Where and what

Where is the Bermuda Triangle?

A famous patch of ocean with no official edges.

How this site works. Every fact is in our own words and linked to its source, beside it. The pictures are our own drawings. We remember that real people died in these events, and we stick to the records.

The Bermuda Triangle is a stretch of the western North Atlantic where ships, planes and people are alleged to have vanished mysteriously. NOAA

Britannica says more than 50 ships and 20 aircraft are said to have disappeared there. Britannica

The corners

Its edges are not universally agreed. Roughly, it is a triangle reaching from the Atlantic coast of Florida to Bermuda to the Greater Antilles. Britannica

Vincent Gaddis, who popularised the name, described it as a line from Florida to Bermuda, another from Bermuda to Puerto Rico, and a third back to Florida through the Bahamas. Skeptical Inquirer

Larry Kusche’s map shows the Triangle as about a thousand miles on a side. Skeptical Inquirer

Estimates of its area range from 500,000 to 1,510,000 square miles (1.3 million to 3.9 million square kilometres). Britannica

Not an official place

There are no official maps of its boundaries, and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names doesn’t recognise “Bermuda Triangle” as an official name. NOAA

What is said to happen

Reports of unexplained events there date back to the mid-19th century. Britannica

Some ships were reportedly found abandoned for no clear reason; others sent no distress signal and were never seen again. Britannica

The Sargasso Sea

The Sargasso Sea is an oval, fairly still area of the North Atlantic, strewn with floating Sargassum seaweed. Britannica

It lies between 20° and 35° North and 30° and 70° West; the Gulf Stream forms part of its western edge. Britannica

It is 1,500 to 7,000 metres (5,000 to 23,000 feet) deep. Britannica

The Sargasso Sea surrounds Bermuda. Columbus was the first to mention it, crossing it on his first voyage in 1492. Britannica

The seaweed floats on small berry-like bladders. Britannica

Early sailors feared getting tangled in the seaweed. Britannica says that fear was unfounded. Britannica

It is a biological desert, with very little plankton. Britannica

Today

Boats and planes still cross the Triangle every day without trouble. Britannica

NOAA says there is no evidence that mysterious disappearances happen more often in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, busy area of ocean. NOAA

Next: the Flight 19 file →