Bermuda, Triangle, pronounced buhr MYOO duh, also called Devil''s Triangle, is an area of ocean off the southeastern coast
of Florida where many ships and airplanes have
disappeared. However, commercial and military craft cross this area safely every day.
Many people believe the
disappearances have taken place under mysterious circumstances. Only a few captains or pilots radioed distress messages. Searchers seldom found bodies or survivors, though bits of wreckage were recovered after several disappearances.
Some scientists believe that violent, unexpected storms or downward air currents destroyed the ships and planes. Swift ocean currents may then have swept the wreckage far from where the craft disappeared.
The Bermuda Triangle covers about 440,000 square miles (1,140,000 square kilometers). It is formed by an imaginary line drawn from a point near Melbourne, Florida, to Bermuda to Puerto Rico and back to Florida.
The first recorded disappearance of a United States ship in the Bermuda Triangle occurred in March 1918, when the U.S.S. Cyclops vanished. On Dec. 5, 1945, a squadron of five U.S. bombers disappeared, and a seaplane vanished while searching for the aircraft.