Whatever Happened to The Bermuda Triangle?

And when did it become "safe" to fly over it again?

Listen to this post here:

The fear was everywhere…

If you were a kid or an adult in the 1970s, it’s very likely that you were petrified to get on a plane.

Why?

Because of the strange and frightening stories related to the Bermuda Triangle - stories that saturated news coverage almost daily.

News of what seemed to be a constant stream of airplane disappearances was everywhere. In the newspaper.

In magazines.

On TV.

In books.

And, of course, on the minds of anyone who traveled via plane, whether for work or pleasure. No one was apparently safe flying anywhere near this particular longitude and latitude (25.0000° N, 71.0000° W, in case you were wondering).

The foreboding and ever-present danger of being sucked into the vortex of the unknown loomed heavily over the decade. It seemed like almost weekly, there was a story about a plane that had attempted to fly over the Bermuda Triangle, only to disappear, never to be seen again.

The discussion of this great, unexplained mystery was at the forefront of many conversations during the decade. Fear of disappearing after boarding a flight was the norm, not the exception. Newspapers, magazines and the nightly newscasts were full of frightening and inexplicable tales of planes that had vanished into thin air while attempting to cross the Bermuda Triangle. And the movies. So many movies.

Located in an area bounded by Miami, San Juan and the island of Bermuda, “The Devil’s Triangle,” as it was also known, was an area that was seemingly responsible for the unexplained disappearances of numerous ships, planes and private boats. Small aircraft were also not spared the literal (alleged) pull of the vortex, with private, single engine planes taking off from a destination, never to be seen again.

To say that this unexplained phenomenon was a leading fear during the decade would be an understatement. Notable figures, from celebrities to politicians weighed in on the mystery. And of course, us “regular folks” boarded flights to sunny destinations with anticipation and dread, if at all.

Here are just some of the items related to the Bermuda Triangle that dominated the zeitgeist back in the day:

Various items revealing the 1970s obsession with The Bermuda Triangle

What was happening to those who disappeared into the vortex?

Some theories at the time included the strange to the bizarre. Alien abductions were fodder for consideration, along with more seemingly logical explanations, such as aircraft failure or capsized boats. Included in a long list of theories were super magnetic fields and various supernatural forces that resulted in the the same: disappearing vessels that were never to be seen again.

Regardless of what was at the root of the phenomenon, the lore of The Bermuda Triangle made for an interesting decade.

It makes you wonder what it was about that time that made us as a society so fearful and anxious. Such states of mind seem to be in stark contrast to the airy-fairy vibe of the decade - or at least the facade of one that was continually showcased in popular culture.

Strangely, we don’t hear much about the Bermuda Triangle these days. In fact, it appears that the threat of being sucked into the unknown seemed to die out with the decade. Why is that? Is the mystery solved, or, was there ever a mystery to begin with?

What happened?

Now, I’m not a conspiracy theorist but one must question how and why this seemingly dire reality faded into the sunset following years of hype. A quick Google search reveals that the mystery behind “The Devil’s Triangle” was solved once and for all. And depending on your personal point of view, the solution to this puzzle could be one of many.

• Some say that the The Triangle was never really a thing;. rather an instance of hype and hysteria that went off the rails for years ,à la War of the Worlds;

• Then there are those perennial faithful who swear that, like everything, the whole Triangle mystery was yet another government coverup (see: alien abductions, noted above);

• Still more groups insist that one of the following: methane gas, wormholes or electromagnetic energy from the earth’s core are the culprit, individually or collectively.

Betty and Barney Hill, arguably the most famous “alien abductees” in the world of conspiracy theories. Alien abductions were often cited as the reason for disappearances over the Bermuda Triangle.

Continuing on that Google search on this topic, it also appears that there isn’t an unequivocal answer to the hype and hysteria about this inexplicable vortex that came in like a lion and out like a lamb. For just as long as “The Me Generation” wallowed in the supposed peril that The Bermuda Triangle represented, there exists an even longer period - decades, actually - where the phenomenon (or the hype thereabouts) inexplicably disappeared, irony noted.

Those of us living during the height of the Bermuda Triangle hysteria lived in fear of this unknown phenomenon, one that threatened to literally take down those who chose to tempt fate by flying or sailing over the apparently doomed area. To this end, the silence on the subject following the 1970s was a startling shift for many who had come to the conclusion that something was going on, but what that was remained to be seen.

What was the cause of this cultural touchstone that added to the zeitgeist of an era?Or, perhaps more importantly, what was the cause of the seemingly abrupt silence about what was once one of the leading talking points for a generation?

Who knows. Apparently, the truth is out there. Regardless, this “truth” remains to be seen. So many unanswered questions; such an unsatisfying end.

---