The Bermuda Triangle – Heinous or Hoax?

The Bermuda Triangle remains a subject of much lore, mythology, and paranormal innuendo since as early as Christopher Columbus' historic voyage. Are the stories told about this stretch of the Ocean, located roughly in the center of the Atlantic waters closest to Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, valid? The repeated ship and airplane accidents and disappearances have piqued the interests of everyone from conspiracy theorists to scientists, but what is true and what is fiction in this so-called Devil's Triangle?

To begin our discovery, let us examine a timeline of the disasters that have occurred in this region. Included are:

• September 17, 1950 - Unusual disappearances reported in The Miami Herald by Edward Van Winkle Jones
• 1952 - George X. Sand reports in Fate magazine of the loss of several planes and ships, including a US Navy Grumman TBM Avenger.
• 1962 - Another article about the Avenger crash was written by Allan W. Eckert and quoted the flight leader as saying, "We are entering white water, nothing seems right. We don't know where we are, the water is green, no white."
• 1964 - Vincent Gaddis write an article entitled "The Deadly Bermuda Triangle" suggesting the area was the scene of "strange events."
• 1965 - Gaddis turns his article into a book, Invisible Horizons.
• 1969 - John Wallace Spencer builds on Gaddis' theory and writes Limbo of the Lost.
• 1974 - Charles Berlitz does the same in The Bermuda Triangle, and Richard Winer writes The Devil's Triangle.

Many other books were written over the years, all portending that supernatural elements were involved in the disasters.

But, scientifically speaking, is the Bermuda Triangle "cursed?" Mindy Weisberger of LiveScience explains that Aviation Safety Network and US Coast Guard records have shown that many of the "vanishings" were due to storm activity in that area of the Atlantic. Others linked to dangerous conditions on the vessels. So far, according to Coast Guard experts, nothing has been discovered that would explain the aircraft and ship losses other than "physical causes."

It seems the common conditions that occur in the ocean and simple human error are the culprits in every case. Scientists add that this area of the Atlantic is no more dangerous than any other part of the high seas. And when you consider that water makes up 70% of our planet, it is not a surprise that accidents and disappearances continue.

Even though many amateur marine biologists remain curious about this part of the ocean and some enjoy coming up with explanations that border on the outrageous to explain the accidents there, scientists simply do not have the data to show that any evidence exists. But they do have the information to determine that nothing out of the ordinary is going on in the Devil's Triangle.