Bermuda Triangle: The World's Lamest Anti-Climax

Last Updated:August 12, 2025, 15:15 IST

The Bermuda Triangle mystery is solved: harsh weather, human error, and magnetic anomalies explain disappearances. No supernatural forces are involved

The Bermuda Triangle and Australia’s Bass Strait have long been infamous for mysterious disappearances of ships and planes. (AI Generated/News18 Hindi)

The Bermuda Triangle has long baffled the world, swallowing ships and aircraft that pass through or above its waters. This infamous stretch of ocean is bordered by Florida, Bermuda, and the Greater Antilles. Similarly, Australia’s Bass Strait in the Tasman Sea is also linked to supernatural legends, believed to claim ships and planes. Globally, over 50 ships and 20 planes have disappeared in these mysterious regions.

Bermuda Triangle: Myths And Theories

Popular theories have ranged from sea monsters and alien abductions to the lost city of Atlantis as explanations for these vanishings. However, scientific investigations have now demystified these events. Australian scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki attributes the disappearances primarily to severe weather and human error. Experts from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United States Coast Guard support this view.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stated in 2010: “There is no evidence that ships and planes disappear mysteriously in the Bermuda Triangle more frequently than in other large ocean areas."

What Really Happens?

Since 2017, Dr Kruszelnicki has emphasised that these incidents occur at normal rates due to the heavy traffic and challenging navigation in the area. Lloyd’s of London, the global insurance market, has held this perspective since the 1970s.

NOAA further explains that environmental factors such as sudden weather changes caused by the Gulf Stream, a complex maze of Caribbean islands, and rare magnetic anomalies affecting compasses account for most disappearances.

The Most Famous Incident: Flight 19

One of the most renowned cases is the disappearance of US Flight 19 in 1945 where five US Navy bombers were lost over the Bermuda Triangle. Theories suggest bad weather, navigational errors, or both as likely causes. Despite scientific explanations, conspiracy theories persist, fuelled by books, TV shows, and films that find sea monsters and lost civilisations more thrilling than meteorology and statistics.

The Bass Strait Triangle Mysteries

The Bass Strait Triangle, the treacherous waters between mainland Australia and Tasmania, also harbours a dark history of unexplained disappearances.

The most infamous case is that of 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich in 1978. While flying a Cessna 182L from Moorabbin, Victoria, to King Island, Valentich reported seeing a “strange, metallic object" above him before radio contact was lost, and he was never found.

Other Notable Disappearances

• In 1973, the cargo ship MV Blythe Star vanished suddenly. Some crew survived, and parts of the ship were recovered, but its disappearance added to the region’s eerie reputation.
• The 1797 disappearance of the ship Sloop Eliza while salvaging wreckage from Sydney Cove remains unexplained.
• Between 1838 and 1840, at least seven ships bound for Melbourne went missing, with wreckage found for only three.
• In 1858, the British warship HMS Sappho, carrying over 100 people, disappeared without substantial wreckage.
• The coal ship SS Federal vanished in 1901; its wreck was only discovered in 2019.
• The German cargo ship SS Ferdinand Fischer disappeared without trace in 1906.
• In 1920, the schooner Amelia J disappeared, followed by the loss of the barkentine Southern Cross and a military aircraft searching for it.
• In 1934, the De Havilland Express plane Miss Hobart vanished shortly after takeoff.

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August 12, 2025, 15:15 IST

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