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The Bermuda Triangle, is it supernatural or is it physical? For years people have questioned the disappearances behind the Bermuda triangle. It has been known for the untrackable disappearances of different ships and planes over the years, and the conspiracy claims that planes and ships have supernaturally vanished. This essay argues that this theory is not true and the evidence behind it can prove the anomaly is geographical.
The triangle is between Bermuda, Miami, and Puerto Rico. It is a tropical archipelago of around 138 islands, and is a territory of the British. The triangle is a spot where ships get lost more as a sliver of the triangle is one of the places close between magnetic north and true north, which can mess with compasses and direction. The legend started around the 1950s and was formally coined in 1964. The triangle really started to gain popularity when various planes and boats went missing without a trace, popular ships such as the USS Cyclops in 1918 and Flight 19 in 1945 were both victims of this mysterious anomaly. Although the legend started spreading in the 1950's, a report of mysterious incidents had been written by Columbus in 1592. He claimed to see a “fire” crash into the ocean and weeks later he claimed to see a strange light off in the distance.
Dr. Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton says: “There are storms to the south and north, which come together, and if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.” “So you end up with, rather than a 10-meter wave, a 20-meter wave. If you get three different wave systems coming together, you can get a 30-meter wave,” The Caribbean sea also gives a directional challenge as the hurricanes and storms it has are constant from around July to October. Shallow reefs and submerged wrecks make for hazardous navigation, strong trade winds, unpredictable currents, and recent, massive influxes of suffocating Sargassum seaweed complicate travel.” (Crystalinks.com editors) NOAA claims environmental considerations can explain away most of the Bermuda Triangle disappearances, highlighting the Gulf Stream’s tendency towards violent changes in weather. “Environmental considerations could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances. The majority of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes pass through the Bermuda Triangle, and in the days prior to improved weather forecasting, these dangerous storms claimed many ships. Also, the Gulf Stream can cause rapid, sometimes violent, changes in weather. Additionally, the large number of islands in the Caribbean Sea creates many areas of shallow water that can be treacherous to ship navigation.” (NOAA Editors) This could prove the disappearances and mysteries of the sinkings.
The Bermuda Triangle is a very dangerous place to travel to or near. It has high traffic and harsh weather. High traffic can cause confusion, transportation halts, and even crashes as many boats are around each other at the same time, it can also cause miscounting and mistracking as the large number of ships can mess up the tracking. Even though theories have been proposed, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well-traveled sections of the ocean. It is suggested that around over 20 flights have been taken by the triangle since 1948 and around 50 boats since 1918. Although taking many lives and crafts, people still fly and sail around the Bermuda Triangle everyday as it is one of the most trafficked routes in the world. “The fact that the area within the Bermuda Triangle is heavily trafficked could account for some of the mystery. Any region with lots of ships going through it is bound to see more accidents than a place with less activity. Pair that with the fact that the Bermuda Triangle is often swept by hurricanes, and it’s not hard to see why ships might occasionally sink there.” (Scharping, Nathaniel.) High traffic and the magnetic north lining up with the true north has made traveling more dangerous than most people would suspect. Documented evidence indicates that a large number of the “mysterious” incidents were inaccurately reported or embellished and that many of the “incidents” did not occur or occurred outside of the triangle. High traffic has been just as harsh of a problem to handle as the weather, as directions are one of the most important factors of a trip.
Some people argue that it has to be supernatural happenings because we never found the ships or planes, others argue that there isn't enough physical evidence that could be the reason. They might argue that it has to be something deeper and darker, they might believe this because there genuinely hasn't been enough research on the triangle area or the sea in general. I might agree, however, this would fail to mention the geographical hardships and the magnetic strangulation. “And there is some evidence to suggest that the Bermuda Triangle is a place where a “magnetic” compass sometimes points towards “true” north, as opposed to “magnetic” north.“ (NOAA editors) This could prove the opposing argument is flawed as it had not taken the magnetic anomalies into account. Even though there is not much evidence of a geographical anomaly, there is less evidence of supernatural occurrence. The “supernatural” evidence could also be explained by physical occurrences and not something “darker”.
The Bermuda Triangle is not coincidental or supernatural, but instead it is a geographical anomaly. The weather in the Bermuda triangle is dangerous and can flip ships and sink planes. In addition, heavy traffic can account for not only many crashes, but also several miscounts and direction/tracking loss. Even though some people argue that there is a small amount of evidence, physical evidence can prove the higher chance of anomalies by geographical and magnetic occurrence rather than supernatural and coincidental incidents. The proof of the paranormal is longly based upon religion, speculation, blame, and excuses. There is not enough supernatural evidence to support the claim that the supernatural world is involved and with the rumors and legends it could effectively harm the traveling world as people would want to avoid the area creating a longer and harsher path to get to places such as Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida. Creating this new path would be harder to make rather than to research and develop a way to fix the area. In the end, the facts can make it clear that there is more than enough evidence to prove non-supernatural occurrence.
Cites Sourced
NOAA. “What Is the Bermuda Triangle?” Noaa.gov, NOAA, 4 Jan. 2010, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermudatri.html.
History.com Editors. “Bermuda Triangle - Location, Disappearances, Flight 19.” HISTORY, 7 Oct. 2010, www.history.com/articles/bermuda-triangle.
Scharping, Nathaniel. “What Is the Scientific Mystery behind the Bermuda Triangle?” Discover Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024, www.discovermagazine.com/the-bermuda-triangle-what-science-can-tell-us-about-the-mysterious-ocean-42305.
“The Bermuda Triangle, Columbus, Devil’s Triangle, Columbus, Famous Triangles - Crystalinks.” Crystalinks.com, 2018, www.crystalinks.com/bermuda_triangle.html.
“Bermuda Climate, Weather by Month, Average Temperature (Bermuda) - Weather Spark.” Weatherspark.com, weatherspark.com/y/150205/Average-Weather-in-Bermuda-Year-Round.
Heaton, Pauline. “Bermuda | Geography, History, & Facts.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/place/Bermuda.