Legend of the Bermuda Triangle
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LEG ENDO F THEBERM UDATRI AN GLE T hear ea r e f err ed t o asthe B erm ud a Tr iangle, or D evil’s Triangle, cove rs a bo ut 500,000 sq ua re m iles of oc ea n o fft he sou t h e a st e rn ti p of F lori d a . When C hrist op her C ol um bus sailedt hroug h t heareaonhis fi rst voya ge t o t heNew Worl d, h e re p o rte d t h at a g r e a t fl a m e o f fi r e (pr o b a b l y a mete o r ) cr a sh e d i n to t h e s e a o n e n i g h t a n d t h at a stra n g e l i g h t ap pe ared in the di st ance a f ew w eeks later. H e a lso w rote ab ou t errati c co m pa ss rea di ng s, pe r ha ps be ca us e a t t ha t ti m e a s l i ver of t he B erm ud a T rian gl e w as on e o f t he f ew pl ac es on E art h w he re t ruenort h an d mag ne t ic n ort h l i ne d up. A fte r gai n i n g wide s p r e a d fame as the fi r s t p e r so n to s a i l s o lo a r ound the g lobe , J oshua S loc u md i s a p p e a red on a 19 09 voyage f r om M ar t ha ’ s V ine yar d t o S ou t h A m erica. T ho ug h i t’ s u ncl ea r exact l y w ha t ha pp en ed , m an y sou rces later a t tributed his d e a th to t h e B e r m u d a Trian g l e . Willi am S ha kesp ea re’ s p lay “ T heTempe st,” w hich som e s cho l ar s clai m w as ba sed on a r ea l - li f e Ber m uda shi pw r eck, m ay h ave en hance d t he ar ea’ s a ura of m yst ery . N onetheless, rep o rt s o f u n ex p l a ined d i sa p p e a ra n ce s d id n o t r e a lly c a pture t h e p u b lic’ s a t t e n ti o n u n t il t h e 2 0 t h ce n t u ry. An esp eci all y i nf am ou s t r ag ed y o ccurred i n M ar ch 19 18 w hen t he U S S C ycl op s, a 54 2- f oo t -lon g N avy ca r go shi p w i t h over 300 m en an d 10, 000 t ons of m anga nese or e onb oar d, sank som ew her e bet w een B ar bad os and t he C hesap eake Bay. T he C yclop s ne ver se nt ou t an S OS di str es s call de sp i t e b eingequipp ed t o d o so , an d a n e xt en si ve se ar ch f ou nd no w r ecka ge . “ O nl y G od an d t he sea kno w w ha t ha pp en ed t o t he gr ea t shi p, ” U . S . P r esi de nt Woo dr ow Wi l so n l a t e r sai d. I n 1 9 4 1 t w o of t h e C ycl ops’ sist e r ships si m il arl y v a n i sh ed w it h o u t a tr a ceal o ng n e arl y th e sam e r o u te. A pa t tern a l l e g e dl y b e ga n f o r m i n g i n w hi ch ve sse l s traversi n g t h e B e r m u d a T r i a n g l e w ou l d e i t h er di sa pp e a r or be f oun d a ban do ne d. T he n, i n D ecember 19 45, fi ve N avy bo m be rs carr yi ng 14 men t oo k o ff f rom a F ort La ud er dal e, F l ori da , air fi e ld i n order t o co nd uc t pr ac t ice bo m bi ng r un s o ver som e ne arby sh oal s. B ut w i t h hi s co m pa sse s a p pa r e nt l y ma l f u n ct i o n i n g , t h e l e a d er o f t h e m i ssi on , kn ow n as F l i g h t 19 , g ot seve re l y l o st. A l l fi ve p l an e s fl ew aimles sl y until t he y r anlowonf ue l an d w ere forced t o di t ch at se a. T hat sa m e da y, a r es cu e pl ane an d its 1 3-m an cr ew al so di sa pp ea r ed . A f t er a m as sive w ee ks- l on g se ar ch f ai l ed t o turn u p an y e vi de nc e, t he o ffi ci al N avy r ep ort decl a red t ha t i t w a s “as i f t h ey h ad fl o w n t o Mars. ” BERMUDA TRI ANGLETHEORIESAND CO UN TER- THE O R I ES .. B y t he t i m e au t ho r V i nc en t G ad di s co i ne d t he ph r as e “ B erm ud a Tr i an gl e” i n a 19 64 m ag az i neart i cl e, a d di t io n al m yst erio u s a cci d e n t s h a d o ccurr e d i n th e a r e a, i n cludi n g three p a sse n g e r pla n e s t h a t w e nt dow n d e sp i t e h av i n g j ust se n t “ al l’ s w ell” m e ssa g es. C h a rles B e rli t z, w h o se g r a n d f a t h e r f o und e d th e B e rli t z l a n g u a g e sch o o ls, st o ke d t h e l e ge n d ev en f u rt h e r i n 1 9 7 4 w i t h a se n sa t i o n a l b est se l l er a b o u t t h e l e g e nd . S i ncet h e n , scor e s o f f e l l ow para n o r m a l w r i t e r s h ave b lamed t h e tri a n g le’ s su p p o se d l et ha l n e ss o n e ve ryt h in g f romali e n s, A t la n t i s and sea m o nst e rs to t i m e w a r p s an d r ev erse g r av i t y fi e l d s, w h erea s m ore sci e n t i fi ca l l y m i n d e d t h e ori st s h ave p oi n t e d t o m ag ne t i c ano m ali es , w at erspou ts or hu ge erupti on s o f m et hane ga s fr om the oc ea n fl o or….I n a ll pr ob abili t y, ho w ever, t he re i s n o si n g l e t he or y t h at so l ve s t h e m yst e r y. A s o n e ske pt i c p u t i t , tr yi n g t o fi n d a co m m o n ca u se f o r eve r y Bermuda Tri an gl e di sap pe ar ance is n o m ore logi cal t han t r yi ngto fi nd a com m on cau se f or ever y a ut omob ile accident in A rizon a . M or eo ver, al t ho ug h st orm s, r ee f s andthe G ul f S tr ea m can ca use na vi ga t ional ch al len ge s ther e, m ari t ime
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Transcript of Legend of the Bermuda Triangle
8/9/2019 Legend of the Bermuda Triangle
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LEGEND OF THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
The area referred to as the Bermuda Triangle, or D evil’s T riangle, covers a bout 500,000 square miles of ocean off the
southeastern tip of Florida . When Christopher Columbus sailed through the area on his r st voyage to the New World,
he r eported t hat a g reat ame o f re (pr obably a m eteor) crashed into t he s eaone n ight and that a st range l ight
appeared i n the distance a f ew weeks l ater. He a lso wrote about erratic co mpass r eadings, perhaps because a t that
time a s liver of the Bermuda Triangle was one o f the few places on Earth where true north and m agnetic n orth lined
up. After gaining widespread fame as the rst
1909 voyage from Martha’s V ineyard to South America. Though it’s u nclear exactly what happened, many sou rces
later attributed his d eath to the Bermuda Triangle. William Shakespeare’s p lay “The Tempest,” which some s cholars
claim was based on a real-life Bermuda shipwreck, may h ave enhanced the area’s a ura of mystery. Nonetheless,
reports o f unexplained disappearances d id not really c apture the public’s a ttention until the 20th century. An
especially infamous t ragedy o ccurred in March 1918 when the USS Cyclops, a 542-foot-long Navy ca rgo ship with
over 300 men an d 10,000 tons of manganese or e onboard, sank som ewhere between Barbados and t he Chesapeake
Bay. The Cyclops ne ver sent out an SOS distress ca ll despite b eing equipped to d o so , and a n e xtensive se arch
found no wreckage. “Only God and the sea know what happened to the great ship,” U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson later sai d. I n 1941 two of the Cyclops’ sister shi ps similarly v anished without a trace along nearly the same
route.A pattern a llegedly b egan forming in w hich vessels t raversing the B ermuda Triangle w ould e ither di sappear or
be found a bandoned. Then, in December 1945, ve Navy bo mbers car rying 14 men took off f rom a F ort Lauderdale,
Florida, aireld in order t o conduct practice bombing runs o ver som e nearby sh oals. But with his co mpasses
apparently m alfunctioning, the leader of the mission, known as Flight 19, got seve rely l ost. All ve planes ew
aimlessly u ntil they ran low on fuel and were forced to ditch at sea. That same day, a rescue plane and its 1 3-man
crew also disappeared. After a m assive weeks-long search failed to turn u p any e vidence, the official Navy report
declared t hat it was “as i f they had own t o Mars.” BERMUDA TRIANGLE THEORIES AND COUNTER-
THEORIES ..By the time author Vincent Gaddis co ined the phrase “Bermuda Triangle” in a 1964 magazine article,
additional mysterious a ccidents h ad o ccurred in the a rea, including three p assenger planes t hat went down d espite
having just sent “all’s w ell” messages. Charles B erlitz, whose grandfather founded the Berlitz l anguage schools,
stoked the legend even further in 1974 with a sensational bestseller about the legend. Since then, scores o f fellow
paranormal writers h ave blamed the t riangle’s su pposed lethalness o n e verything from aliens, Atlantis and sea
monsters t o t ime warps an d reverse gravity e lds, whereas m ore sci entically minded theorists h ave pointed to
magnetic a nomalies, waterspou ts o r huge eruptions o f methane gas f rom the ocean oor….In a ll probability, however,
there is n o single theory t hat solves t he mystery. As o ne skeptic p ut it, trying to nd a common cause for every
Bermuda Triangle disappearance is n o more logical than trying to nd a common cause for ever y a utomobile accident
in Arizona . Moreover, although storms, reefs a nd the Gulf Stream can cause navigational challenges t here, m aritime
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insurance leader Lloyd’s of London does n ot recognize t he Bermuda Triangle a s an especially hazardous p lace.
Neither does the U.S. Coast Guard, which says: “In a review of many a ircraft and vessel losses i n the area over the
years, there has b een nothing discovered that w ould indicate that casualties w ere the result of anything other than
physical causes. No extraordinary factors h ave ever been identied.”
