Planet Earth’s 123 billion acres are home to a number of enigmatic locations: Easter Island, the Great Pyramids and Area 51. Despite our modern technological advancements, the world remains filled with mystery. The Bermuda Triangle is one such example. Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, it refers to the 50,000 miles of ocean encompassing Bermuda, Miami and Puerto Rico. Throughout the centuries dozens of airplanes and ships have vanished in this area under unusual circumstances.
Reports of strange anomalies can be traced back to the late 1400s when Christopher Columbus and his crew made their first voyage to the New World. Throughout the journey the vessel compass produced erratic readings. In his log he described a great ball of fire which flew through the sky before crashing into the murky abyss. Weeks later unknown lights appeared in the distance which did not match any known stars. In Columbus’ journal he wrote that the “very laws of nature were changing as we advanced, and that we were entering another world, subject to unknown influences.”
During the 20th century the Bermuda Triangle entered mainstream attention after the events of the USS Cyclops. In March of 1918 a massive Naval fuel carrier disappeared while en route to its final destination. Lieutenant George Worley, the ship commander, was a Naval Auxiliary Service Master. Despite having the necessary equipment on board not a single SOS call was ever made. When the Cyclops failed to turn up in Baltimore an extensive search ensued. Every Naval boat from Cuba to Puerto Rico was enlisted to look for debris. Despite these efforts, no wreckage was ever found. Three hundred and nine men tragically lost their lives. Interestingly, in 1941 two of the Cyclops’ sister ships mysteriously vanished while on the same route.
Flight 19 occurred just a few decades later on December 5th,1945. Five three-seater Avenger torpedo bombers departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Fourteen airmen received orders to perform testing bomb runs. The leader of the mission was Lieutenant Charles C. Taylor, an experienced pilot and combat veteran who served in WWII. When Taylor encountered compass malfunctions the group became extremely lost. All five plans flew aimlessly until they eventually began to run out of fuel. A plan was formed to make an emergency landing in the ocean and the group’s coordinates were radioed in. Later that day a rescue plane flew out with their thirteen-man crew. Just like the Flight 19 covey, they also disappeared. A five-day-long search ensued yet no remnants of either crash were ever discovered. “It’s as if they flew off to Mars,” was a statement in the in the official Navy report of the incident.
Fast forward to the evening of December 22, 1967. A 23’ luxury cabin cruiser called Witchcraft left the Miami marina captained by Daniel Burrack. He intended to show his friend, an Irish Catholic priest, the impressive collection of Christmas lights along the shoreline. They had planned to go less than a mile out and stop at buoy #7, turn off the engine and enjoy the view. Not long into the pair’s short expedition the U.S. Coast Guard received a call from Burrack. It was not an SOS and the captain sounded calm as he explained that they seemed to have hit something. Burrack said that it was not an emergency and there was no visible damage to his boat. He requested to have his boat towed back to shore.
Within twenty minutes the Coast Guard arrived at their last known position. There were no signs of Witchcraft or that any boat had recently been there. Friends and family of Burrack were perplexed since he was an extremely cautious yachtsman as well as an esteemed veteran. Aside from the boat being equipped with life jackets and cushions it had also been built using a special floatation device. Essentially this design installation made the vessel unsinkable. A thorough search of 25,000 square miles yielded no results. According to investigative officials it was as if some unknown force picked up the ship and left nothing behind.
In December of 1970 a pilot by the name of Bruce Gernon took off from the runway of Andros Town Airport. He was accompanied by his father and his business associate in a brand new Beechcraft Bonanza A36. Although Gernon was in his early twenties he was very familiar with both Floridian and Bohemian airspace. In only three years he had accumulated over 600 miles of flying time and made dozens of trips to Andros Island. As they flew over the Triangle area the three men could see a strange cloud in the distance. None of them were too concerned until it had completely engulfed the plane. For ten minutes they traveled through the formation before finally escaping into clear skies.
Shortly after another bizarre vaporous development appeared which seemed to radiate from the ground below. Suddenly everything became pitch black and accompanied by frequent flashes of bright light. As Gernon traveled forward the blinding bursts became more intense. Despite trying to free his craft he was unable to escape. After about fifteen minutes a “U” shaped opening appeared. As the Bonanza entered this portal a tunnel formed directly in their path. Swirling white haze seemed to be shrinking and closing in on the occupants. After twenty-seconds the three men once again exited and noticed they all shared a weightless feeling. Behind them the tunnel could be seen rapidly collapsing.
During this time all the electronic equipment malfunctioned and Gernon’s compass was spinning uncontrollably. When Air Traffic Control was contacted they stated that the plane was not present on radar. By now the clear blue sky had turned foggy and gray. Whilst they continued flying the fog began to break up into slits as if it had an electric charge. These pieces of mist all joined together in a radiating fashion. Once again the sky was a welcoming shade of blue. Now the Bonanza had returned on the map. However, nowhere near where it was supposed to be. Somehow the group had moved thirty minutes in time and one hundred miles in space. A trip that normally takes at least 75 minutes has been completed in less than 47. For this feat to be possible the aircraft would need to travel 2,000 miler per hour in a mere three minutes. Tops speeds for a Beechcraft Bonanza A36 are capped at 200 miles per hour.
To this day sailors and pilots continue to seemingly drop off the face of the planet. Only last year a Mitsubishi MU02B-40 vanished from all maps with its four passengers during clear weather conditions. Some scientists blame these events on waterspouts, methane gas or magnetic shifts. Others speculate that the source responsible is something much stranger: time warps, aliens, dimensional openings and sea monsters. Whatever the source may be it’s hard to deny there are some strange occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle.
What do you think is happening off the coast of Florida? I’d love to hear your thoughts.