Triangle of Fear

The Vagabond, a 20-foot boat, rocked silently in the waves. On July 6th, 1969, a Swedish crew found the Vagabond in the water of the Bermuda Triangle. Several crew members boarded the boat and found the logbook. It had last been written in on July 2nd. Everything on board was in place, but there was no sign of the Vagabond's crew.

Nothing was ever found to explain what caused the Vagabond to be abandoned or what became of its crew. Many blame the Triangle for this unsolved disappearance.

A Lost Ship

The Bermuda Triangle covers hundreds of miles of the Atlantic Ocean. Its boundaries are formed by lines that run from the island of Bermuda, to Florida,and to the West Indies.

The Bermuda Triangle seems to have strange powers. Most ships and planes cross the Triangle safely. But over 1,000 people have disappeared in the Triangle. There are no clues. No one knows how or why it happens.

One of the most famous ships lost in the Bermuda Triangle was the Cyclops, a huge Navy coal ship. On March 13rd, 1918, it moved into the Bermuda Triangle. On board were 309 people.

The trip was going smoothly. The weather was clear. There were no storms in the area. The ship's radio was in working order. But somewhere inside the Bermuda Triangle, the ship and its crew disappeared. The giant Cyclops was never seen or heard from again. It never radioed for help.

The navy was surprised to learn the Cyclops was missing. Some thought it had blown up. Others thought it had hit something and sunk, Searchers thought they would find wreckage of the Cyclops. They searched for over a month but found nothing. The Cyclops and its passengers had vanished without a trace.

Into Thin Air

On December 5th, 1945, a group of five Navy planes took off from Florida. The pilots were on a regular training flight. It was called Flight 19. As the pilots flew into the Bermuda Triangle, everything seemed normal. For 3 hours and 25 minutes, they flew without problems. Several times they reported their position to the control tower. Each time the report seemed fine. But at 3:15 p.m., the flight leader sent out a strange message.

"Calling tower. This is an emergency. We seem to be off course. We cannot see land. Repeat. We cannot see land."

The tower radioed back, "What is your position?"
"We are not sure of our position. We seem to be lost. Everything is wrong. Even the ocean doesn't look as it should," said the flight leader.

The flight leader reported that they seemed to be 200 miles north east of Miami, Florida. That was the last message received by the tower from the Flight 19.

The Navy quickly sent out a large seaplane. Its job was to find the planes and rescue the pilots. One of the officers on the seaplane reported strong winds in the area where the missing plane had been. That was the last message received from the seaplane. Then it and its crew of 13 disappeared as well.

The Navy sent out 250 planes, boat, and seaplanes to search the area. The search lasted for five days. But the searchers never found anything. They found no bodies, no sign of wreckage, and no oil spills on the water. Yet, 27 men and 6 planes had mysteriously vanished!

Beware of the Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle does not always cause the disappearance of travelers. Many people who have traveled in the Bermuda Triangle have reported some kind of trouble. But they have escaped without harm.

Two of the lucky ones were Betty and Warren Miller. In June 1975, they were flying their small plane through the Triangle. Suddenly, they were surrounded by yellow fog. They couldn't see a thing. Warren Miller tried to check his position. But all the instruments in the plane had stopped working. He tried the radio. It,too, was dead.

For two frightening hours, the Millers flew in circles looking for land. They didn't know where they were or which way they were doing. It didn't seem to matter where they went. The yellow fog stayed with them.

Finally, the fog lifted. All at once, the plane's instruments began working again. The radio also returned to Florida. They landed as quickly as they could. They asked mechanics at the airport to check their plane.

Mechanics found nothing wrong with any part of the plane. All the instruments were in fine shape. The Millers checked the weather report for that day. No one else had seen any kind of yellow fog.
"I just can't explain it," said Betty Miller. "It was very eerie."

Others who have escaped the Triangle tell the same kinds of stories. Some of these people have felt their ships pulled by an unseen force. Some have even strange bright lights.Their planes' instruments have stopped working. All of these people have lost radio contact with the outside world. All have felt in danger of being lost forever.

The unexplained disappearances continue. And there will probably be more reports from those who escape the Triangle. And still, no one really knows what goes on in this eerie part of the Atlantic Ocean.


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boarded: went onto
boundaries: edges
abandoned: left
normal: ordinary
emergence: need for quick action
rescue: save
trace: sign, clue
merchanic: people who works on machines
eerie: strange and scary
contact: in touch with