Is the Bermuda Triangle Really Dangerous?

It’s been called the Devil's Triangle, Limbo of the Lost, Twilight Zone, and most famously the Bermuda Triangle.

The semi-triangular area surrounded by Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Florida is known for its voracious appetite for planes and boats. The legend began at 2:10 p.m. Dec. 5, 1945, when, reportedly, experienced aviators lifted off on a routine training mission, in supposedly  crystal clear weather. Upon becoming disoriented, the pilots of Flight 19 radioed for help and then disappeared.

Bizarre explanations for this and other vanishing acts include:  aliens hiding under the sea, a portal leading to another dimension, and ship-size methane gas bubbles.

There is a logical answer to the disappearances, however. The Triangle is heavily traveled, and proportionally sees no more accidents than other areas. The region is vulnerable to unpredictable storms. And, according to the Navy, the Gulf Stream there "is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase any evidence of a disaster." Finally, the sea in that area is up to 30,000 feet deep.

As for Flight 19, the pilots were actually trainees, and the weather was far from crystal clear that day.

In a 2013 study, the World Wide Fund for Nature identified the world’s 10 most dangerous waters for shipping, but the Bermuda Triangle was not among them. According to the US Navy, the triangle does not exist, and the name is not recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names. Popular culture has attributed various disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings. Documented evidence indicates that a significant percentage of the incidents were spurious, inaccurately reported, or embellished by later authors.