Info Hangat: Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle




The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an area in the Atlantic Ocean where the disappearance of many people and their aircraft and surface vessels has been attributed by some to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings. Some of the disappearances involve a level of mystery which is often popularly explained by a variety of theories beyond human error or acts of nature. An abundance of documentation for most incidents suggests that the Bermuda Triangle is a sailors' legend,

The Triangle area

The area of the Triangle varies with the authors.

The boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some stating its shape is akin to a trapezium covering the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire Caribbean island area east to the Azores; others add to it the Gulf of Mexico. The more familiar, triangular boundary in most written works has as its points Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and the mid-Atlantic island of Bermuda, with most of the accidents concentrated along the southern boundary around the Bahamas and the Florida Straits.

The area is one of the most heavily-sailed shipping lanes in the world, with ships crossing through it daily for ports in the Americas and Europe, as well as the Caribbean Islands. Cruise ships are also plentiful, and pleasure craft regularly go back and forth between Florida and the islands. It is also a heavily flown route for commercial and private aircraft heading towards Florida, the Carribean, and South America from points north.

The Gulf Stream ocean current flows through the Triangle after leaving the Gulf of Mexico; its current of five to six knots may have played a part in a number of disappearances. Sudden storms can and do appear, and in the summer to late fall the occasional hurricane strikes the area. The combination of heavy maritime traffic and tempestuous weather makes it inevitable that vessels could founder in storms and be lost without a trace — especially before improved telecommunications, radar, and satellite technology arrived late in the 20th century.

List of Bermuda Triangle incidents

This is a listing of some incidents that are claimed to have occurred within the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle, which was blamed for many unexplained disappearances that occurred in her waters. To date, over 1700 ships and planes have been alleged as having disappeared without trace or lost their crews in that particular area of the Atlantic Ocean. Although most of these disappearances have been explained or solved, others await a satisfactory explanation. ^[1]

It must be noted that some of the cases listed below, which are popularly associated with the area, were actually not in or known to be in the Triangle at the time of their disappearance or incident. There are also no recorded listings of mysterious disappearances of or from trains or road vehicles, and only one, unsourced, claim of disappearance from a building.

Aircraft Incidents

1940-1949

• TBF Avenger 1942
• PBY Catalina 1942
• TBF Avenger 1943
• Lockheed PV-1 Ventura x4 1943
• PB4Y Privateer 1943
• PBY Catalina 1944
• PB4Y Privateer 1944
• SBD-5 Dauntless 1944
• PBY-5A Catalina 1944
• B-24 Liberator 1945
• PB4Y Privateer 1945
• Flight 19, lost on December 5, 1945
• Martin Mariner, lost on December 5, 1945
• C-54 1947 (C-54D-5-DC, s/n 42-75272 was wrecked at Goose Bay, Labrador on 12/24/1950, not in the "Bermuda Triangle.")
• 1947: Army C-45 lost 100 miles off Bermuda
• 31 January 1948: Four-engined Tudor IV Star Tiger, lost with 31 lives (aircraft lost between the Azores and Bermuda, not in the 'Bermuda Triangle".)
• 27 December 1948: Douglas DC-3 NC16002 lost with 28 passengers and crew
• Avro Tudor Star Ariel, lost on January 17, 1949

1950-1959

• Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat 1950
• Grumman F9F-2 Panther 1950
• 1950: Giant US Air Force Globemaster lost (No C-74 or C-124 aircraft were lost in 1950)
• British York transport, lost on February 2, 1952 with 33 aboard
• Navy Trainer 1953
• USN Super Constellation, lost on October 30, 1954 (R7V-1 b/n 128441 was last heard from 350 miles off Maryland, flying from Gander, NF, to the Azores. No where near the "Bermuda Triangle.")
• 30 October 1954: US Navy Lockheed Constellation or Super Constellation Flight 441 vanishes with 42 aboard. (This is the same aircraft as above, the USN only lost one R7V-1 that day)
• 9 November 1956: US Navy seaplane, Martin P5M, disappears with crew of ten.

1960-1969

• Super Sabre, lost on March 18, 1960
• 14 or 15 October 1961: US Air Force SAC B-52 bomber Pogo 22 lost. (B-52G-100-BW s/n 58-0196 was lost off the coast of Newfoundland, no where near the "Bermuda Triangle.")
• USAF KB-50 Aerial Tanker, lost on January 8, 1962
• USAF C-133 Cargomaster, lost on May 27, 1962 (This aircraft, s/n 59-1611, crashed near Dover, Delaware, no where near the "Bermuda Triangle)
• USAF KC-135 Stratotankers, lost on August 28, 1963 (Two KC-135s s/ns 61-0319 & 61--322 collided)
• USAF C-133 Cargomaster, lost on September 22, 1963 ((This aircraft, s/n 56-2002, crashed 900 miles East of Cape May, NJ, no where near the "Bermuda Triangle)
• USAF C-119 Flying Boxcar, lost on June 5, 1965
• 1967: Military YC-122, converted to cargo plane, lost
• Cessna 172, lost on June 6, 1969 (The low time, 235 hrs total, pilot became lost and ran out of fuel)

1970-1979

• F-4 Phantom II "Sting 27", lost on October 10, 1971 (F-4E of 307 TFS lost on a training mission, oil slick spotted on the water where radar last placed the aircraft)
• Piper Cherokee, vanishes with 6 aboard on July 13, 1974
• Fighting Tiger 524, lost on February 22, 1978 (The NTSB has no record of such an incident)
• 1978: Douglas DC-3 Argosy Airlines Flight 902, registration N407D, lost with four passengers and crew; vanished off radar scope while beginning approach for landing.
• Caribbean Flight 912, lost November 3, 1978 (The NTSB records this loss as happening on approach to the airport in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, no where near the (Bermuda Triangle")

1980-1989

• Beechcraft N9027Q, lost on February 11, 1980 (This aircraft was stolen from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, no where near the 'Bermuda Triangle")
• Ercoupe N3808H, lost on June 28, 1980 (The low-time, 200 hr total, 10 in type, pilot attempted a flight from San Juan, PR to the Dominican Republic, no where near the 'Bermuda Triangle")
• Beech Bonanza, lost on January 6, 1981
• Piper Cherokee N3527E, lost on March 26, 1986

1990-1999

• Grumman Cougar Jet, lost on October 31, 1991 (This aircraft was lost south of New Orleans, LA, while flying from Houston, TX to Tallahassee, FL. No where near the "Bermuda Triangle.")