The Bermuda Triangle

Maybe the most famous triangle in the world is the Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle. This area is about 500,000 square miles between Florida, Puerto Rico and of course, Bermuda. Over 70 ships and planes seemed to have mysteriously vanished in the three pointed area. There was no evidence of crashes, sinkings or tampering.

Two of the incidents in this region involved U.S. Military crafts. In 1918 the collier USS Cyclops disappeared inside the famed triangle with 300 people aboard. No wreckage was found and no explanation was given for why it suddenly vanished. Twenty-seven years later a squadron of bombers known as Flight 19 disappeared in the airspace above the triangle. Again, the military had no explanation or found any wreckage.

Scientists try to explain the phenomenon with several theories such as electromagnetic interference causing compass problems or rogue waves caused by a convergence of ocean storms. Without the officials producing concrete facts about the disappearances the public turns to the possibility of alien captures or the mysterious lost city of Atlantis.

One of the strange stories of the Bermuda Triangle involves the same ship twice. In 1881 a schooner heading to New York spotted a derelict schooner drifting north of the Sargasso Sea without sign of a crew. The captain decided to observe the derelict for two days before entering the abandoned vessel. The vessel was well packed but no crew. The captain placed his best crew on the ship and the two vessels sailed together. A squall suddenly appeared on calm waters and separated the two.

Days after the storm the captain finally spotted the vessel again drifting aimlessly. Once they caught up with the ship their search found no crew. The cursed schooner was once again set up with a crew to return to land. Once again the ships were separated and the captain lost another crew to the drifting devil vessel. No other attempts were made and the captain left the ship to its mysterious waters.

Another interesting occurrence happened on December 22nd 1967. A cabin cruiser named Witchcraft left Miami with two gentlemen aboard. The yacht was a mere mile offshore when the coast guard received a call from the captain stating the ship was hit and they needed a tow back. The Coast Guard took a mere 19 minutes to reach the Witchcraft’s location but there was nothing there. Use of the life jackets, lifeboat or flare guns were not attempted on a cruiser that was deemed virtually unsinkable. Exhaustive search over several days reported nothing and no sign of the vessel or its contents. Witchcraft just disappeared.

The “Ghost Ship of the Outer Banks” is one of the most written about maritime mysteries of the 20th century. On January 31, 1921 a commercial schooner was found run aground on the treacherous rocks of North Carolina. It took the investigation team from Barbados days to reach the vessel because of rough seas. What they found, once aboard, was a deserted ship with all crew gone along with their personal items, navigation equipment, logbooks and life rafts. The crew were never heard of again and no one could solve this mystery. Reports suggest that as many as nine vessels suffered the same fate during this period in the region. All of which were never heard from again.