Ryan Sprague
On December 5th, 1945, five US Navy bomber planes were making their way over the waters of the Atlantic during a training mission. Lieutenant Charles Taylor was in constant communication with the base, updating them on the progress of the mission. Without warning, the line went dead over the radio. The base tried to make contact to no avail. A rescue plane was dispatched to find the bombers, but failed to do so. In fact, the rescue plane, along with the bombers, were never seen nor heard from again.
This is one of many tales surrounding the Bermuda Triangle, an extremely enigmatic area of the Atlantic Ocean, that when viewed from above, creates the shape of a triangle. The first point begins at Miami, Florida. The second traces down to San Juan, Puerto Rico and the remaining point to complete the triangle is none other than the island of Bermuda. The triangle, however, isn’t officially recognized by the United States Board on Geographic Names, nor acknowledged on any maps. The term was coined by author, Vincent Gaddis, in an article he penned in 1964 for the pulp-magazine, Argosy. In the article titled, The Deadly Bermuda Triangle, Gaddis compiles many anomalous events that occurred in the boundaries of this area where many planes and ships in the water seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth. Since then, the Bermuda Triangle has been the subject of countless books, television shows, and movies. Theories on what is actually occurring in these waters range from magnetic vortices, space-time warp, electronic fog, UFOs, ancient technology from the lost city of Atlantis, methane gas hydrates, and even more unusual; the souls of slaves.
While these theories all harbor serious debate and controversy, the mystery remains as to why this certain area seems so active with unexplainable disappearances. But what if it wasn’t this particular area that held the answers? What if the mystery actually lay in the shape these areas seem to create. Let’s take a look at several places throughout the world that also boast these three-pointed tales of mystery.
Lake Michigan Triangle
Stretching from Ludington, MI to Benton Harbor, MI, and then all the way to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, this triangular portion of Lake Michigan has inspired many anomalous events. Dating all the way back to 1891, a schooner by the name of Thomas Hume, and seven other men, were making their way across the lake to retrieve a shipment of lumber. As they crossed the waters, they came up against an unusually high wind storm. When locals didn’t hear from the men for a few days, a search and rescue team were sent out for the crew. They found nothing.
The second major incident occurred in 1921. Eleven members of the Benton Harbor House of David were making their way across the lake in the Rosa Belle ship. When they were reported missing some time later, a rescue team was sent out. They found the ship floating in the lake, overturned, yet no bodies were recovered. It appeared as though the ship had been badly damaged by a collision. Even if this were so, not a single shred of evidence turned up any other ship, nor any reports of an accident of any kind. There simply was no conventional explanation for the brutal damage to the ship, and missing bodies.
The legend behind this mysterious triangle began to spread, and more and more stories began to be told of tragic accidents and unexplained phenomena surrounding the waters. Some even claimed that the triangle was some sort of inter-dimensional portal where ships were hopping in and out of time. And while no clear explanation can solve the puzzle, it has become a cautionary tale to steer clear of the Lake Michigan Triangle at all costs.
The Burle Triangle
The Burle Triangle is comprised of Mount Pilat, Mount Mézenc, and the small town of Le Puy, in France. The area was named after the extremely high winds and snow storms in the area, and it holds the French record for unexplained aircraft accidents; surely a record nobody wants to hold. Supposedly, more than sixty people have died in miscellaneous plane crashes throughout the years.
One of the more peculiar aspects of many of these plane crashed were that of UFO sightings in the areas making up the triangle. One in particular occurred in 1943 when a fighter plane plummeted to the ground, leaving a sole survivor. This man went on to claim that he’d witnessed a multitude of small, multi-colored lights surrounding the aircraft before it made its tragic descent. Another similar event occurred in 1965 over Mount Mézenc, where two F-104 planes went down. Witnesses in the area claimed to have seen six spheres, pink in color, surrounding the impact site.
Whatever was happening over the skies of the Burle Triangle, it seemed that some sort of aerial phenomena didn’t want the planes there. Could this area somehow be a portal for UFOs to hop in and out of? Could something more mysterious even be hiding the mountains, making this planes lose control and spiral to a fiery end? Whatever was happening at the Burle Triangle remained a mystery, and continues it’s enigmatic lore even up until today.
The Dragon’s Triangle
Similar to the Bermuda Triangle, this area of water is located in the Philippine Sea off China’s eastern coast. It can be marked off on a map by connecting Japan, Taiwan, and Yap Island. The name, Dragon’s Triangle, comes from a Chinese myth from many centuries ago. According to the myth, dragons live deep beneath the surface and their movement can suddenly churn up waves, whirlpools, thick fog, and sudden storms. These myths became startlingly true between the years, 1952 and 1954, when a total of five Japanese military vessels were lost in the waters of the triangle, racking up over seven-hundred people missing.
These disappearances led the Japanese government to acknowledge the area as a danger zone and to send a team of scientists to study the triangle. Their vessel, the Kaiyo Maru No, also went missing, prompting the Japanese government to abort the study. While may unusual explanations could attribute to the disappearances, seismic events seem to be the main culprit. The Dragon’s Triangle is a very volcanically active area, and were said to be the fault for the disappearance of the vessel of scientists. But could the volcanic activity also have been responsible for the other disappearances?
Many other phenomena have been linked to the Dragon’s Triangle. They include USOs (unidentified submerged objects), time warps, and electromagnetic anomalies. One of the most extensive studies on the area was done by author, Charles Berlitz, who ambitiously connected the Dragon’s Triangle to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. No matter the case, the myth of the Dragon’s Triangle continues, with more answers laying somewhere in the depths of the sea.
The Bridgewater Triangle
Situated in southeastern Massachusetts, the town of Bridgewater sits smack dab in the center of an area whose points stretch from the neighboring towns of Abington, Freetown, and Rehoboth. Unlike the other triangles that encompass mountain ranges or bodies of water, this triangle mostly stretches across land, and is littered with countless claims of paranormal activity.
One particular area is known as the Hockomock Swamp. This is a five-thousand acre area that includes an eight-thousand year-old Native American burial ground. When archaeologists stumbled upon a site of tombs, they noticed that the red ochre around the graves began to bubble, and then mysteriously disappeared. This, and many other unexplainable activity has plagued the swamps for decades. The Wampanoag Tribe, of the Algonquian nation, avoid the area because of many supernatural occurrences, warning others to steer clear because it’s what they consider “the place where spirits dwell”. Another area of Hockomock Swamp is known as Anawan Rock, located along Route 44 in Rehoboth. It is named after named after Chief Anawan, and is the site where he and his tribe had surrendered to the colonists during the First Indian War. The angry spirits of Anawan’s men are said to haunt the area, dancing and starting fires. Many have reported hearing the sounds of the spirits echoing through the swamp, the flicker or fire being witnessed from the roads nearby.
Other areas of the Bridgewater Triangle have boasted high amounts of UFO activity throughout the years, including one in 1760 that could possibly be considered one of the first recorded UFO reports in history. A multi-witnessed event occurred in 1968 when five people claimed to have seen a strange all of light hovering through the trees of Rehoboth. Another major event occurred in 1994 when an law enforcement officer reported seeing a triangular craft with red and white lights ominously floating through the night sky. As the years passed, more UFO reports flooded in, continuing up until today.
Strange sightings of creatures have also been reported within the triangle. In 1970, there were various accounts of a seven foot tall hairy beast wandering through the area. Both Bridgewater and Massachusetts State Police conducted an extensive search for the creature, assuming it was a bear. The search turned up nothing. Similar reports also came in of a hairy creature slowly walking through Hockomock Swamp. But it was reports of an alleged creature in flight that caught the attention of many others. Since the early 70’s, many reports have come in about unusually large black birds, with wingspans stretching well past eight feet.
Perhaps one of the more terrifying aspects of the Bridgewater Triangle were reports of cattle mutilations in the forested areas. They were attributed to Satanic cult members, who were making animal sacrifices. But legend also has it that grisly murders of the human-kind have also taken place in the forest, attributing this to cult members as well.
While some of the activity in the Bridgewater Triangle has been documented, not all of it can be substantiated. But one thing is clear; whatever is going on within the confines of this area is beyond unusual, and many paranormal investigators continue to travel its supposed points of origin, trying to narrow in on one of the most active paranormal hotspots on the planet.
Shaping the Mysteries
While no singular answer can explain the plethora of mysteries in each and every one of these areas, it is interesting to note that they all seem to run the sharp three lined path of a triangle. One can speculate endlessly as to why this may be, but perhaps the symbology of the triangle itself could bring us a bit closer to an answer. Some occultists use the triangle as a summoning symbol. At the culmination of a ritual, the summoning of some sort of spirit or entity is expected to appear within a triangle inscribed upon the floor. The occultist often performs his ritual from the protection of a circle. Could this practice hold some meaning in terms of the Bridgewater Triangle, and the Native American spirits said to haunt the area? And what about the supposed cultist activity? Perhaps the form of the triangle itself has prompted the unusual frenzy of the bizarre and strangeness that occurs there.
According to western culture, the orientation of a triangle can have powerful meaning as well. The elements of earth and water form from triangles that point upward. Could this possibly have something to do with why these triangles seem to form over bodies of water? Even more interesting is that triangles that point downward symbolize the formation of air and fire. This could perhaps have something to do with the fiery plane crashes in the air that brought many pilot’s lives to a tragic end.
One could speculate endlessly as to why such mysterious and terrifying things have happened at each and every one of these locations. But one thing is for certain; we have, throughout many decades, shaped the narrative of these incidents around that of a triangle, almost fearing the word when tragedy strikes. It seems to be a classic “which came first, the chicken or egg?” scenario. In this case however, we are left wondering; what came first, the mystery or the triangle? We may never truly know. And perhaps the best action we can take is to steer, swim, fly, or walk as far away from these areas as we can, knowing that some mysteries are best left unanswered.
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Ryan Sprague is a professional playwright & screenwriter in New York City. He is also an investigative journalist, focusing on the topic of UFOs. He is the author of the upcoming book, “Somewhere in the Skies: A Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon”, published by Richard Dolan Press. He co-hosts both the Into the Fray and UFOmodPod podcasts, both available on iTunes & Stitcher. His other work can be found at: www.somewhereintheskies.com