For nearly a century, the Bermuda Triangle, a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by Miami, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, has captivated imaginations worldwide. Tales of ships and planes mysteriously vanishing, from 50 vessels to 20 aircraft, have fueled conspiracy theories about supernatural forces, alien abductions, and even time travel. But modern science says there’s no mystery at all.
Australian scientist Karl Kruszelnicki, backed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Lloyd’s of London, has repeatedly stated since 2017 that disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle occur at the same rate as anywhere else in the world’s oceans. The difference? The Triangle is one of the busiest shipping and flight corridors on Earth. Heavy traffic, combined with tricky navigation, unpredictable weather, and human error, explains the accidents, not paranormal forces.
“The number of ships and planes that go missing in the Bermuda Triangle is the same as anywhere in the world on a percentage basis,” Kruszelnicki told The Independent.
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Role Of Nature And Navigation
NOAA supports this, noting that the region’s unique environmental conditions make it challenging for mariners and pilots. The Gulf Stream can trigger sudden, violent storms. The Caribbean’s many islands complicate navigation. And the area’s magnetic anomalies may cause compasses to point toward true north instead of magnetic north, disorienting travellers.
The “Bermuda Triangle” name itself is surprisingly recent, coined in 1963 by American author Vincent Gaddis in Argosy magazine. He blamed mysterious forces, but his claims lacked scientific evidence. The legend exploded in popularity after Charles Berlitz’s 1974 bestseller The Bermuda Triangle, which speculated about aliens and the lost city of Atlantis.
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Strange Tale Of Bruce Gernon
One of the most famous firsthand accounts came from pilot Bruce Gernon in 1970. He reported flying through a strange cloud that formed a tunnel, with his instruments malfunctioning and compass spinning wildly. For 30 minutes, air traffic control lost him from radar, only to have him reappear suddenly. His watch and the aircraft’s clock showed a half-hour time discrepancy, leading him to suspect the cloud had time-warp properties. While intriguing, no scientific consensus has explained such phenomena.