Bermuda Triangle

25°N, 71°W (approx. center) — Western North Atlantic — region bounded approximately by Miami, San Juan, and Bermuda

What's documented

The Bermuda Triangle is a region of the western North Atlantic bounded approximately by Miami, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Bermuda. The term was coined by writer Vincent Gaddis in Argosy magazine, February 1964. Lloyd's of London does not consider the region a higher-risk insurance area than other heavily trafficked oceans. The U.S. Coast Guard does not recognize the area as anomalous. Nonetheless, several verifiable disappearances of vessels and aircraft in the region are matters of established record.

Notable & intriguing

On 5 December 1945, Flight 19 — five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, 14 crewmen, on a routine training flight from NAS Fort Lauderdale — disappeared after radio transmissions in which Flight Leader Lt. Charles Taylor reported his compasses were malfunctioning. A PBM Mariner flying boat (BuNo 59225) with 13 crew dispatched to search disappeared the same evening. No wreckage from either flight has ever been recovered. Total loss: 27 men, 6 aircraft.

U.S. Navy Board of Investigation report, 5 December 1945 - 3 April 1946
On 30 January 1948, the British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV 'Star Tiger' (G-AHNP) disappeared en route from Santa Maria in the Azores to Bermuda with 31 souls aboard. On 17 January 1949, an identical aircraft, 'Star Ariel' (G-AGRE), disappeared between Bermuda and Kingston with 20 souls aboard. The Ministry of Civil Aviation's Star Tiger report concluded: 'What happened in this case will never be known.'

Ministry of Civil Aviation Star Tiger report (1948); Air Ministry Star Ariel report (1949)
The USS Cyclops, a Navy collier with 306 souls aboard, disappeared in the region in March 1918 — the single largest non-combat loss of life in U.S. Navy history. No wreckage has been recovered.

U.S. Navy official record, USS Cyclops (AC-4)

Public-record imagery

Map of the Bermuda Triangle — the region bounded approximately by Miami, San Juan, and Bermuda.Wikipedia Commons · Public domain · User:Arz · 2007

USS Cyclops, a US Navy collier that disappeared with all 306 hands somewhere between Barbados and Baltimore in March 1918 — the single largest loss of life in US Navy history outside of combat, and the headline anchor for every later Bermuda Triangle book.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Unknown authorUnknown author · 3 Oc

Reconstructed flight track of Flight 19, December 5, 1945 — five Grumman TBM Avengers and a 13-man crew lost on a routine training mission out of Fort Lauderdale. A PBM Mariner dispatched to search for them also vanished. The catalytic event of the Bermuda Triangle myth.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use · 2018

Edward Van Winkle Jones's September 1950 Associated Press article — the first time the disappearances were grouped under a single geographical name. Vincent Gaddis coined the phrase 'Bermuda Triangle' in a 1964 Argosy magazine piece.Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Wide World and Associated Press · Sep