed to mention such storms and sometimes even represented the disappearance as having happened in calm conditions when meteorological records clearly contradict this.
* The numbers themselves had been exaggerated by sloppy research. A boat's disappearance, for example, would be reported, but its eventual (if belated) return to port may not have been.
* Some alleged disappearances were, in reality, not mysterious. Berlitz found that one plane believed to have disappeared in 1937 had, in fact, crashed off [[Daytona Beach, Florida|Daytona Beach]], Florida, in front of hundreds of witnesses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Crash of a Douglas DC-2-112 in Daytona Beach: 4 killed |url=https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-douglas-dc-2-112-daytona-beach-4-killed |publisher=Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives}}</ref>
* The legend of the Bermuda Triangle is a manufactured mystery, perpetuated by writers who either purposely or unknowingly made use of misconceptions, faulty reasoning, [[sensationalism]] and [[Hoax|internet hoaxes]].<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/>

===Further responses===
When the British [[Channel 4]] television program ''The Bermuda Triangle'' (1992)<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/477884 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527110149/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/477884 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 May 2009 |title=Equinox: The Bermuda Triangle |access-date=6 December 2012}}</ref> was being produced by John Simmons of Geofilms for the ''Equinox'' series, the marine insurance market [[Lloyd's of London]] was asked if an unusually large number of ships had sunk in the Bermuda Triangle area. Lloyd's determined that large numbers of ships had not sunk there.<ref name="WoodsHole Bermuda"/> Lloyd's does not charge higher rates for passing through this area. [[United States Coast Guard]] records confirm their conclusion. In fact, the number of supposed disappearances is relatively insignificant considering the number of ships and aircraft that pass through on a regular basis.<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/>

The Coast Guard is also officially skeptical of the Triangle, noting that they collect and publish, through their inquiries, much documentation contradicting many of the incidents written about by the Triangle authors. In one such incident involving the 1972 explosion and sinking of the tanker {{SS|V. A. Fogg||2}}, the Coast Guard photographed the wreck and recovered several bodies,<ref name="USCG Fogg">{{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/boards/vafog.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030321022820/http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/boards/vafog.pdf |archive-date=21 March 2003 |url-status=dead |title=Marine Casualty Report: SS V. A. Fogg: Sinking in the Gulf of Mexico on 1 February 1972 with Loss of Life |publisher=[[United States Coast Guard]] |access-date=13 January 2022}}</ref> in contrast with one Triangle author's claim that all the bodies had vanished, with the exception of the captain, who was found sitting in his cabin at his desk, clutching a coffee cup.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In addition, ''V. A. Fogg'' sank off the coast of [[Texas]], nowhere near the commonly accepted boundaries of the Triangle.

''[[Nova (American TV program)|Nova]]''/''[[Horizon (British TV series)|Horizon]]'' aired the episode "The Case of the Bermuda Triangle" on 27 June 1976. The episode was highly critical, stating that "When we've gone back to the original sources or the people involved, the mystery evaporates. Science does not have to answer questions about the Triangle because those questions are not valid in the first place&nbsp;[...] Ships and planes behave in the Triangle the same way they behave everywhere else in the world."<ref name="NOVA,1976"/>

[[Scientific skepticism|Skeptical researchers]], such as Ernest Taves<ref name="Taves,1978">{{cite journal |last=Taves |first=Ernest H. |journal=[[The Skeptical Inquirer]] |year=1978 |title=Correspondence |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=75–76}}</ref><!-- https://skepticalinquirer.org/s/?_sf_s=Taves --> and Barry Singer,<ref name="Singer,1979">{{cite journal |last=Singer |first=Barry |year=1979 |title=McDonald's and the Occult |journal=The Humanist |volume=XXXIX |issue=3 |pages=44–45 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234675711 |access-date=1 July 2025}}</ref> have noted how mysteries and the paranormal are very popular and profitable. This has led to the production of vast amounts of material on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle. They were able to show that some of the pro-paranormal material is often misleading or inaccurate, but its producers continue to market it. Accordingly, they have claimed that the market is biased in favor of books, TV specials, and other media that support the Triangle mystery, and against well-researched material if it espouses a skeptical viewpoint.

In a 2013 study, the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] identified the world's 10 most dangerous waters for shipping, but the Bermuda Triangle was not among them.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22806362 |title=Study finds shipwrecks threaten precious seas |date=7 June 2013|access-date = 7 June 2013 |publisher=BBC News/science}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2013/0610/Bermuda-Triangle-doesn-t-make-the-cut-on-list-of-world-s-most-dangerous-oceans |title=Bermuda Triangle doesn't make the cut on list of world's most dangerous oceans |journal=The Christian Science Monitor | access-date=22 March 2016 |date=10 June 2013}}</ref>

[[Benjamin Radford]], an author and scientific paranormal investigator, noted in an interview on the Bermuda Triangle that it could be very difficult to locate an aircraft lost at sea due to the vast search area, and although the disappearance might be mysterious, that did not make it paranormal or unexplainable. Radford further noted the importance of double-checking information as the mystery surrounding the Bermuda Triangle had been created by people who had neglected to do so.<ref>{{cite web |last=Radford |first=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Radford |title=Lessons From A Middle School Bermuda Triangle Q&A |url=https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/lessons_from_a_middle_school_bermuda_triangle_qa/ |website=Center for Inquiry |date=22 February 2016 |access-date=21 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121050210/https://centerforinquiry.org/blog/lessons_from_a_middle_school_bermuda_triangle_qa/ |archive-date=21 November 2019}}</ref>

[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]] attributes most Bermuda Triangle disappearances to environmental factors such as hurricanes, sudden weather shifts from the Gulf Stream, and hazardous shallow waters. The U.S. Navy dismisses supernatural claims, emphasizing natural causes and human error. Additionally, the [[United States Board on Geographic Names|U.S. Board on Geographic Names]] does not list the Bermuda Triangle as an official location, given the lack of evidence distinguishing it from other ocean regions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title=What is the Bermuda Triangle? |url=https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermudatri.html |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=oceanservice.noaa.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref>

In the 2010s and 2020s, scientists and researchers have reiterated that the Bermuda Triangle does not exhibit higher rates of disappearances than other heavily traveled ocean regions. Australian scientist [[Karl Kruszelnicki]] told ''The Independent'' in 2017 that the "mystery" can be explained by human error, unpredictable weather, and the sheer volume of traffic passing through the area. According to Kruszelnicki, "On a percentage basis, the number of accidents in the Bermuda Triangle is the same as anywhere else in the world."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-09 |title=A Scientist Says He's Solved the Bermuda Triangle, Just Like That |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a65643514/is-bermuda-triangle-mystery-solved/ |access-date=2025-10-13 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Hypothetical explanation attempts ==
Those accepting the Bermuda Triangle as a real phenomenon have suggested a number of explanations.

===Paranormal explanations===
Triangle writers have used a number of supernatural concepts to explain the events. One explanation pins the blame on leftover technology from the mythical lost city of [[Atlantis]]. Sometimes connected to the Plato's Atlantis story is the submerged rock formation known as the [[Bimini Road]] off the island of [[Bimini]] in the Bahamas, which is in the Triangle by some definitions. Followers of the purported psychic [[Edgar Cayce]] take his prediction that evidence of Atlantis would be found in 1968 as referring to the discovery of the Bimini Road. Believers describe the formation as a road, wall, or other structure, but the Bimini Road is of natural origin.<ref name="CSI, 2004">{{cite journal |first=Eugene A. |last=Shinn |url=http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-01/geologists-adventures.html |title=A Geologist's Adventures with Bimini Beachrock and Atlantis True Believers |journal=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |via=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |location=Amherst, New York |date=January 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070406124939/http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-01/geologists-adventures.html |archive-date=6 April 2007}}</ref>

Some hypothesize that a parallel universe exists in the Bermuda Triangle region, causing a [[Wormhole|time/space warp]] that sucks the objects around it into a [[Parallel universes in fiction|parallel universe]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Michel |first=Desmarquet |title=Disappearances of People and Ships in the Bermuda Triangle May Be Caused by a Warp Sucking Them Into a Parallel Universe |url=https://www.chinasona.org/Thiaoouba/Bermuda-triangle.html |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref> Others attribute the events to [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Booth |first=Billy |title=UFO Hovers over Ship in the Bermuda Triangle |url=http://ufos.about.com/od/classicufocases/a/bermudatriangle.htm |publisher=[[Dotdash Meredith|About.com]] |access-date=13 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008115012/http://ufos.about.com/od/classicufocases/a/bermudatriangle.htm |archive-date=8 October 2008 |date=29 June 2008 |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="Cochran, 2003">{{cite journal |last=Cochran-Smith |first=Marilyn |year=2003 |title=Bermuda Triangle: dichotomy, mythology, and amnesia |journal=[[Journal of Teacher Education]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |location=Thousand Oaks, California |volume=54 |doi=10.1177/0022487103256793 |page=275 |issue=4 |s2cid=145707847}}</ref> [[Charles Berlitz]], author of various books on anomalous phenomena, lists several theories attributing the losses in the Triangle to anomalous or unexplained forces.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> 

===Natural explanations===
====Compass variations====
[[Compass]] issues are frequently cited in accounts of Bermuda Triangle incidents. While some have theorized that unusual local magnetic anomalies may exist in the area,<ref name="USNAVY">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm |title=Bermuda Triangle |publisher=US Navy|access-date=26 May 2009|archive-date=2 August 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802035846/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> such anomalies have not been found. Compasses have natural [[magnetic variation]]s in relation to the [[Poles of astronomical bodies#Magnetic poles|magnetic poles]], a fact navigators have known for centuries. Only for a small number of places are [[Magnetic north pole|magnetic (compass) north]] and [[true north|geographic (true) north]] exactly the same{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{hsp}}in the United States, for example, {{as of|2000|lc=y}}, magnetic north and true north will appear to be the same only in those places located along a line running from [[Wisconsin]] to the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web |title=<nowiki>National Geomagnetism Program &#124; Charts &#124; North America &#124; Declination</nowiki> |publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]] |url=http://geomag.usgs.gov/charts/IGRF2000.dec.na.pdf|access-date=28 February 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527143024/http://geomag.usgs.gov/charts/IGRF2000.dec.na.pdf|archive-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> Members of the public who are unaware of this, however, may think there is something mysterious about a compass "changing" across an area as large as the Triangle, which it naturally will.<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/>

====Gulf Stream====
[[File:Gulfstream1.jpg|thumb|upright|False-color image of the Gulf Stream flowing north through the western Atlantic Ocean (NASA)]]

The [[Gulf Stream]] ([[Florida Current]]) is a major surface current, primarily driven by [[thermohaline circulation]] that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and then flows through the [[Straits of Florida]] into the North Atlantic. In essence, it is a river within an ocean, and, like a river, it can and does carry floating objects.<ref name="Winer, 1974, pp. 145–146">{{harvnb|Winer|1974|pp=145–146}}</ref> It has a maximum surface velocity of about {{cvt|2|m/s}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Phillips |first=Pamela |title=The Gulf Stream |url=http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/student/phillips/ |publisher=USNA/Johns Hopkins|access-date=2 August 2007}}</ref> A small plane making a [[water landing]] or a boat having engine trouble can be carried away from its reported position by the current.<ref name="Berlitz, p. 77">{{harvnb|ref=Berlitz, 1974|Berlitz|1974|p=77}}</ref>

====Human error====
One of the most cited explanations in official inquiries as to the loss of any aircraft or vessel is [[human error]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/bermuda-triangle-mystery-disappearance/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106185325/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/bermuda-triangle-mystery-disappearance/ |url-access=subscription |archive-date=6 November 2018 |title=Bermuda Triangle: Behind the Intrigue |work=[[National Geographic News]] |access-date=13 January 2023 |date=15 December 2003 |last=Mayell |first=Hillary |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]}}</ref> Human stubbornness may have caused businessman [[Harry Conover|Harvey Conover]] to lose his sailing yacht, ''Revonoc'', as he sailed into the teeth of a storm south of Florida on 1 January 1958.<ref>{{cite book |last=Scott |first=Captain Thomas A. |title=Histories & Mysteries: The Shipwrecks of Key Largo |publisher=Best Publishing Company |year=1994 |isbn=0941332330 |edition=1st |pages=124}}</ref>

====Violent weather====
[[File:Atlantic hurricane tracks.jpg|thumb|Tracks of all known Atlantic hurricanes between 1851 and 2019. Many storms pass through the Bermuda Triangle.]]

Hurricanes are powerful storms which form in tropical waters and have cost thousands of lives and caused billions of dollars in damage. The sinking of [[Francisco de Bobadilla]]'s Spanish fleet in 1502 was the first recorded instance of a destructive hurricane.<ref name="Winer, 1974, pp. 25–28">{{Harvnb|Winer|1974|pages=25–28}}</ref> These storms have caused a number of incidents related to the Triangle. Many Atlantic hurricanes pass through the Triangle as they recurve off the Eastern Seaboard, and, before the advent of [[weather satellite]]s, ships often had little to no warning of a hurricane's approach.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2LNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=Taming the Atlantic: The History of Man's Battle With the World's Toughest Ocean |last=Pike |first=Dan |publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]] |date=2017|access-date=26 September 2023 |pages=23–24 |isbn=978-1-52670-085-8}}</ref>

A powerful [[microburst|downdraft of cold air]] was suspected to be a cause in the sinking of ''[[Pride of Baltimore]]'' on 14 May 1986. The crew of the sunken vessel noted the wind suddenly shifted and increased velocity from {{cvt|32|kph}} to {{cvt|97|-|145|kph}}. A National Hurricane Center satellite specialist, James Lushine, stated "during very unstable weather conditions the downburst of cold air from aloft can hit the surface like a bomb, exploding outward like a giant squall line of wind and water."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h8wlAAAAIBAJ&pg=1085,6357771 |title=''Downdraft likely sank clipper'', The Miami News, May 23, 1986, p. 6A|access-date=1 October 2014}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====Methane hydrates====
{{Further|Methane clathrate}}
[[File:Gas hydrates 1996.svg|thumb|Worldwide distribution of confirmed or inferred offshore gas hydrate-bearing sediments, 1996.<br/>Source: [[United States Geological Survey]]]]

An explanation for some of the disappearances has focused on the presence of large fields of [[methane]] hydrates (a form of natural gas) on the [[continental shelves]].<ref name="Energy Citations Database (ECD) – Document #616279">{{cite journal |osti=616279 |title=Office of Scientific & Technical Information, OSTI, U.S. Department of Energy, DOE |journal=Petroleum Engineer International |volume=71 |issue=3 |publisher=OTSI |date=March 1998 |last1=Gruy |first1=H. J.}}</ref> Laboratory experiments carried out in Australia have proven that bubbles can, indeed, sink a scale model ship by decreasing the density of the water,<ref name="Monash, 2003">{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3226787 |title=Could methane bubbles sink ships? |date=21 October 2003 |publisher=Monash Univ.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Dowling |first=Jason |date=23 October 2003 |title=Bermuda Triangle mystery solved? It's a load of gas |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/22/1066631498889.html |work=The Age}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Aym |first=Terrence |date=6 August 2010 |title=How Brilliant Computer Scientists Solved the Bermuda Triangle Mystery |url=http://salem-news.com/articles/august062010/bermuda-triangle-ta.php |publisher=Salem-News.com}}</ref> and any wreckage would be deposited on the ocean floor or rapidly dispersed by the Gulf Stream. It has been hypothesized that periodic methane [[eruption]]s (sometimes called "[[mud volcano]]es") may produce regions of frothy water that are no longer capable of providing adequate [[buoyancy]] for ships. If this were the case, such an area forming around a ship could cause it to sink very rapidly and without warning.<ref name="Joseph,">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zz3jCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |title=Investigating Seafloors and Oceans: From Mud Volcanoes to Giant Squid |last=Antony |first=Joseph |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |date=2017|access-date=26 September 2023 |page=87 |isbn=978-0-12-809357-3}}</ref>

Publications by the [[USGS]] describe large stores of undersea hydrates worldwide, including the [[Blake Ridge]] area, off the coast of the southeastern United States.<ref name="WoodsHole papers">{{cite web |last1=Paull |first1=C.K. |last2=W.P. |first2=D. |year=1981 |title=Appearance and distribution of the gas hydrate reflection in the Blake Ridge region, offshore southeastern United States |url=https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/usgspubs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218231421/http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/usgspubs.html |archive-date=18 February 2012 |work=Gas Hydrates at the USGS |publisher=Woods Hole |id=MF-1252.}}</ref> However, according to the USGS, no large releases of gas hydrates are believed to have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle for the past 15,000 years.<ref name="WoodsHole Bermuda">{{cite web |url=https://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/bermuda.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121023070855/http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/hydrates/bermuda.html| archive-date = 23 October 2012 |title=Bermuda Triangle |work=Gas Hydrates at the USGS |publisher=Woods Hole}}</ref>

==Notable incidents==
{{Main|List of Bermuda Triangle incidents}}

===HMS ''Atalanta''===
{{Main|HMS Juno (1844)}}

[[File:The missing Training Ship, HMS 'Atlanta' - The Graphic 1880.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Atalanta''. ''[[The Graphic]]'', 1880]]

The sail training ship HMS ''Atalanta'' (originally named HMS ''Juno'') disappeared with her entire crew after setting sail from the [[Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda]] for [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]], [[England]] on 31 January 1880.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dawlishchronicles.com/2020/05/01/training-tragedies-hms-eurydice-and-hms-atalanta |title=Training Tragedies: the Losses of HMS Eurydice and HMS Atalanta |last=Vanner |first=Antoine |date=1 May 2020 |website=The Dawlish Chronicles |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=27 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727234155/https://dawlishchronicles.com/2020/05/01/training-tragedies-hms-eurydice-and-hms-atalanta/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was presumed that she sank in a powerful [[storm]] which crossed her route a couple of weeks after she sailed, and that her crew being composed primarily of inexperienced trainees may have been a contributing factor. The search for evidence of her fate attracted worldwide attention at the time (connection is also often made to the 1878 loss of the training ship [[HMS Eurydice (1843)|HMS ''Eurydice'']], which foundered after departing the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda for Portsmouth on 6 March), and she was alleged decades later to have been a victim of the mysterious triangle, an allegation resoundingly refuted by the research of author [[David Francis Raine]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite book |last=Raine |first=David Francis |author-link=David Francis Raine |date=1 January 1997 |title=Solved!: The Greatest Sea Mystery of All |location=Bermuda |publisher=Pompano Publications |page= |isbn=9780921962151}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hainey |first=Raymond |date=9 February 2011 |title=Solving a mystery of military blunder |url=https://www.royalgazette.com/other/lifestyle/article/20110209/solving-a-mystery-of-military-blunder/ |work=The Royal Gazette, city of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda |location=Bermuda |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://bermudatrianglecentral.blogspot.com/2011/04/hms-atalanta.html |title=HMS Atalanta, January 31, 1880 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=13 April 2011 |website=Bermuda Triangle Central |publisher=Hungry Hart Productions |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Quasar |first=Gian J. |date=2003 |title=Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery |url=https://archive.org/details/intobermudatrian00gian/page/55/ |via=Internet Archive Digital Library |publisher=International Marine/McGraw Hill |pages=55, 56 |isbn=9780071467032}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/18797/quick-10-10-incidents-bermuda-triangle |title=The Quick 10: 10 Incidents at the Bermuda Triangle |last=Conradt |first=Stacy |date=6 June 2008 |website=[[Mental Floss]] |access-date=27 July 2021}}</ref> 

===USS ''Cyclops''===
{{main|USS Cyclops (AC-4)}}

The incident resulting in the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy not related to combat occurred when the collier ''Cyclops'', carrying a full load of [[manganese ore]] and with one engine out of action, went missing without a trace with a crew of 306 sometime after 4 March 1918, after departing the island of [[Barbados]] in the [[West Indies]].Although there is no strong evidence for any single theory, many independent theories exist, some blaming storms, some capsizing, and some suggesting that [[World War I|wartime enemy activity]] was to blame for the loss.<ref name="DMerrill">{{cite web |url=http://website.lineone.net/~dmerrill/html/bermuda_triangle.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021124223248/http://website.lineone.net/~dmerrill/html/bermuda_triangle.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = 24 November 2002 |title=Bermuda Triangle |publisher=D Merrill}}</ref><ref name="Bermuda Cruises">{{cite web |url=http://www.bermudacruises.net/bermuda-information/myths_folklore.htm |archive-url = https://archive.today/20090610083610/http://www.bermudacruises.net/bermuda-information/myths_folklore.htm |url-status = dead |archive-date = 10 June 2009 |title=Myths and Folklore of Bermuda |publisher=Bermuda Cruises |access-date = 24 July 2006}}</ref> In addition, two of ''Cyclops''{{'}}s sister ships, {{USS|Proteus|AC-9|2}} and {{USS|Nereus|AC-10|2}}, were subsequently lost in the North Atlantic during [[World War II]]. Both ships were transporting heavy loads of metallic ore similar to that which was loaded on ''Cyclops'' during her fatal voyage.<ref name="Kusche, pp. 93–94">{{harvnb|ref=Kusche, 1975|Kusche|1975|pp=93–94}}</ref> In all three cases structural failure due to overloading with a much denser cargo than designed is considered the most likely cause of sinking.

===''Carroll A. Deering''===
{{main|Carroll A. Deering}}

[[File:deering2.jpg|thumb|The [[schooner]] ''[[Carroll A. Deering]]'', as seen from the [[Cape Lookout (North Carolina)|Cape Lookout]] [[lightvessel]] on 29 January 1921, two days before she was found deserted in [[North Carolina]] (US Coast Guard)]]

''Carroll A. Deering'', a five-masted [[schooner]] built in 1919, was found hard aground and abandoned at [[Diamond Shoals]], near [[Cape Hatteras]], [[North Carolina]], on 31 January 1921. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] investigation into the ''Deering'' scrutinized, then ruled out, multiple theories as to why and how the ship was abandoned, including piracy, domestic Communist sabotage and the involvement of [[rum-runner]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/legend-ghost-ship-carroll-deering |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151209123222/https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/legend-ghost-ship-carroll-deering |archive-date=9 December 2015 |title=The Legend Of The Ghost Ship: Carroll A. Deering |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2 November 2015 |website=[[National Park Foundation]] |access-date=13 January 2023}}</ref>

===Flight 19===
{{main|Flight 19}}

[[File:Grumman TBF-1 Avengers of VGS-29 in flight over Norfolk, Virginia (USA), on 1 September 1942 (80-G-427475).jpg|upright|thumb|left|US Navy Avengers, similar to those of Flight 19]]

Flight 19 was a training flight of five [[Grumman TBF Avenger|Grumman TBM Avenger]] torpedo bombers that disappeared on 5 December 1945, while over the Atlantic. The squadron's flight plan was scheduled to take them due east from [[Fort Lauderdale]] for {{cvt|141|mi}}, north for {{cvt|73|mi}}, and then back over a final {{cvt|140|mi|4=0}} leg to complete the exercise. The flight never returned to base. The disappearance was attributed by Navy investigators to navigational error leading to the aircraft running out of fuel.

One of the search and rescue aircraft deployed to look for them, a [[Martin PBM Mariner|PBM Mariner]] with a 13-man crew, also disappeared. A tanker off the coast of Florida reported seeing an explosion<ref name = "The_Loss_of_Flight_19">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq15-1.htm |title=The Loss of Flight 19 |publisher=history.navy.mil| access-date = 20 September 2006| archive-date = 13 April 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090413074152/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq15-1.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref> and observing a widespread oil slick when fruitlessly searching for survivors. The weather was becoming stormy by the end of the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/the_disappearance_of_flight_19.html |title=The Disappearance of Flight 19 |work=Bermuda-Triangle.Org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819190905/http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/the_disappearance_of_flight_19.html |archive-date=19 August 2006 |access-date=26 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to contemporaneous sources, the Mariner had a history of explosions due to vapor leaks when heavily loaded with fuel, as it might have been for a potentially long search-and-rescue operation.<ref name=Leadbeater-2020>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/the-strange-tale-of-flight-19--the-mystery-that-sparked-the-bermuda-triangle-myth-20201215-h1stmu.html |title=The strange tale of Flight 19 – the mystery that sparked the Bermuda Triangle myth |last=Leadbeater |first=Chris |work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=16 December 2020|access-date=26 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926073624/https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/the-strange-tale-of-flight-19--the-mystery-that-sparked-the-bermuda-triangle-myth-20201215-h1stmu.html|archive-date=26 September 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''Star Tiger'' and ''Star Ariel''===
{{Main|BSAA Star Tiger disappearance|BSAA Star Ariel disappearance}}

[[BSAA Star Tiger disappearance|G-AHNP ''Star Tiger'']] disappeared on 30 January 1948, on a flight from the [[Azores]] to Bermuda; [[BSAA Star Ariel disappearance|G-AGRE ''Star Ariel'']] disappeared on 17 January 1949, on a flight from Bermuda to [[Kingston, Jamaica]]. Both were [[Avro]] [[Tudor IV]] passenger aircraft operated by [[British South American Airways]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/the_tudors.html |title=The Tudors |work=Bermuda-Triangle.Org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929153837/http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/the_tudors.html |archive-date=29 September 2019 |access-date=26 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Both planes were operating at the very limits of their range and the slightest error or fault in the equipment could keep them from reaching the small island.<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/>

===Douglas DC-3===
{{Main|1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance}}

On 28 December 1948, a [[Douglas DC-3]] aircraft, number [[1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance|NC16002]], disappeared while on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. No trace of the aircraft, or the 32 people on board, was ever found. A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation found there was insufficient information available on which to determine probable cause of the disappearance.<ref name="Aviation Safety DC3">{{cite web |url=http://www.avsaf.org/reports/US/1948.12.28_AirborneTransport_DouglasDC-3.pdf#search=%22Airborne%20Transport%2C%20December%2028%2C%201948%2C%20Miami%2C%20Florida%22 |title=Airborne Transport, Miami, December 1948 |publisher=[[Civil Aeronautics Board]] |format=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103193538/http://www.avsaf.org/reports/US/1948.12.28_AirborneTransport_DouglasDC-3.pdf|archive-date=3 January 2007|access-date=5 October 2015}}
</ref>

===''Connemara IV''===
A pleasure yacht was found adrift in the Atlantic south of Bermuda on 26 September 1955; it is usually stated in the stories (Berlitz, Winer)<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Winer, 1974"/> that the crew vanished while the yacht survived being at sea during three hurricanes. The [[1955 Atlantic hurricane season]] shows [[Hurricane Ione]] passing nearby between 14 and 18 September, with Bermuda being affected by winds of almost gale force.<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/> In his second book on the Bermuda Triangle, Winer quoted from a letter he had received from Mr J.E. Challenor of Barbados:<ref name="Winer, 1975">{{harvnb|Winer|1975|pp=95–96}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|On the morning of September 22, ''Connemara IV'' was lying to a heavy mooring in the open [[roadstead]] of [[Carlisle Bay, Barbados|Carlisle Bay]]. Because of the approaching hurricane, the owner strengthened the mooring ropes and put out two additional anchors. There was little else he could do, as the exposed mooring was the only available anchorage. ... In Carlisle Bay, the sea in the wake of [[Hurricane Janet]] was awe-inspiring and dangerous. The owner of ''Connemara IV'' observed that she had disappeared. An investigation revealed that she had dragged her moorings and gone to sea.}}

===KC-135 Stratotankers===
On 28 August 1963, a pair of [[US Air Force]] [[KC-135 Stratotanker]] aircraft collided and crashed into the Atlantic {{Convert|300|mi}} west of Bermuda.<ref>{{ASN accident|title=61-0322|id=19630828-1|access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{ASN accident|title=61-0319|id=19630828-0|access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Some writers<ref name="Gaddis,1964"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Winer, 1974"/> say that while the two aircraft did collide, there were two distinct crash sites, separated by over {{convert|160|mi|km}} of water. However, Kusche's research showed that the unclassified version of the Air Force investigation report revealed that the debris field defining the second "crash site" was examined by a search and rescue ship, and found to be a mass of [[seaweed]] and [[driftwood]] tangled in an old [[buoy]].<ref name="Kusche, 1975"/> 

=== SS ''Cotopaxi'' ===
{{Main|SS Cotopaxi}}
On 29 November 1925, ''Cotopaxi'' departed Charleston, for Havana, under Captain W. J. Meyer, with a cargo of coal and 32 crew.<ref name=GLEW>{{cite book |title=The Great Lakes Engineering Works. The Shipyard and its Vessels |publisher=Marine Historical Society of Detroit |location=Detroit |page=Hull 209 |url=http://www.mhsd.org/glew/8hulls206-249.pdf |archive-date=2019-11-12 |access-date=2019-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112012814/http://www.mhsd.org/glew/8hulls206-249.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Times311225>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Mails and Shipping |date=31 December 1925 |page=18 |issue=44157 |column=D}}</ref><ref name=SN061225>{{cite news |title=Cotopaxi Still Lost; Lighthouse Men Watch; No Word Since Tuesday |newspaper=The Sunday News |issue=6 December 1925 |page=1 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=M4hJAAAAIBAJ&dq=cotopaxi&pg=2089%2C167535 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 1 December, ''Cotopaxi'' radioed a distress call reporting that the ship was listing and taking on water<ref name="GLEW" /><ref name="Times311225" /><ref name=EP270326>{{cite news |title=Ships and the Sea |newspaper=Evening Post |issue=27 March 1926 |page=27 |url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP19260327.2.161}}</ref> during [[1925 Florida tropical storm|a tropical storm]]. The ship was officially listed as overdue on 31 December.<ref name="Times311225" /> The wreck of ''Cotopaxi'' lies {{cvt|35|nmi}} off [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], Florida.<ref name="npr_2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/09/803812433/wrecks-identification-95-years-after-ship-s-disappearance-puts-theories-to-rest|title=Wreck's Identification 95 Years After Ship's Disappearance Puts Theories To Rest|publisher= National Public Radio|author=Hannah Hagemann|date=9 Feb 2020|accessdate=9 Feb 2020}}</ref> She was discovered in the 1980s, but could not be identified, and subsequently dubbed the "Bear Wreck".<ref name="smithsonian_2020">{{cite web |last=Wu |first=Katherine J. |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lost-ship-rediscovered-after-disappearing-near-bermuda-triangle-95-years-ago-180974109/ |title=Lost Ship Rediscovered After Disappearing Near Bermuda Triangle 95 Years Ago |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine |date=3 Feb 2020 |accessdate=10 Feb 2020}}</ref> ''Cotopaxi'' was identified in January 2020, based on 15 years of investigation by marine biologist [[Michael C. Barnette|Michael Barnette]].<ref name="smithsonian_2020" /><ref name=Newsweek>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/ship-vanished-bermuda-triangle-century-ago-1484311 |title=Ship That Mysteriously Vanished in Bermuda Triangle Almost a Century Ago Discovered |date=28 January 2020 |publisher=Newsweek |accessdate =30 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="npr_2020" />

In the 1977 science fiction drama film ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'', ''Cotopaxi'' is connected to the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, and is discovered in the [[Gobi Desert]], presumably set there by [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] forces.<ref name="Morton2007">{{cite book|author=Ray Morton|title=Close encounters of the third kind: the making of Steven Spielberg's classic film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-ERraCGxkYC&pg=PA311|accessdate=10 March 2011|date=1 November 2007|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-1-55783-710-3|pages=311}}</ref><ref name=BBCFilms>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/11/26/close_encounters_of_the_third_kind_dvd_2007_review.shtml |title=Close Encounters: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition DVD (1977) |publisher=BBC |accessdate=10 March 2011}}</ref>

=== MU-2B crash ===
A private [[Mitsubishi MU-2|Mitsubishi MU-2B-40]] aircraft (tail number N220N) crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on May 18, 2017, {{convert|37|mi|km}} east of [[Eleuthera|Eleuthera, Bahamas]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-25 |title=Examining Another Bermuda Triangle Crash - Plane + Pilot |url=https://planeandpilotmag.com/examining-another-bermuda-triangle-crash/ |access-date=2026-07-05 |website=planeandpilotmag.com |language=en-US}}</ref> There were four people onboard. Miami [[air traffic control]] lost radio and radar contact with the plane at 2:10 p.m. [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] when the aircraft was cruising at an altitude of {{convert|24000|ft|m}} and traveling at {{convert|300|knot}}. Debris field and a fresh fuel slick was located {{convert|15|mi|km}} off the coast of Eleuthra.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jorgensen |first1=Jay |last2=Croft |first2=Sarah |date=2017-05-17 |title=Coast Guard searches for plane crash survivors off Bahamas {{!}} CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/16/us/bahamas-missing-plane |access-date=2026-07-05 |work=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-05-17 |title=Plane crash debris near Bahamas matches missing plane of CEO and two kids - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/debris-found-in-search-for-missing-plane-carrying-ceo-2-kids-in-bahamas/ |access-date=2026-07-05 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (NTSB) noted presence of severe thunderstorms in the area at the time of crash, with high clouds reaching up to {{convert|40000|ft|m}}. The crash was concluded as a pilot error by intentional flight into the thunderstorm.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Oceans|Weather}}
<!--DO NOT include any wikilinks already appearing in the article-->
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Devil's Sea]] (or Dragon's Triangle)
* [[List of Bermuda Triangle incidents]]
* [[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]
* [[Nevada Triangle]]
* [[Vile vortex]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
The incidents cited above, apart from the official documentation, come from the following works. Some incidents mentioned as having taken place within the Triangle are found ''only'' in these sources:

* {{cite book |title=Bermuda Shipwrecks |year=2000 |first=Daniel |last=Berg |isbn=0961616741 |ref=Berg, 2000 |publisher=Aqua Explorers |location=East Rockaway, NY}}
* {{cite book |title=The Bermuda Triangle |first=Charles |last=Berlitz |isbn=0385041144 |publisher=Doubleday |year=1974 |edition=1st |ref=Berlitz, 1974 |author-link=Charles Berlitz |url=https://archive.org/details/bermudatriangle00berl}}
* {{cite book |title=The Evidence for the Bermuda Triangle |year=1984 |first=David |last=((Group)) |isbn=0-85030-413-X |ref=Group, 1984 |publisher=Aquarian Press |location=Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK}}
* {{cite book |title=The Bermuda Triangle |year=1975 |first=Adi-Kent Thomas |last=Jeffrey |publisher=Warner Paperback Library |isbn=0446599611 |ref=Jeffrey, 1975}}
* {{cite book |title=The Bermuda Triangle Mystery Solved |year=1975 |first=Lawrence David |last=Kusche |isbn=0879759712 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Buffalo, NY |ref=Kusche, 1975}}
* {{cite book |title=Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery |first=Gian J. |last=Quasar |publisher=International Marine / Ragged Mountain Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-07-142640-X |ref=Quasar, 2003 |url=https://archive.org/details/intobermudatrian00gian}} Reprinted in paperback in 2005; {{ISBN|0-07-145217-6}}.
* {{cite book |title=Limbo of the Lost |first=John Wallace |last=Spencer |isbn=0-686-10658-X |year=1969 |ref=Spencer, 1969}}
* {{cite book |title=The Devil's Triangle |year=1974 |first=Richard |last=Winer |publisher=Bantam Books| author-link = Richard Winer |isbn=0-553-10688-0| url-access = registration |url=https://archive.org/details/devilstriangle0000wine}}
* {{cite book |title=The Devil's Triangle 2 |year=1975 |first=Richard |last=Winer| author-link = Richard Winer |isbn=0-553-02464-7}}

== Further reading ==
{{Refbegin|2}}
=== Newspaper articles ===
[[ProQuest]] has newspaper source material for many incidents, archived in [[Portable Document Format]] (PDF). The newspapers include ''[[The New York Times]]'', ''[[The Washington Post]]'', and ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Constitution]]''. To access this website, registration is required, usually through a library connected to a college or university.

; Flight 19
* "Great Hunt on for 27 Navy Fliers Missing in Five Planes Off Florida", ''The New York Times'', 7 December 1945.
* "Wide Hunt for 27 Men in Six Navy Planes", ''The Washington Post'', 7 December 1945.
* "Fire Signals Seen in Area of Lost Men", ''The Washington Post'', 9 December 1945.

; SS ''Cotopaxi''
* "Lloyd's posts Cotopaxi as 'Missing'", ''The New York Times'', 7 January 1926.
* "Efforts to Locate Missing Ship Fail", ''The Washington Post'', 6 December 1925.
* "Lighthouse Keepers Seek Missing Ship", ''The Washington Post'', 7 December 1925.
* "53 on Missing Craft Are Reported Saved", ''The Washington Post'', 13 December 1925.

; USS ''Cyclops'' (AC-4)
* "Cold High Winds Do $25,000 Damage", ''The Washington Post'', 11 March 1918.
* "Collier Overdue a Month", ''The New York Times'', 15 April 1918.
* "More Ships Hunt for Missing Cyclops", ''The New York Times'', 16 April 1918.
* "Haven't Given Up Hope for Cyclops", ''The New York Times'', 17 April 1918.
* "Collier Cyclops Is Lost; 293 Persons On Board; Enemy Blow Suspected", ''The Washington Post'', 15 April 1918.
* "U.S. Consul Gottschalk Coming to Enter the War", ''The Washington Post'', 15 April 1918.
* "Cyclops Skipper Teuton, 'Tis Said", ''The Washington Post'', 16 April 1918.
* "Fate of Ship Baffles", ''The Washington Post'', 16 April 1918.
* "Steamer Met Gale on Cyclops' Course", ''The Washington Post'', 19 April 1918.

; ''Carroll A. Deering''
* "Piracy Suspected in Disappearance of 3 American Ships", ''The New York Times'', 21 June 1921.
* [https://www.nytimes.com/1921/06/22/archives/bath-owners-skeptical-give-little-credence-to-theory-that-pirates.html "Bath Owners Skeptical"] {{subscription required}}, ''The New York Times'', 22 June 1921. piera antonella
* "Deering Skipper's Wife Caused Investigation", ''The New York Times'', 22 June 1921.
* "More Ships Added To Mystery List", ''The New York Times'', 22 June 1921.
* "Hunt On For Pirates", ''The Washington Post'', 21 June 1921
* "Comb Seas For Ships", ''The Washington Post'', 22 June 1921.
* "Port Of Missing Ships Claims 3000 Yearly", ''The Washington Post'', 10 July 1921.

; Wreckers
* {{"'}}Wreckreation' Was the Name of the Game That Flourished 100 Years Ago", ''The New York Times'', 30 March 1969.

; S.S. ''Suduffco''
* "To Search for Missing Freighter", ''The New York Times'', 11 April 1926.
* "Abandon Hope for Ship", ''The New York Times'', 28 April 1926.

; ''Star Tiger'' and ''Star Ariel''
* "Hope Wanes in Sea Search for 28 Aboard Lost Airliner", ''The New York Times'', 31 January 1948.
* "72 Planes Search Sea for Airliner", ''The New York Times'', 19 January 1949.

; DC-3 Airliner NC16002 disappearance
* "30-Passenger Airliner Disappears in Flight from San Juan To Miami", ''The New York Times'', 29 December 1948.
* "Check Cuba Report of Missing Airliner", ''The New York Times'', 30 December 1948.
* "Airliner Hunt Extended", ''The New York Times'', 31 December 1948.

; Harvey Conover and ''Revonoc''
* "Search Continuing for Conover Yawl", ''The New York Times'', 8 January 1958.
* "Yacht Search Goes On", ''The New York Times'', 9 January 1958.
* "Yacht Search Pressed", ''The New York Times'', 10 January 1958.
* "Conover Search Called Off", ''The New York Times'', 15 January 1958.

; KC-135 Stratotankers
* "Second Area Of Debris Found In Hunt For Jets", ''The New York Times'', 31 August 1963.
* "Hunt For Tanker Jets Halted", ''The New York Times'', 3 September 1963.
* "Planes Debris Found In Jet Tanker Hunt", ''The Washington Post'', 30 August 1963.

; B-52 Bomber (''Pogo 22'')
* "U.S.-Canada Test of Air Defence a Success", ''The New York Times'', 16 October 1961.
* "Hunt For Lost B-52 Bomber Pushed In New Area", ''The New York Times'', 17 October 1961.
* "Bomber Hunt Pressed", ''The New York Times'', 18 October 1961.
* "Bomber Search Continuing", ''The New York Times'', 19 October 1961.
* "Hunt For Bomber Ends", ''The New York Times'', 20 October 1961.

; Charter vessel ''Sno'Boy''
* "Plane Hunting Boat Sights Body In Sea", ''The New York Times'', 7 July 1963.
* "Search Abandoned For 40 On Vessel Lost In Caribbean", ''The New York Times'', 11 July 1963.
* "Search Continues For Vessel With 55 Aboard In Caribbean", ''The Washington Post'', 6 July 1963.
* "Body Found In Search For Fishing Boat", ''The Washington Post'', 7 July 1963.

; SS ''Marine Sulphur Queen''
* "Tanker Lost In Atlantic; 39 Aboard", ''The Washington Post'', 9 February 1963.
* "Debris Sighted In Plane Search For Tanker Missing Off Florida", ''The New York Times'', 11 February 1963.
* "2.5 Million Is Asked In Sea Disaster", ''The Washington Post'', 19 February 1963.
* "Vanishing Of Ship Ruled A Mystery", ''The New York Times'', 14 April 1964.
* "Families Of 39 Lost At Sea Begin $20-Million Suit Here", ''The New York Times'', 4 June 1969.
* "10-Year Rift Over Lost Ship Near End", ''The New York Times'', 4 February 1973.

; SS ''Sylvia L. Ossa''
* "Ship And 37 Vanish in Bermuda Triangle on Voyage to U.S.", ''The New York Times'', 18 October 1976.
* "Ship Missing in Bermuda Triangle Now Presumed to Be Lost at Sea", ''The New York Times'', 19 October 1976.
* "Distress Signal Heard from American Sailor Missing for 17 Days", ''The New York Times'', 31 October 1976.

=== Website links ===
The following websites have either online material that supports the popular version of the Bermuda Triangle, or documents published from official sources as part of hearings or inquiries, such as those conducted by the United States Navy or United States Coast Guard. Copies of some inquiries are not online and may have to be ordered; for example, the losses of Flight 19 or USS Cyclops can be ordered direct from the United States Naval Historical Center.
* [http://www.physics.smu.edu/~pseudo/BermudaTriangle/vincentgaddis.txt Text of Feb, 1964 Argosy Magazine article by Vincent Gaddis]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/reportindexcas.htm United States Coast Guard database of selected reports and inquiries]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm U.S. Navy Historical Center Bermuda Triangle FAQ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020802035846/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm |date=2 August 2002 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060709202845/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-2.htm U.S. Navy Historical C/ ''The Bermuda Triangle: Startling New Secrets''], [[Sci Fi Channel (United States)|Sci Fi Channel]] documentary (November 2005)
* [https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/flight-19.html Navy Historical Center: The Loss Of Flight 19]
* [http://www.docksideconsultants.com/wavessup.html on losses of heavy ships at sea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227044434/http://www.docksideconsultants.com/wavessup.html |date=27 February 2009 }}
* [http://www.aquaexplorers.com/Bermuda_shipwrecks.htm Bermuda Shipwrecks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212131417/http://aquaexplorers.com/Bermuda_shipwrecks.htm |date=12 February 2009 }}
* [http://uwex.us/wreckinfo.html Association of Underwater Explorers shipwreck listings page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213174934/http://uwex.us/wreckinfo.html |date=13 February 2009 }}
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060130095752/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/ |date=30 January 2006 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/aircraft_losses.html |title=Summary of Missing Planes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040603122020/http://www.bermuda-triangle.org/html/aircraft_losses.html |archive-date=3 June 2004 |work=Bermuda-Triangle.Org |access-date=30 December 2007 |url-status=live}}

=== Books ===
Most of the works listed here are largely out of print. Copies may be obtained at your local library, or purchased used at bookstores, or through eBay or Amazon.com. These books are often the ''only'' source material for some of the incidents that have taken place within the Triangle.
<!-- Please maintain alphabetical order by last name, and only include works not already used as references, per [[MOS:FURTHER]]. -->

* {{cite book |last=Bara |first=Mike |year=2019 |title=The Triangle: The Truth Behind the World's Most Enduring Mystery |location=Kempton, IL |publisher=Adventures Unlimited |pages=|isbn=9781948803175 |oclc=1348103392}}
* ''The Final Flight'' (2006), Tony Blackman ({{ISBN|0-9553856-0-1}}). This book is a work of fiction.
* ''From the Devil's Triangle to the Devil's Jaw'' (1977), Richard Winer ({{ISBN|0-553-10860-3}})
* ''Ghost Ships: True Stories of Nautical Nightmares, Hauntings, and Disasters'' (2000), Richard Winer ({{ISBN|0-425-17548-0}})
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bermuda Triangle}}
{{Wiktionary|Bermuda Triangle}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/reportindexcas.htm |publisher=United States Coast Guard |title=Database of selected reports and inquiries}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm |publisher=US Navy Historical Center |title=Bermuda Triangle FAQ| access-date = 16 February 2004| archive-date = 2 August 2002| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020802035846/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-1.htm| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-2.htm |publisher=US Navy Historical Center |title=Selective Bibliography |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060709202845/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq8-2.htm |archive-date=9 July 2006}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq15-1.htm |publisher=US Navy Historical Center |title=The Loss Of Flight 19| access-date = 20 September 2006| archive-date = 13 April 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090413074152/http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq15-1.htm| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.docksideconsultants.com/wavessup.html |title=On losses of heavy ships at sea| access-date = 4 November 2006| archive-date = 27 February 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090227044434/http://www.docksideconsultants.com/wavessup.html| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite web |url=http://uwex.us/wreckinfo.html |author=Barnette, Michael C. |publisher=Association of Underwater Explorers |title=Shipwreck listings page| author-link = Michael C. Barnette| access-date = 4 January 2007| archive-date = 13 February 2009| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090213174934/http://uwex.us/wreckinfo.html| url-status = dead}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DQiNQI8S4 |author=SigmaDocumentaries |publisher=Sigma Documentaries |title=The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle |date=24 March 2013}}
* {{Skeptoid | id=4337 | number= 337| title=The Bermuda Triangle and the Devil's Sea |date=20 November 2012|access-date=15 June 2017}}

{{Bermuda Triangle}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bermuda Triangle| ]]
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