This 1.16 million square kilometer sea area is the world's most famous zone of disappearances. In 1918, the USS Cyclops, carrying 309 people, vanished en route from Brazil to Baltimore, leaving no distress signal, wreckage, or life vests. In 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers of Flight 19 disappeared during a training flight, followed by a PBM rescue aircraft. In 1948 and 1949, two British South American Airways flights vanished. In 1872, the Mary Celeste was found sailing unmanned, her cargo and food intact, her crew gone.
Account
This 1.16 million square kilometer sea area is the world's most famous zone of disappearances. In 1918, the USS Cyclops, an American naval collier carrying 309 people, vanished en route from Brazil to Baltimore, leaving no distress signal, wreckage, or life vests. She was heavily overloaded with manganese ore and had previously reported rudder failure. In December 1945, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers of Flight 19 disappeared during a training flight, along with 14 airmen. A PBM Mariner rescue aircraft sent after them also vanished with 13 aboard. Five days of large-scale search found no debris. In 1948 and 1949, two British South American Airways flights disappeared after normal communications.
Debunked
NOAA and Lloyd's of London note that the frequency of ship and aircraft disappearances in this sea area is no higher than in other comparably busy waters. German postwar archives deny submarine involvement. The Cyclops likely sank quickly from shifted manganese ore, rudder failure, and storm. Most disappearances can be explained by methane hydrate eruptions, sudden hurricanes, microbursts, rogue waves, magnetic declination, and navigation errors. The "Bermuda Triangle" concept was popularized by Vincent Gaddis in 1964 and later exaggerated in books and films.
Sources
- US Navy Cyclops accident archive
- US Navy Flight 19 search report (1945)
- Maritime History journal
- Charles Berlitz, The Bermuda Triangle (1974)
- NOAA official statement