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 PBM Mariner flying boat sent to search for them also disappeared that same day, bringing the total to six aircraft and 27 crew members (14 from Flight 19 and 13 from the Mariner). 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 (its exact extent varies by source) 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: There is no evidence that accidents are more frequent here than elsewhere, and the US Coast Guard does not regard it as an especially dangerous area
• The methane hydrate theory: A hypothesis, with little supporting evidence, that a large release of methane gas from the seafloor could cause ships to lose buoyancy
• Weather and currents: Sudden storms and the fast-moving Gulf Stream can make accidents more likely and scatter wreckage
• 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.