Bermuda Triangle Day (Bāmyūda Triangle no Hi)

What Is Bermuda Triangle Day?

December 5 is "Bermuda Triangle Day." It commemorates December 5, 1945, when five US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers — known as Flight 19 — went missing during a training flight off the east coast of Florida. A rescue seaplane sent to search for them also disappeared that same day, bringing the total to six aircraft and 28 crew members lost under mysterious circumstances. This incident became the central story behind the legend of the "Bermuda Triangle" (the "Devil's Triangle").

What Is the Bermuda Triangle?

The Bermuda Triangle is a roughly triangular area of ocean (about 1 million km²) bounded by the Florida peninsula, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, where numerous ships and aircraft are said to have mysteriously disappeared. In the 1960s and '70s, theories involving the supernatural and UFO abductions became widespread, turning it into a famous global mystery.

Modern Scientific Perspectives

• The disappearance rate isn't unusually high: According to US Coast Guard statistics, the rate of incidents in the Bermuda Triangle isn't significantly different from other ocean areas of similar size
• The methane hydrate theory: A release of methane gas from the seafloor could cause a sudden loss of buoyancy, potentially sinking ships
• The hexagonal cloud / microburst theory: A theory that unusual weather phenomena could trigger sudden gusts and rogue waves
• The case of Flight 19: The leading explanation is a combination of bad weather, a compass malfunction, and a navigational error that led to running out of fuel

Even as science advances, the romance of the Bermuda Triangle's "mystery" hasn't faded. Today might be a good day to explore some of the world's other unsolved puzzles.