The Bermuda Triangle: Conspiracy Theories

What is the The Bermuda Triangle?
The Bermuda Triangle refers to a triangle region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean where many ships and aircrafts have simply vanished with no real explanation. It’s vertices are said to be between Miami, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, covering 500,000 square miles of ocean..a lot of ocean. The Bermuda triangle is one of the most heavily travelled shipping lanes in the world, and yet what happens to anyone and anything that disappears remains unknown. These cases date back to Christopher Columbus times, where in 1492 he first reported strange lights and strange compass readings. Since then, there has been numerous unsolved disappearances. 
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​There are so many conspiracy theories behind the Bermuda Triangle, from science to mythology. Regardless of the cause, I find the Bermuda Triangle extremely fascinating. Therefore, I am going to be discussing some of the most interesting cases from the Bermuda Triangle and some of my favourite theories. Enjoy ♡

1918 - USS Cyclops (AC-4)
One of the most famous ships to disappear into the Bermuda Triangle was the USS Cyclops in 1918. Sometime after March 4th 1918, this extremely large ship (542 ft long) with over 300 passengers on board vanished without a single trace. The USS Cyclops was sailing towards Baltimore; and after departing from a shortstop in the island of Barbados the ship and the 300+ passengers were never seen again. With even no debris left behind, this enormous ship had vanished completely.

1945 - Flight 19
Flight 19 refers to the collective of five TBM Avenger bombers who vanished when flying over the Atlantic on December 5th 1945. According to schedule they were due to go east from Florida Naval for 120 miles, north for 73 miles and finally a 120 mile route to return to the naval base. However, they never came back. Not only were no traces ever discovered; but when two rescue Martin Mariner aircrafts with a 13 man crew went to search for the flights, one of the Martin Mariners itself never returned and also disappeared without a trace.

1967 - Witchcraft
On December 22nd 1967, the Witchcraft cabin cruiser departed from Miami with captain Dan Burack and friend, Father Patrick Horgan. This was a 23-foot luxury yacht, setting off to enjoy the view of Miami’s Christmas lights. Just one mile from offshore the coast guard received a call from Burack; a warning that his ship had been hit and that they needed help towing to the shore, however said there was no substantial damage. The coast guard set off immediately, taking only 19 minutes to arrived. Upon arrival he found absolutely nothing. Not only were Witchcraft and the gentleman not there, but there was absolutely no signs of any ships having ever been present there previously. Of course, we know there was a ship there literally 19 minutes ago. Even more bizarre is that this particular type of cruiser is essentially unsinkable. As for Burack and Horgan, there was substantial life-saving equipment on board...so what happened?

2017 - Mitsubishi MU-2B-40
Finally, I wanted to include a more recent one to highlight unexplained incidents of the Bermuda Triangle are still happening today. On May 15th 2017 a small private aircraft called the Mitsubishi MU-2B-40 was flying from Puerto Rico to South Florida. At around 2:10pm the air traffic control at Miami lost radar with the aircraft for unknown reasons. Despite absolutely no weather warnings or anything out of the ordinary, this plane and the four passengers on board simply vanished...still to this day it has never been found.
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Theories

Aliens
I couldn’t possibly discuss Bermuda Triangle conspiracy theories without including one of the most popular theories for any unexplained event- aliens. A very, very popular theory about the Bermuda Triangle is that the disappearances are caused by alien abductions. I personally have no doubt that there are other life forms; so whilst I don’t really believe this theory, I will say it probably isn’t as crazy as it may initially sound. Many people believe that in order to learn more about human life, aliens around the Bermuda Triangle literally abduct people out of thin air. This is said to explain why there is never any evidence, traces or remains. I mentioned earlier that reports of the Bermuda Triangle date back to Christopher Columbus time, and some theorists believe what Columbus saw at this time may have been a UFO. An entry into his log written October 11th, 1492 read ““The land was first seen by a sailor called Rodrigo de Triana, although the Admiral at ten o’clock that evening standing on the quarter-deck saw a light, but so small a body that he could not affirm it to be land; calling to Pero Gutierrez, groom of the King’s wardrobe, he told him he saw a light, and bid him look that way, which he did and saw it.” “The Admiral again perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land. But the Admiral held it for certain that land was not near…”. Explorers believe that this sighting was in fact a UFO. Although I do think this theory may be a little too fantasy, I would absolutely love to believe in an alien explanation. What are your thoughts?

Atlantis
This second theory is another one that I don’t necessarily believe in however I do find it extremely fascinating; and that is the theory of Atlantis. The theory goes that there is a “lost city” known as Atlantis dating back to the Ice Age. It is said that Atlantis disappeared in 8016 BC when the Ice Age ended in Finland and the ice melted away. Atlantis was said to be controlled by crystals; therefore people believe that this city may have sunk to right beneath the Bermuda Triangle, and that spontaneous bursts of energy and the strength from these crystals are causing these unexplainable disappearances. I think this is the most interesting theory as it actually adds to the mystery in that we still don’t know whether Atlantis was ever a real location in the first place. What do you think?
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The Gulf Stream
This theory I found particularly interesting because it has been suggested as an explanation of the Witchcraft case I discussed earlier. The Gulf Stream is an ocean current originating in the Gulf of Mexico. It moves through Florida into the North Atlantic and then passes through the Bermuda Triangle. The reason this is a theory for the missing ships/planes/people is that the Gulf Stream is essentially a river with warm water within an ocean which can easily carry floating objects down its flow. Therefore any ships coming into engine troubles, or planes making water landings, can be carried away in an instant. People believe this is what happened to the Witchcraft cruiser after coming into trouble with the hit.

Freak Waves
Whilst our knowledge of the ocean is extremely limited, something we do know is that very large waves can appear suddenly at any time, even in the calmest of seas. These waves are said to be up to 30m high and extremely capable of taking ships within moments. They can be so strong that one wave caused the largest offshore platform, the Ocean Ranger, to completely capsize in 1982. However, one flaw I find with this theory is that these waves are extremely rare. It therefore seems too coincidental to me to say that these rare waves are occurring all within the same area...don’t you think?

Micro-Bursts
Finally, the theory I think I believe in the most. Some theorists believe disappearances within the Bermuda Triangle are due to intense micro-bursts. To my understanding, micro-bursts are sudden currents of wind from storm clouds; and these winds can exceed 120mph. These can be observed by weather satellites, and evidence from this suggests the unusual cloud formations observed around the Bermuda Triangle are in fact micro-bursts. Microbursts arguably aren’t as rare as some of the other theories discussed; though still uncommon, micro-bursts have definitely been known to cause planes to crash before. It therefore follows that as the ones around the Bermuda Triangle are significantly stronger, this could cause significantly more planes to disappear. Tying into the rogue wave theory, it is said that these micro-bursts can contribute to waves, forming waves over 40ft high, hence why things appear to simply “vanish”.

Whilst I would love to discover evidence for a lost city or alien abductions, I do personally believe some of the more scientific theories slightly more in this case. However something I find really interesting about the Bermuda Triangle is that there are so many theories that make sense; and yet at the same time we truly have no idea what causes so many disappearances - literally without a trace.

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​Thank you so much for reading. As usual, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts on what theories you believe, and whether there are any more theories that I didn’t discuss that you are particularly interested in.
coc0chanel xxx