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The Bermuda Triangle By Vickie Chao

Off the southeast coast of the United States lies a vast ocean called the Atlantic. On the surface, this area seems normal. But is it? For decades, people were afraid of crossing it. They believed that it was a paranormal site. According to rumors, many ships and airplanes had simply disappeared without a trace there. Since the region looks like a triangle, its shape gave rise to its nickname, the Bermuda Triangle or the Devil's Triangle.

By definition, a triangle must have three apexes. The Bermuda Triangle, of course, is no exception. Its three points are Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Miami, Florida. It covers a rather large area, about 500,000 square miles.

Now we know where the Bermuda Triangle is. Let's look at its troubled past.

On November 7, 1872, Benjamin Briggs set sail for Italy with his wife, young daughter, and a crew of eight. Neither the ship (the Mary Celeste) nor the people on board were ever seen again.

On February 16, 1918, the supply ship U.S.S. Cyclops left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for Norfolk. It arrived at Barbados in early March. Afterwards, it simply vanished.

On December 5, 1945, five Avenger torpedo bombers ("Flight 19") were on a routine training practice. They took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at 2:10 in the afternoon. They never returned. The bodies of all fourteen pilots and their aircraft were never recovered.

The disappearances of the Mary Celeste, U.S.S. Cyclops, and Flight 19 were not the only incidents that were attributed to the Bermuda Triangle. They are merely three famous examples. But amazingly, at the time that those events occurred, they were treated more or less as isolated cases. Nobody had thought to link them back then.

As a result, the Bermuda Triangle did not start to attract media attention until 1950. The first to report it was E. V. W. Jones of the Associated Press. In his article on September 16, he noted the mysterious disappearances of ships and airplanes between the Florida coast and Bermuda. He called the area the Devil's Sea. Two years later, Fate magazine published a piece about strange marine disappearances. Sure enough, the Devil's Sea was on the list. Then in 1964, Vincent Gaddis penned an article for Argosy. While his take on the Devil's Sea was nothing new, his catchy title certainly was. That's right; he was the one who came up with the phrase "the Bermuda Triangle." Nearly ten years after Vincent Gaddis coined the term, the Bermuda Triangle hit the headlines again. This time, it was in the form of a book, The Bermuda Triangle. Its author was Charles Berlitz.

In this 1974 bestseller, Charles Berlitz documented many unsolved mysteries that occurred in the Bermuda Triangle. He tried to figure out what could have caused the disappearances. To solve the mystery, he introduced many theories. For example, he wondered if the disappearances were caused by high traffic volume. Or if the victims were abducted by aliens. Or if they fell into temporal holes. Or if they were destroyed by some power complexes once belonging to the lost city of Atlantis.

Though Charles Berlitz's book was immensely popular then, it did have many flaws. Exaggerating stories and mixing facts with fiction were only two of his several offenses. In an effort to sort out what truly happened, Lawrence Kusche did an extensive follow-up investigation. He summed up his findings in the book, The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved. He pointed out numerous inaccurate and inconsistent statements made between Charles Berlitz and the eyewitnesses. He cited a handful of so-called accidents that were complete fabrications. He also noted that the number of missing cases in the Bermuda Triangle was not significantly higher than any other part of the Atlantic Ocean. Name Date

So, who is right?

If the Bermuda Triangle is indeed a work of the devil, we should expect to have heard about more recent accidents. But we have not. Hence, it is probably quite safe to say that the mystery was an urban legend. It is true that the reported incidents were all real. But they were most likely caused by bad weather, bad equipment, or bad luck. Of course, not everybody agrees with this view. Many still believe that the Bermuda Triangle is a scary place. Therefore, the debate is still on. The jury is still out. Is the Bermuda Triangle for real?

The Bermuda Triangle Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the apexes of the Bermuda Triangle? A. Miami, Florida B. Savannah, Georgia C. Bermuda D. Puerto Rico 2. Who coined the phrase "the Bermuda Triangle"? A. Charles Berlitz B. E. V. W. Jones C. Lawrence Kusche D. Vincent Gaddis 3. Which of the following events happened first? A. E. V. W. Jones wrote an article about the mysterious disappearances of ships and airplanes between the Florida coast and Bermuda. B. Flight 19 vanished. C. Lawrence Kusche published The Bermuda Triangle Mystery: Solved. D. U.S.S. Cyclops disappeared without a trace. 4. In which ocean is the Bermuda Triangle located? A. the Arctic Ocean B. the Indian Ocean C. the Atlantic Ocean D. the Pacific Ocean 5. Which of the following about the Bermuda Triangle is true? A. It covers an area of about 50,000 square miles. B. The Mary Celeste vanished without a trace in that area in 1872. C. E. V. W. Jones called it the Devil's Triangle. D. It is also called the Golden Triangle. 6. According to Charles Berlitz, what was the probable cause of the mysterious disappearances of ships and airplanes in the Bermuda Triangle? A. heavy traffic B. aliens C. the lost city of Atlantis D. all of the above Name Date

7. What did we know about Flight 19? A. They took off from Fort Lauderdale at 2:10 in the afternoon on December 5, 1945. B. It consisted of six Avenger torpedo bombers. C. Flight 19 vanished in the same year as U.S.S. Cyclops. D. All fourteen pilots survived, but their airplanes did not. 8. Who did E. V. W. Jones work for when he wrote the article describing the mysterious disappearances of ships and aircraft between the Florida coast and Bermuda? A. the Associated Press B. The New Yorker C. Fate magazine D. Argosy

In your opinion, what happened to the Mary Celeste, the U.S.S. Cyclops, and Flight 19? Use your imagination to theorize their disappearances.

Do you think the Bermuda Triangle mystery is true? Explain why.