Isn't The Devil In The Details And Not The Ocean? The Legend Of Bermuda Triangle

In 1950, an article was published in multiple American newspapers highlighting the unexplained disappearances between the coast of Florida and the island of Bermuda. The article details find separate incidents of decades in which one boat, ten airplanes and some one hundred and thirty five civilians and crewmen varnished without a trace. It was the first time this particular region of the ocean was suspected of being abnormally prone to nautical vanishments. But as the author failed to provide the cause for this alleged abnormality, a mystery was born.

In 1952, a magazine specializing in the paranormal outlined the region as a Triangle between the US state of Florida as well as the two islands of Puerto Rico and Bermuda. If this triangle's shape is almost arbitrarily selected, it is because it was. The author made no attempt to justify the selection of the shape.

In 1964, an American people fiction magazine, Argosy featured a cover with a caption Lost In The Bermuda Triangle. The article insight covers many of the same vanishments as the previous two but with severely embellished narrative. Completely with fictious quotes and alarming ones which is exactly what you would expect from a magazine predominantly about fiction. Filled with the supposed magazine but a sensational cover to supply them with scientific sound and comprehensively researched analysis. And why would you? Argosy was targeting a very specific crowd. Those that seek to be entertained by mysteries, not those that seek to understand them. The Bermuda Triangle is and it has always been a mystery for mystery sink. The very definition of a legend.

One of the oldest stories set to simplify the mysterious qualities of the Bermuda Triangle is that of the first transit voyage by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Three events are said to have been of note. These are:

• The crew observed some fireball of some kind,
• Their compasses inexplicably malfunctioned and
• A strange light seen to be suspended above the ocean surface.

The fireball was more precisely described as:

a marvelous branch of fire that fell from the sky into the sea.

While invoking aliens in US folks would certainly be more exciting, there is really no need as some muter will be more than qualify to account for that description. In fact, shooting stars are the most common in September due to the orbit in tail of the earth then this sighting occurred on September 15th.

On September 17th, the crew noticed that the compass misaligned with the North Star. This was certainly alarming at the time but we have since learned that this is due to effect of *magnetic declination. In short, the needle in the compass aligns with the magnetic north while the North Star aligns with true north. More importantly however, neither of these two events occurred anywhere near the Bermuda Triangle but in the middle of the north Atlantic, the fact that many seem to conveniently disregard. However, the strange light was indeed sighted within the triangle.

Columbus described the light as:

a small wax candle that rose and lifted up.

But he also believed it to be an indication of land and never described it as inexplicable. In fact, hours after observing the light, the crew men first caught sight of the American continent supporting Columbus’ suspicion that the light emanated by land mass. Perhaps, a touch or burn fire by the indigenous population. As should be evident by now, this is all very mysterious as long as you refrain from looking beneath the surface.

The Flight 19

Flight 19, featured here in close encounter of the first kind, is possibly the most famous disappearance connected to the Bermuda Triangle. Some would argue that it is the catalyst for the entire phenomenal. The story goes like this:

On the 5th of December, 1945, a squad of five planes departed a naval air station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was a routine navigation exercise that should not have posed a problem for these four inexperienced pilots and a crewman. Some two hours into this exercise, the squad was supposed to be heading back when the pilot of the leading plane reported that he became disorient that both of his compasses were malfunctioning. Multiple stations maintained sporadic contact with the flight and team, attempting to determine their current location but little to no success. Communications within the five planes were also intercepted and they could be heard arguing over directions and bearings.

As the minutes passed, the signal between the towers and the Flight 19 gradually weakened and it became increasingly difficult to maintain a stable line of communication. Roughly four hours after take-off, navy personnel was able to approximate the flight current location to some 200km north of the attempted flight path. A flying boat with designation ST 49 was subsequently dispatched to this location but after a routine transmission, it inexplicably disappeared.

Five hours after take-off, a final transmission was intercepted. It was simply a failed attempt by one plane to contact another. And Flight 19 was never seen or heard from again.

This of course sounds mysterious but I suspect the devil is not in the ocean but in the details.

The five planes were piloted by four students and one flight instructor named Charles Tailor. Upon departure, one of the students assumed the role of flight leader while Tailor acted as a supervisor. After turning north towards Grand Bahamas island, Tailor believed the student to be guiding them to a wrong direction, so he took command of the flight. As radio logs and testimony from navy personnel comes evident that Tailor confused the islands in Bahamas for islands in Florida Keys. He was heard saying:

Both of my compasses are out and I am trying to find fort Lovernade, Florida. I am over land but its broken. I am sure I am in the Keys but I do not know how far down and I do not know how to get to fort Lovernade.

In other word, he confused his actual position which was Bahamas islands for Florida Keys islands. This may be hard to accept that Tailor was not an experienced pilot but then consider this: Tailor had previously been stationed as the flight instructor at the naval air station in Miami and training exercises launched from Miami to place over the Florida Keys. Prior to that, he had been stationed at Key West in Florida Keys. So, it is entirely possible that Flight 19 was Tailor's first time flying this route over Bahamas.

Something that further supports this theory is that tailor initially identified himself as MT-28 for Miami. His correct ID was FT 28 for Fort Lauderdale. This growing confusion of what he knew from experience and what he saw outside the windows is likely why he came to distrust his instruments as it was unlikely that both of his compasses malfunctioned simultaneously.

As Tailor thought he was in Florida Keys, he continued flying in an attempt to see land but this had opposite effect of taking them farther out the sea. He was also dissatisfied with turning west as per Tailor's perspective, that would have taken them into the coast of Mexico. In reality, that would have saved their lives. Meanwhile, the weather was getting worse, the sun was setting, visibility was poor and the sea growing increasingly violent.

The logs reveal how truly desperate the situation became. At one point, Tailor informed the students:

Flying close formation, and when one plane drops to ten gallons of gas, all planes will land together.

Suggesting that even in the event of crash, they would remain as a group. He later continued:

I suggest we fly due east until we run out of gas. We have a better chance of being picked up close to shore.

At this point, they were flying away from the coast out towards the ocean. Some of the last descendible messages reads:

Have to land on water, unless landfall. We may have to ditch in a minute.

Flying boat ST-49

ST-49 was initially scheduled for a night navigation exercise when upon getting a fix on the location of Flight 19, it was diverted into a search and rescue mission. After routine depart transmission, it was heard from again. But it was likely seen again 23 minutes after ST-49 took off. Four ships reported that they see a plane catch fire and explode upon impact with ocean. This continued for several minutes with flames showing about 30m above the ocean surface. Rescue forces reached the location of the explosion and found degree and a pool of oil but no survivors.

Yet, another ship equipped with radar observed that the plane vanished from the screen at exact same time that the explosion as sighted. While an explosion is certainly surprising giving that preflight checks reveal nothing of note, the plane had went on ground due to a malfunctioning engine the day before. Some navy personnel immediately presumed, he reported the explosion was linked to the missing ST 49. Despite that systematic search involving tens of ships and hundreds of planes, nothing and no one was ever found.

Though multiple planes did report sightings of flares of severe degree, all available evidence suggested that Flight 19 crashed in the ocean once they ran out of fuel while the ST 49 combusted and exploded possibly due to malfunctioning engine. These six planes and around twenty seven men on board sank in the ocean leaving no trace behind.

The Star Planes

On the 17th of January, 1949, a plane known as Star Ariel departed Bermuda for Kingston, Jamaica. An hour into the flight, the pilot made a routine transmission with no indication of alarm and the plane was never seen or heard from again. There was no evidence of crash and no distress call had been received. The weather was excellent for the entire duration of the flight. The pilot and his crew were highly experienced that they have flown this route many times before. The plane was in working condition prior to departure. The succeeding investigation failed to determine the probable cause due to lack of evidence. But what makes this more mysterious is that a sister plane known as the Star Tiger had vanished under similar circumstances a year before.

On January 30th, 1948, the Star Tiger disappeared while approaching Bermuda from the east. The pilot and the rest of his crew were highly experienced but the weather was not ideal with strong winds and heavy rain. The strong winds have blown the plane of course, just an hour before their last transmission and it was never seen or heard from again.

The succeeding investigation concluded:

In closing this report, it may truly be said that no more baffling problem has ever being presented for investigation. What happened in this case will never be known and the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery.

But even in information-deprived cases like this, actual explanations do exist. For example, the accident report of the Star Tiger revealed that:

The plane had been poorly maintained and no defect remained unrectified.

Secret investigation also found put that this particular type of airplane had a heater in the cabin that was prone to malfunction and due to poor design; there was a chance of combustion and explosion. Two pilots experienced to wheel this type of aircraft believe that this was a real possibility and one of them stated:

My theory is that hydraulic vapor escaped from a leak which got onto a hot heater and caused explosion.

Carroll A. Deering

Perhaps, one of the most mysterious incidents is that of the five mastered sailing vessel, Carroll A. Deering. on January 9th, 1921, the Deering departed an island of Barbados and departed and set sails to Norfolk, Virginia. Less than three weeks later, the plane was sighted by a lightship near the coast of North Carolina and the lightship engineer took the photo you are seeing over there as he passed by. The person in helm of the Deering hailed the lightship and used a megaphone to inform them that they had lost both of the anchors. The ship then progressed to Norfolk but never arrived.

Two days after it was sighted by the lightship keepers, the Deering was located by the coast guard. The ship had run on ground at a place known as Diamond Shoals and appeared to have been abandoned. The was confirmed when the ship was boarded a few days later and the ship's logs, the ship personnel belongings, key navigation equipment, documents, two life boats as well as the ship's two anchors were found to be missing. Furthermore, the stirring wheel and other equipment also appeared to have been intentionally destroyed with a sledge hammer. There was no sign of the eleven crewmen and they have never been seen or heard from since.

Three months later, a man named Christopher Columbus Gray discovered a message in a bottle not far from the wreckage and it reads as follows:

Deering captured by oil burning ship, something like a chaser. Taking off everything, handcuffing crew. Crew hiding all over ship. No chance of escape. Finder, please notify headquarters of Deering.

The message was perceived to be genuine and the crew of the Carroll A. Deering was presumed to had fallen victim to piracy. But few months after that, handwriting expert proved that Gray himself had written the message and the entire thing was a hoax. But Gray may not have been too far off as there is an evidence to suggest that a mutiny took place.

The US state department issued a statement at a time in which they wrote:

There is every suspicion of foul play.

Firstly, the person who hailed the lightship was not the captain. He was described by the lightship keeper as a red-headed man with a squandered naving ascent. While this description could not have been descriptive of that of the captain, it was descriptive of other crewmen most of which were Danes, which of course only strengthen the possibility of a mutiny.

Secondly, the later investigation found out that the relationship between the captain and one of his crew was strenuous at best. Prior to departing the Barbados, both the captain and the first mate spoke ill of each other and the captain was concerned that the crew might turn on him. The first mate also requested a ship of his own and when this request was denied, he boasted that he:

..would get the captain before they reach their destination.

The first mate was subsequently arrested because of this but was later bailed out by the captain himself who forgave him for what he said. So, there was plenty of evidence to suspect a mutiny. Nevertheless, that cannot fully explain why the ship was subsequently abandoned or why the crew disappeared so completely. But it gets even stranger..

Soon after the Deering passed the lightship, yet another vessel appeared. It was a large steam ship painted black roughly sailing in the wake of the Deering. When the lightship hailed the vessel, not only was the hail ignored but the crewmen also chose to cover the ship name plate before speeding away. Some have speculated that this could have been an American steam ship, S.S Hewitt that vanished around the same time but unless further evidence can be unraveled, there is no way to know. So perhaps, Gray was unintentionally correct. Perhaps the mysterious vessel was indeed a pirate ship chasing down the Deering or perhaps, the crew conspired to commit a mutiny. In either the case, elements are at best difficult to explain.

The triangle

To conclude this post, I would like to talk about the Triangle itself. If the Bermuda Triangle was anything but a legend, why is it not marked in the publicly available maps and nautical charts? If the US coast guard is so concerned with the safety of others, don't you think they have the responsibility to warn the public about this abnormally dangerous region of the ocean? Yet, they and other relevant authority willfully allow hundreds of ships and planes to fly through the region every day without as much as warning. If we need a sign for wet floors, a sign for human death by supernatural forces seems justifiable. After all, the region of Bermuda Triangle is a highly traffic region of the ocean.

Now one could argue that more traffic equals more accident thus more vanishment but that would almost make a bit too much sense. One of the articles showcased at the beginning of this post concludes with this open ended question:

Will somebody please come up with an explanation or even a suggestion as to just where all these ships, planes and possibly submarines did go?

I am going to take a while stab and save the ocean. The ships and planes and possibly submarines sank into the depth of the ocean. I do not know what to tell you but the catastrophe of sea and buoyancy are just not the best of friends. Besides, do you really want to listen to a clown over the physical loss of reality itself?

Okay, maybe I am overacting over this at this point but the absurdity of this phenomenal is also what makes it so fascinating to me. Despite my best efforts, I have been totally unsuccessful to understand what exactly constitute as to Bermuda Triangle disappearance.

When does one know when to attribute a missing craft to the Bermuda Triangle?

It sounds like it should truly be an easy question to answer but it is anything but in some cases, just as in the case of Flight 19. The incident occurred within the general converse of the triangle but Flight 19 is in exception. Most of the vanishments occurred when the route of the plane or ship simply overlapped the Triangle.

In 1963, a ship known as SS Marine Sulphure Queen departed an harbor in Beaumont and set headings for Norfolk, Virginia. The last known location was around the coast of Mexico. The disappearance was blamed on the powers of the Triangle despite the fact that it was just as likely to disappear in the coast of Mexico. In fact, the coast guard believed that she disappeared just before reaching Florida Keys but what do they know?

In 1954, a plane disappeared while ting between the US state of Maryland and Azores. It was said to be a victim of Bermuda Triangle despite being outside its boundaries. It is more embarrassing as in the case of the aforementioned Carroll A. Deering as she safely sailed through the entire Bermuda triangle only to go and get found at where it was found.

Departing Thoughts

Disappearance that exceeds the close approximation of the Triangle should be considered part of the Triangle. Okay, but how far do these suggest until it extends? The coast of Mexico? The Caribbean sea? The coast of Brazil? The entire North Atlantic, perhaps! If that is the case, why even border with the Triangle to begin with?

I have piled a list of some disappearances said to be connected with Bermuda Triangle and if they are all to be included, I think we need a bigger Triangle. If anything, the true mystery about Bermuda Triangle is why people so adamantly insist upon it being mysterious. As far as I can tell, there is nothing unique to cause fright about this location as compared to the rest of the ocean. Ships and planes varnishing without a trace is unfortunately quite common and certainly not limited to occur after North Atlantic ocean.

The amount of vanishment that occur with an area is mostly dependent of the factors such as the amount of traffic, the frequency of adverse means to logical phenomenal and the presence of powerful oceanic current. The Bermuda Triangle ticks all three boxes. In term of traffic, it is frequently invaded by hoakings and storms and it is intercepted by the globe stream. But I have to say the most crucial floor of this alleged enigma is the variation.

The fundamental aspect of Bermuda triangle is that these incidents can somehow be correlated but each disappearance could not be more different. Some vanishment occurred in the storm. Some occurred when the sky is clear. Some occurred when the sea is turbulent. Some, the sea is clear. Some during the day, some during the night. Probable causes include mechanical failure, explosion, human errors, inexperience, piracy, mutiny, etc. Some airplanes and ships were brand new, some were many decades old. Some extremely large, some were tiny. In all this degree, wreckage can sometimes be recovered, other times it cannot. Distress signal can sometimes be received, sometime it cannot. It involves every type of vessels and every type of aircraft. The ships and airplanes can be travelling at any speed, at any direction, with any altitude, with any amount of passengers, at any time and for any reason.

References

• Bermuda triangle
• Christopher Columbus
• Christopher Columbus & Bermuda Triangle
• Flight 19
• Flight 19 & Bermuda Triangle – no mystery in the first place
• Star Tiger & Star Ariel
• Carroll A Deering - The "Ghost Ship"
• Bermuda Triangle - Facts & Summary

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