Ships and planes mysteriously vanish in the Bermuda Triangle
| Ships and planes mysteriously vanish in the Bermuda Triangle | |
|---|---|
| FALSE | |
| "An unusual number of ships and aircraft disappear without explanation in the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic between Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico." | |
| Domain | Paranormal & Supernatural |
| Tactic | Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion Fabrication |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1964 |
| Origin | A 1964 magazine article by Vincent Gaddis coining the term, popularized by Charles Berlitz's 1974 bestseller The Bermuda Triangle |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-29 |
| Further reading: books on Paranormal & Supernatural | |
The Bermuda Triangle became a pop-culture mystery in the 1970s. Writers claimed that ships and planes vanished there at an unusual rate. Investigations of the cases found that many were exaggerated, happened elsewhere or had ordinary explanations, and insurers and the US Coast Guard say losses there are not unusual for such a heavily traveled area.
The claim
Books blamed alien abductions, the lost city of Atlantis and magnetic anomalies.
What the evidence shows
- Case-by-case research. Librarian Lawrence David Kusche checked the original records for famous cases in 1975 and found errors, embellishments and storms that writers had omitted.
- Normal rates. Lloyd's of London and the US Coast Guard have found no evidence that disappearances occur more often there than in other busy waters.
- Natural hazards. The area has frequent storms and the fast Gulf Stream, which can quickly carry debris away.
Sources
- Lawrence David Kusche, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved (Harper & Row, 1975).
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, "What is the Bermuda Triangle?"