The Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle (1973), a paranormal book by Charles Berlitz, looks at the unexplained phenomena involving this area of the Western Atlantic and puts forward possible explanations for the disappearances. The book received mixed reviews upon publication, as some critics believe the theories are farfetched and unsubstantiated, but many fans argue that no one else has put forward better explanations. Growing up in a household where every member spoke to him in a different language, Berlitz became fluent in eight languages. His books all focus on unexplained, paranormal phenomena. He served in the US Army for thirteen years.

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil’s Triangle, sits in the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly between Bermuda, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Although many commercial airlines and ships pass through the region now, there has always been an air of mystery attached to the region. Berlitz aims to prove that the Bermuda Triangle is connected to the mythical lost city of Atlantis, and this explains why so many vessels and aircraft disappear.

Berlitz compiles evidence from existing sources and from survivors who have escaped the Triangle. He also considers several conflicting theories already circulating before justifying why his theory is most likely the right one. He explains that, while working in a travel agency, he heard so many stories about travelers who refused to pass through the region that he decided to investigate the mystery.



The Bermuda Triangle begins with a detailed look at the best-known disappearances within the area since 1945. Berlitz covers these disappearances in meticulous detail to convince us that there is no logical explanation for the vanishings. For example, in December 1945, five TBF Avengers, also known as Flight 19, of the US Army, disappeared. The same day, an American patrol bomber, the PBM Mariner, went missing in the same area while on patrol looking for the aircraft. Berlitz is convinced that this cannot be a coincidence, and he blames paranormal or supernatural phenomena.

Most interesting to Berlitz is that most of the missing aircraft and ships didn’t send out distress calls before disappearing. Later searches of the area revealed nothing, either—it’s as if the crews had never been there. Berlitz believes that this is surely evidence of extra-terrestrial interference or at least paranormal activity. He believes that no one can provide a more convincing explanation than his own.

There are other theories that Berlitz accepts are plausible, should we not accept his Atlantis theory. He believes that the Triangle may be a portal to Hell, or some other unearthly place. Similarly, this might be a spot where aliens frequently abduct humans. To Berlitz, the possibilities are endless—even if critics heavily criticize his methodology.



If we don’t accept his paranormal theories, he hopes we can accept other phenomena cited around the Bermuda Triangle. He reports bizarre lighting around the Bahamas, large sea monsters, glowing patches of ocean, and deep, hollow abysses. Eyewitness accounts support his descriptions, as those who have survived their brush with odd phenomena in the area recall feeling there is something off and unnatural about it. They also report feeling trapped in a whirlpool or having no recollection of the events.

Although he has never seen aliens or a UFO, Berlitz believes that they have the technology to interfere with our navigation systems and either steer us off-course or make us disappear entirely. He blames tools such as anti-gravity devices, vortexes, and even crystals he claims to have retrieved from somewhere near the sunken city of Atlantis. Most of these theories have since been debunked, but they are compelling if read as science fiction.

Berlitz accepts that many scientists do not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists. They are right in the sense that we’ve coined the term Bermuda Triangle—it’s not a naturally-formed landscape or ocean. However, Berlitz urges scientists to accept that there is certainly an unusual number of disappearances across this relatively small area compared to the aircraft and ships passing through it unharmed. He also believes that, since the earth is prone to shifts, the borders of the Bermuda Triangle shift over time, too.



Berlitz concludes by looking at why alien life forms might want to harm us—our development of nuclear weapons. He believes that nuclear technology has been around for much longer than we believe, and we may have affected other planets or civilizations with it. He also considers that aliens who once inhabited our planet escaped and have now returned to settle again.

These theories are largely unsupported by evidence, but he takes them further by suggesting that we are related to these beings; this is another reason they wish to study us. If there is, say, a portal to another dimension under the sea, then this is where the aliens emerge from, and it is where they take us from this planet to somewhere else. Few contemporary authors support this theory.