The Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle
WORLD HISTORY | November 25, 2018
The Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle is an area where peculiar events have taken place. But are these events just coincidental incidents or specifically related to the region otherwise known as the Devil’s Triangle or Hurricane Alley?
There is much speculation as to the validity of the reported events that have been claimed to have happened in this specific area. Many consider the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle just a myth or people’s wild imaginations getting the best of them. In any event, the first reported occurrence took place in 1881, when the Ellen Austin Ship came upon an abandoned ship in which they sent a prized crew aboard to take over the ship. The prized crew attempted to sail it to New York but the ship disappeared and later reappeared but no crew was on board. They again sent a prized crew aboard but again disappeared. Fact or Fiction?
In 1918, a World War I navy vessel, the U.S.S. Cyclops was refueling in the Atlantic Ocean. While stopped in Barbados, the Cyclops with more than 300 passengers disappeared. This was the single largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy except for combat-related losses. Besides passengers, the ship was also carrying manganese ore. There were also two sister ships, Proteus and Nereus that had also been lost during World War II and they were also carrying similar metallic ore. Fact or Fiction?
In 1921, a vessel named the Carroll A. Deering, which was a five-masted schooner built in 1919 was found abandoned near Cape Hatteras in North Carolina. Because it was during the time of the Prohibition, rumors stemmed that possibly this ship was a victim of piracy because of illegal rum-running. Another ship that disappeared around the same time named Hewitt is believed to have been the perpetrator in the disappearance of the crew from Deering. Just hours later, sailing along the same track of the Deering, this other unknown ship sailed through and it is believed to have been Hewitt.
In 1945, a training flight of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers called Flight 19 disappeared. The flight plan was to take them east from Fort Lauderdale, then north for 73 miles, and back to Fort Lauderdale but they never returned. According to Navy investigators, the reason they disappeared was a navigational error causing them to run out of fuel. A search and rescue aircraft was sent out to look for them, which was a PBM Mariner, both it and the 13 man crew disappeared as well. An explosion in that area was reported by a tanker off the coast of Florida.
On January 28, 1948, disappearing without a trace over the Atlantic Ocean, was the BSAA Star Tiger. The plane was flying from the Azores to Bermuda. After communication was lost between this plane and another plane from the BSAA that had taken off an hour earlier, the control tower in Bermuda attempted to contact the plane but could not get a response after several tries. According to the pilot of the other plane, he never received any indication from the Star Tiger that there was any kind of problem. When the Star Tiger never showed up, an investigation took place. At the conclusion of their investigation, it was determined that there was no reason found for the plane and its crew to have been in trouble. To this day, this plane and crew have never been found. This is truly an unsolved mystery.
On January 17, 1949, just a few days less than a year from the time of the disappearance of the Star Tiger, the Star Ariel also disappears. The Star Ariel was on its way to Kingston, Jamaica from Bermuda. With seven crewmembers and 13 passengers, they took off with perfect weather conditions and flying high. After transmitting to their destination tower that they were flying in good visibility and giving their ETA, another transmission came in from them after the time of their ETA, requesting a frequency change. This was the last transmission from them and they never arrived and, like the Star Ariel, have never been found to this day. An investigation revealed no reason for the disappearance – no weather issues, no experience issues regarding the pilot and crew, nothing to hinder them from being able to make their destination.
In December of 1948, the Douglas DST carrying 29 passengers and 3 crew disappeared while on their way from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Florida. With high visibility and good weather conditions reported by the pilot, after several routine transmissions, the pilot stopped responding. With a shift in the wind, it is possible but not probable that he incorrectly reported his position. There was a similar DC-3 found in the Bermuda Triangle but could not be determined to be that plane. Even though the investigation did reveal some problems, it has been concluded as yet another unsolved mystery and no cause has been determined.
These are just a few of the numerous incidents that have occurred in or near the Bermuda Triangle. While a number of these may be able to be explained away, there are still many that still remain a mystery. The answer to this mystery may never be solved.
