Briana Turnley
Mrs. Karger
English 9
March 20, 2013
The Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle is a topic that has been wondered about for centuries. Some say it’s a myth and some say the ocean occurrences cause planes and boats go missing. Either way people have all different opinions and theories of what happens inside the triangle. The Bermuda Triangle is very unique. The first people to start the myth were Christopher Columbus and his sailors. The triangle is a large area in the ocean where many boats and planes have been reported missing. Many different factors can affect the missing boats and planes. The Bermuda Triangle is located in the Atlantic Ocean. The perimeter goes from Bermuda to Florida to Puerto Rico and back to Bermuda (“Bermuda Triangle”). The area of the triangle is about 500,000 miles, almost twice the size of Texas (Rudolph 7). Missings have also been reported beyond the area of the triangle. Scientists have called that area “Limbo of the Lost”. The Limbo of the Lost stretches all the way to Europe. Due to the shape, the triangle is often referred to as “Devils Triangle”. Other nicknames include “Hoodoo Sea” and “Sea of the Lost Ships”. Since strange things happen inside the triangle, people make up all different names for it (Cusack 9). In 1492, Christopher Columbus and his sailors were the first to discover the Bermuda Triangle. They found unusual compass readings and odd flashing green lights when passing through the water. The sailors told stories about the triangle that are still told today. They could never explain what happened when being inside the triangle. Since they were the first people to experience those things, the sailors are the reason why the triangle first became known to everyone (Rudolph).
Thousands of people have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. It has been said that there is about 350 boats or planes missing per year there (Cusack 89). Flight 19 was a flight that consisted of 5 planes with 14 men. They lost connection after many hours inside the triangle, and were never found again. Next, HMS Atalanta was a training ship with 290 men aboard, and they spent multiple months at sea. HMS Disappeared and no bodies or rafts were found. Lastly, the USS Cyclops was a coal ship that carried 309 people. People made up rumors that the Germans bombed and sunk then ship, but none of the rumors were true. Those ships and planes were never found again, almost like they vanished into thin air (Cusack 9-40). Everyone has different theories on what happens in the triangle. Its ranges from magnetic forces changing the compass to UFO’s and parallel worlds (Bermuda Triangle 297).
“A possible theory may be some kind of an atmospheric- a phenomenon that might be called a “hole in the sky”” said by author Vincent Gaddis (Gaffron 42). Common